#all reigen want when serizawa working there is to just make him exorcism and take care. thats it

[escapiste123]

Mob loses his powers

Mobrei? Shigeo/Reigen? Something is going on here

One day, without any warning or explanation, Mob’s powers disappear. He doesn’t even notice it at first, just wakes up one morning, feeling a little strange, and goes through his day unable to pinpoint the source of this strangeness. It’s only when he comes to the office and finds that he’s unable to even see the curse on their client, let alone exorcise it, that he realizes what’s so different about him that day.

Reigen and Serizawa exchange worried looks, unsure of how to react, Dimple terrifies their client by popping into existence all of a sudden, grumbling at Mob, “Didn’t you notice that you couldn’t see me, Shigeo? I thought you were ignoring me all day!”

Mob is… confused at first. He’s only recently come to accept his powers as part of himself, made peace with the darkness and danger that lives beneath his skin. It’s disorienting to be faced with the absence of this side of his existence.

The second feeling that comes later that week, when he’s had the chance to process everything, is relief. He accepted his powers a few months ago, he wanted to get rid of them for years before that. Now he can finally achieve his goal of going through life without relying on his powers. Now he can laugh and cry and rage without worrying about losing control. It’s freeing, exhilarating.

Mob’s life continues on more or less the same way it’s always been – school, club, friends. He even still goes to the office, although it is more a force of habit now. He sits at his usual desk and does his homework, listens to Reigen bickering with Dimple, watches Serizawa perform exorcisms, helps Tome make tea.

Slowly, the feeling of loss starts to set in.

It starts when Mob turns to say something to Dimple, only to realize that he’s not there. His visible form draws too much attention from other people, so Mob rarely gets to talk to him anymore. Most of the time Dimple hangs around the office, taking great joy in annoying Reigen.

One day Mob goes with Reigen and Serizawa on a job as usual. The spirit turns out to be dangerous, and Serizawa has to scramble to protect both Mob and Reigen. Mob stares into the empty space where the ghost must be and feels utterly useless. He ends up with a scraped cheek after the spirit tackles him to the floor. Reigen frowns at it for a long time on their walk back.

“Maybe it isn’t such a good idea for you to come on these kinds of jobs anymore, Mob,” he says at the end of the day, after he cleaned Mob’s cheek with a disinfectant wipe. “It’s too dangerous for you.”

And what about you? Mob wants to ask, but doesn’t. Instead he nods and picks up his things to go home. When he looks back, one hand on the door handle, Reigen is working on something on his laptop. He’s been unaffected by the scuffle earlier. Not a single hair out of place, his suit immaculate, not even sweat spots on the collar of his shirt. 

The longer Mob watches, the stranger the scene becomes. His own shadow seems to stretch from under his feet, spill across the room until it’s painted on the blinds of the window behind him – a distorted silhouette of a middle schooler tilting its head curiously towards Reigen. Mob blinks, and it’s gone.

“Goodnight, Shishou,” he says.

Reigen waves at him distractedly, not even looking up.

Weeks pass, and things seem to only be going downhill.

There are no more exorcisms, out of town jobs, sudden calls at inconvenient hours when Reigen finds himself in a bind he can’t get out of. When Mob comes to the office, he gets to hear all about strange clients and wild adventures from Tome and Serizawa, and it feels like something sharp and hot is jammed between Mob’s ribs. He doesn’t want to hear it, so he comes around less, except it only makes him feel worse.

He misses the feeling of power coursing through his fingers, the gratitude of their clients, the ridiculous situations that seemed to be part of every job. He misses Dimple’s crude jokes, Serizawa’s misplaced admiration, and Reigen’s…

Reigen doesn’t seem to be that different at first. He still gives Mob warm smiles, friendly pats on the back, hair ruffles. But overtime those small gestures seem get ever smaller, sparser, until one day he lifts his hand and bypasses Mob’s head reaching for the bookshelf, as though he suddenly changed his mind on touching him. 

For a moment Mob has an absurd petulant urge to grab that hand and put it on his skin, but then it’s gone and all that remains is a scratchy feeling at the back of his eyes, an overwhelming sense of loss. He blinks and blinks, to clear away childish tears, and can almost see an after image, the outline of a bowlcut drawn on the spines of the books.

“Shishou,” Mob says, trying to control his breathing, he doesn’t want Reigen to see him cry, “d-do you… not want me around anymore?”

This is the slow realization that has been creeping up on him, that without his powers there’s nothing tying them together, nothing Mob can offer in exchange for kindness, support and good advice.

Reigen jolts, turns back to Mob with both eyebrows raised.

“What? Mob, why would you say that?”

The tears won’t fall, but they cloud Mob’s eyes, making the room swim and blur.

“Y-you don’t–, don’t talk to me anymore since I lost my powers,” Mob breathes out.

Reigen steps closer, his hands flop uselessly in the air as he talks.

“No, no, Mob, that’s not true! I just– I thought you were happier now that they didn’t bother you. You can always talk to me about anything!”

He still doesn’t touch him, and Mob doesn’t know how to ask for something like this.

Mob’s distorted vision is playing tricks on him, because he thinks he sees his own face staring back at him over Reigen’s shoulder. He shakes his head.

“I used to think that I’d be better off without them,” he says in a small voice, “but now– I don’t get it! I accepted myself like you told me to, everything was fine – why are they gone now?”

Reigen scratches his chin thoughtfully.

“Hmm, maybe it’s just part of growing up? Don’t worry about it, you’re doing just fine without them!”

“But my powers are the reason I’ve met so many of the people I’m worried that I will lose them now that I’m no longer an esper.”

Reigen scoffs, “Give your friends more credit, Mob! They won’t abandon you just because you lost your powers.”

“What about you?” Mob asks.

“Me? Don’t be silly! Of course I’ll always be there for you. But, Mob, you’ve outgrown me a long time ago. You’ve got so many great things ahead of you, you’ve got to leave me in the past eventually.”

Reigen’s words aren’t as reassuring as they normally are.

When Mob goes home that evening, he pauses on the sidewalk outside the office, lifts his head to peer at the familiar window. His heart gives a painful twist.

He’s so sure he’s not imagining it – the blinds are still open, and on the other side of the glass there’s a faint shape of a person, dark shadow of a middle schooler looming over Reigen’s desk.

Mob stares at it and gets the unpleasant impression that it is staring back at him.

The last feeling that settles into Mob’s chest in the aftermath of losing his powers is a sense of deep steadily growing unease.

#i am continuing my lazy habit of reposting my twt threads here #at least I get to edit and format my stuff here #mobrei #reimob #mobreimob #???/reigen #shigeo/reigen #creepy spooky vibes #twt fic #mp100

[cloudsandwichsoup]

my next upcoming fic project is very self indulgent reigen and teru found family that i’ve been writing notes for since november. i can’t guarantee when it’ll be finished or if it’ll even be finished at all (i have to work on kel became after all) but i just want to share some of my favorite notes from that i’ve written so far… mostly the ones i think are funny.

notes for Sometimes What’s Best is an Added Expense (a Child) to Your Bank Account:

- serirei wedding probably,, teru wants them to get married anyways

- serirei would get together before terumob cause they silly like that

- serirei fake wedding cause of an exorcism job and teru is super excited (plot twist the clients were lying and just wanted proof that they were going to a wedding as an excuse not to go to another event plot twist 2 the ghost shows up after the clients admit it cause they hate when people go through loveless fake weddings for monetary gain) serirei confesses to make it go away

- reigen paints his nails with teru once cause son insists,, mob notices and reigen suggests that he should ask teru to do his. reigen high fives wawa after. he really thinks he’s the best wingman

- dad moment

- teru is a bit wary of wawa at first but they warm up to each other

- mob thinks they’re dating for a bit and teru is completely oblivious miscommunication hahahahahahahaha

- the miscommunication stems from a time shige and teru are having a sleepover and teru admits that he loves him when he thinks mob is asleep. he wasn’t. mob thinks for that as a queue that they’re dating now.

- shou shows up through ritzus window

- shou also crashes at serizawas when bored (which eventually becomes crashing at the reigen household and hanging out with teru)

- terizzki hanazawa reigen <<<<— arataka calls his son this when he tried to flirt with mob teru nearly explodes

- Reigen’s parents would go to a pride parade for their grandson (they still suck tho)

- sickfic serirei chapter except serizawa burns the soup cause he can’t cook and teruki has to come help him. teru and wawa bonding time while they cook together

- serizawa gets a part time job and teru finds him there,, he gets annoyed when he finds out seri doesn’t get paid minimum wage by rei

- teru takes mob to marshals (cause he shops there)

- teru “head over heels for mob” hanazawa

- terus new haircut‼️‼️ i lob his haircut and reigen makes fun of it all the time.

- reigen likes to cook but is too lazy (canon) he starts cooking for teru

- Teruki Hanazawa Serizawa Reigen (he has quite the collection of last names)

- SERIREI PROPASES AT THE SAME TIME

- tenga and teru talk sometimes

- WINGMAN TSUBOMI

- “SO WHAT IF MY DAD HAS BOOBS!?” (referring to katsuya serizawa) “hanazawa…”

- REIGEN NEEDS TO BE HONEST WITH HIM‼️(seriwawa)

- shou and ritsu spying on terumobs not date

- That’s so balls -ritsu

- i’ll just pretend to be your parent! i’ve got the hair, see! -reigen

- reigen having anxiety about seri leaving him after graduation and starting somewhere new. seri is working like 10 jobs just to stay at spirits and such as long as he can. (you’ll have to carry me out in a body bag to leave this job) teru finds it funny that they’re both idiots (he’s also idiot)

- “<3” “how can you even say that out loud!?”

- tome teru shou reigen serizawa family fr fr

there’s so much more but i’m just gonna leave it like this for now

#mobpsycho100 #hanazawa teruki #reigen arataka #mp100 #mp100 fanfic #i’m stupid at writing #literally half of this is super disorganized #i think dad reigen is silly #most these are about the ships but like that’s where most of the silly comes from #the notes with reigen teru family are actually serious #they are so family pls believe me #they are so gay #i call serizawa wawa a lot and it’s funny #WHAT WE GOING ON IN MY BRAIN WHEN I WROTE SOME OF THESE #my grammar is atrocious #malquease

[p-s-geeks]

Talking to Potted Plants

Reigen didn’t show the attachements that other people expressed with his plants. He didn’t give them names. It was, in his very humble but correct opinion, extremely immature. A tad childish. Akin to how kids name their stuff animals. It’s not his pet; it’s a tiny shoot in a tiny pot, doing nothing but taking sunlight and growing; why on Earth would Reigen demand its attention in any form or matter? He also never talked to them. He had skimmed through an article on the internet that talking to plants helps relieve stress and enhances its health; but he deemed it unecessary and entirely a waste of time. He had people to talk to, and he had fertilizers for enhacnement of growth. And he had Dimple if any otherworldly pest was to take over his plants. 

Shigeo gave him a potted lemon tree before leaving for University. It was no bigger than a pen cap, limp and soft with young cotyledons peeking out of the soil barely supported by a delicate stem. 

Shigeo’s University was a three hour drive away. And of course the life of a University student would make it difficult to travel that long every weekend. Reigen never could have guessed he’d travel so far the second he got the chance. This was an immense leap for him. He was as scared as he was proud and excited for him. 

It was night right now.

It was a tiring day at work earlier

Long story short, a spirit caused much mayhem in a Kindergarten out of all places. The in charge was knocked out unconscious by the spirit leaving a litter of crying kids in her wake. So they had to take care of the young kids as well as deal with the spirit. Naturally, Reigen left the exorcism in Serizawa’s able hands, and evacuated the kids while carrying their incharge on his back. He wasn’t the best with kids despite having mentored one for more than half a decade. And moreover...to see them feel so afraid of the outcome, to see their little hands trembling with fear and big eyes filled to the brim with nothing but tears; it nearly shattered his heart and strengthened his resolved. He channeled all his energy into silencing the kids. He concocted the best story he could about the spirit; how it was actually a good spirit who put their incharge to sleep because he thought she deserved it. How he felt like she needed more rest, that from then on they should do nice things for their incharge- like put away their toys in place or clean after themselves and stay obedient and compassionate. They were much relieved after that and had even started settling the mess on their own after Serizawa was done with it. 

Though after all was said and done; there was a heavy mental exhaustion that lingered on and on and refused to escape his brain despite his best efforts. His heart was still pounding at remembrance of those children, scared, lost, afraid. 

He slipped into his pyjamas (new ones, Serizawa got him for his birthday because he thought an able boss should have proper attire to achieve proper rest), and he wasn’t sleepy. He was scrolling through his messages on Mobbook. Gone were the days when his inbox and notifications were null; now he had three posts he was tagged in, two messages and a groupchat he had yet to reply to...

There was nothing about his past disciple.

Shigeo hadn’t posted in three months. Not that Reigen was stalking him! It’s just that sometimes he just gets...concerned when Shigeo doesn’t update him in...you know...three damn months. That title of his mentor never really parted with him, it was nearly instinctual- to wonder how he’s doing, if he’s eating well, if he’s adjusting to the new place and new people, if he’s gotten rid of his shyness while approaching people he gains feelings for, if his powers are not interfering with his life in vexing ways. 

He got up and stretched his muscles. No need to mull over this. He rarely gave news to his family when he was out in college. Shigeo’s just busy.

He still wanted to talk to him. 

Reigen was never really the person who opened up about stuff; so it wasn’t like he was going to pour fears and exhaustion out on the phone the moment he says ‘hello’. But his heart would be much relieved, if he were to hear his voice. Or even his messages, at the very least. 

It took Reigen a minute to realize the reason he desired talking to his disciple so strongly; he was much like those kids. 

Shigeo was, due to other reasons but regardless, just as scared and lost as they were. The fear of the future, the hesitation to seek help, the shimmer of undiluted hope and understanding in his eyes...Reigen’s seen it all. He’s lived through being the only beacon of light for despaired children. It seems like centuries ago, now. And now Mob’s been strangely out of touch and he can only wonder if he’s going to come back in his office with the same distress. That thought was terrifying. 

A gust of wind blew. It nearly knocked over Shigeo’s gift. Reigen hastily stumbled on his table and barely managed to save it from falling on the downstair neighbour’s car. He placed it a few inches behind its previous spot, which wasn’t saying much- but it was the thought that counted.

Reigen sat down beside the pot. Now that Shigeo had grown up and gone, there won’t be any problem in taking out a cigarette for old time’s sake. He rummaged through his drawers....well he was out of them. And as awake as he was, he didn’t have the physical strength to travel all the way to the store. 

He twirled his finger around one of the fresh leaves. It smelled strongly citrusy, and the scent was passed down onto his fingers. Reigen gave it a weary smile.

“Now I smell of lemons” he chuckled “maybe I won’t need a bath tomorrow”

There was an unspoken comment in the air

“Of course I’m going to take a bath regardless!” he insisted to the plant, whose leaves drooped like one’s eyebrows scrunches in judgement. Or maybe it was Reigen’s vivid nearly thirty’s imagination. Reigen groaned and buried his head in his elbows.

“This was tiring” he grumbled under his breath, still playing with the leaves. “Your gifter was just like one of those kids when I first employed him” he turned his head the other way, more comfortably, “Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to deal with...stuff like this. Kids are impressionable. If things were even slightly different with Mob...well, the outcomes would have been disastrous” Reigen sighed in melancholy “Yeah. Let’s not talk about this”

Reigen stood up straighter. “You really should tell that master of yours to call me once in a while, you know. For good measure. Lord knows what kind of disaster he’s gonna land up in if he doesn’t consult my expert advice at least once a month”

He chuckled, again, “Who am I kidding, though. He’s gonna be fine regardless. He’s grown to be a fine, independent man. For the most bit. He still can’t cook for shit, or so Ritsu complains every other day on his private account he’s not aware I follow”

Reigen pulled the plant closer “I should water you tomorrow morning. You seem a bit dry now. Good moisture....is....esseshil”

Reigen woke up the next morning with his window sill laced with his drool and the plant grown at least an inch’s wortho of length. 

He sent a picture to Shigeo before leaving for work. Shigeo replied with a smiling face emoji and facts about the flora of his own campus, which Reigen proudly relayed to his coworker with a beaming smile, and later at night; to his new potted companion. 

#reigen arataka #mob pyscho 100 #mob psycho 100 #fanfiction #drabble #not shipping please #but still!! love!! #i love them #gen fic

[ruthiswriting]

heart line

mp100 | serirei, reigen arataka, serizawa katsuya, kageyama ‘mob’ shigeo, AU, 6k | on ao3

It doesn’t really matter, he reminds himself. He’s making a change, just like all of Reigen’s clients. What’s on his hands isn’t set in stone. He just has to make sure Reigen doesn’t see it— even if it might feel nice to have that steady attention, Reigen’s hands that are so much nicer than Serizawa’s folding around his. 

(or: Reigen starts offering palm readings as a service, leading to Serizawa having to confront his feelings for his boss.)

this is pretty fluffy, only real tw is some self deprecating depression thoughts from seri.

-

One day, when he comes into work, Serizawa sees Reigen industriously spreading a new poster on the wall, next to the monthly specials.

“Oi, Serizawa,” Reigen says, head half turning, first in acknowledgment, then in focused interest. “Come help me finish putting up this poster— I can’t get the last corner. Or well, I could,” he allows, stepping away from the wall as Serizawa approaches, “but I don’t want to get the step ladder out of the storage closet, it’s always such a damn pain to dig it out. You had really good timing, you know…”

Serizawa comes in at the same time every day, so he hardly thinks it counts as good timing, but he doesn’t say anything. Reigen passes over a thumbtack that he’s been holding between his teeth— a terrible habit, one that always makes Serizawa’s stomach start doing awful twists when he sees him doing it— and Serizawa takes it, stepping to the wall.

The poster’s half up already, it’s really just this one corner that’s a bit awkward to get to behind one of Reigen’s potted plants. He smooths the corner out, hesitant, and carefully pushes the tack in.

“A little up,” Reigen directs from behind him, and even though Serizawa can’t see him he can feel the way Reigen’s head tilts to look under Serizawa’s stretched arm. “It needs to be straightened out— ah, the other side’s falling out, can you get that too? Serizawa! The bookshelf, watch it.”

After a few more tweaks, Serizawa finally manages to pin it to the wall in a way that satisfies Reigen. Serizawa runs two fingers over the slightly wrinkled corner— he can’t remember if it was already slightly bent, and he swallows nervously. But if Reigen notices, he doesn’t say anything, humming appreciatively. “Right. This’ll be good, people will walk in and see it with the monthly specials.” He stops, hands drumming on his hips. “Unless it should go on the far wall, while they’re sitting during the consultation? It works well as an add on, so maybe if they see it there it’ll drive more sales…”

Serizawa’s slowly processing the actual contents of the poster as Reigen hems and haws to himself. The center of the poster’s occupied with a giant stock photo hand, with arrows helpfully pointing to different creases and hills in the flat palm. A nauseating array of colors pinwheel around it, making it difficult to look away from once your gaze has drifted to it. PALM READINGS, the banner across the top screams out. LEARN ABOUT YOUR LIFE, LOVE, AND FORTUNE. Then, explosions of price points decorate the bottom.

Belatedly, he realizes he saw Reigen working on the poster yesterday during a slow hour in the office— slowly dragging together clip art in a way that he found appealing. Serizawa had avoided asking questions, since Reigen would then want his opinion on the poster, and Serizawa didn’t have the slightest clue about anything to do with design. Now, he could actually understand the poster for what it was.

“No, better to leave it here,” Reigen decides, bringing Serizawa out of his reverie. “Now, I’ve just got to add it to the website.” He sighs, scratching his cheek. “Damn builder’s always so tedious to fiddle with.”

“I didn’t know you could read palms, Reigen-san,” Serizawa says, still staring at the poster.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I read a couple articles about it over the weekend,” Reigen says, starting back to his desk. Then he half turns back, adding, “when you get to my level, it’s easy to pick up this kind of stuff, you know— it’s good to buff out your skills, too. Sort of…” He spins a hand in the air as he thinks. “Expanding your resume.”

Serizawa nods. This makes sense to him. To Serizawa, Reigen’s never had much of a recognizable aura— or really, he thinks privately, any recognizable ability at all. But he has a very long list of clients, successful exorcisms, and the attention of the most powerful psychic that Serizawa knows, besides maybe the president. Not to mention the entirety of CLAW’s former 7th Division’s admiration and respect. All of those people can’t be wrong, Serizawa reasons, so it must just be something that he’s missing. Serizawa misses a lot of things. And as Reigen’s repeatedly told him, his powers are just more spiritual, so him picking up a new ability with some light reading seems perfectly reasonable. “One of my classmates talk about learning coding a lot, since that’s good to have on a resume,” he says. “So it’s kind of like that, maybe.”

“Well,” Reigen pulls a face as he drops into his desk chair. “That’s a different kind of resume.” He swivels to his computer. “While I’m updating the website, Serizawa, can you look at the client list for the day?”

Serizawa hastens to look at the digital calendar that Reigen’s set up on his phone. “There’s a consultation in the morning, at ten,” he says. “Two massages in the afternoon… An exorcism at four.” Serizawa will be gone by then. Kageyama will be assisting with that exorcism— Reigen’s marked that on the calendar too, although Serizawa’s not sure Mob’s once looked at the calendar Reigen constantly refers to.

Reigen’s practically rattling the keyboard with the force of his typing. “Plenty of down time today, then,” he said. “I’ll be able to get this set up no problem.”

“Reigen-san,” Serizawa begins, awkward. “Should I…” Reigen’s stopped his punitive typing to stare at him, which always makes Serizawa’s words begin to stutter. He clears his throat and tries again. “To better assist the clients. Should I learn about palmistry, too?”

He doesn’t know why he asks. Most of the questions he asks feel pointless as soon as he says them, and this one’s ridiculousness is heightened by the way Reigen frowns. “If you want to,” he says, tone implying he’s not sure why Serizawa would. “I was planning on handling it, since it’s mostly interfacing with the clients, and you’re still getting comfortable there, but I wouldn’t stop you.”

Serizawa can’t stop the way his shoulders sink, and hurriedly, Reigen adds, “you’re doing fine, Serizawa— I’m glad you’ve got the initiative to ask about it. But I know you’re busy with your studies, so I didn’t want to take up your time unnecessarily. You’re already a great asset to the business.”

Again, Serizawa wants to protest, to say that really he should be doing so much more for Reigen than brewing tea and exorcising stray ghosts. But he shouldn’t argue with his boss, so he just nods, swallowing all of his words.

It only takes a few days for someone to take Reigen up on new special— a jittery looking college student with spectacles twice the size of her eyes. She comes about a necklace that she inherited from her recently deceased grandmother. Serizawa can’t see anything on it, and Reigen smoothly steps in to handle it. As he shreds rock salt over it and kept up a stream of gentle questions about her grandmother, the girl’s eyes roams over the wall, and she asks about the palm reading. Within seconds, Reigen has the lights dimmed, incense candles in Serizawa’s hands that are apparently his responsibility to light.

Reigen sits on the edge of his seat, face serious as he looks down into her upturned palm. She watches him with wide eyes. “It’s not so much that your palms determine your fate,” he explains to her, voice taking on a knowing, mystic quality. “It’s more that they’re a microcosm of reality… The big’s encapsulated in the small.” He draws one of his fingers along a crease in her fingers, barely a ghosting pressure.

As Serizawa struggles with the candles, the match in his hand finally catches, and the light blooms across her face. The beginning of a blush is striping across her nose.

“This is your head line,” Reigen says. Then his finger moves across another web. “Your heart line. Your fate line. And your life line.” For this last designation, his finger curves across the base of her thumb and comes to rest against her wrist.

“The life line,” she says, eyes wide. “I heard once that if you have a short life line, that means that you’ll die young.”

Discreetly, Serizawa peeks at his own palm, but he can’t track what any of the mess of creases are supposed to be when transposed onto his own hand. “Not necessarily,” Reigen says, shaking his head. “Your life line has more to do with your vitality. If it’s short or shallow, that’s not necessarily bad, but it might mean you need to make a change.” Reigen’s mouth draws into a frown. “…Have you been feeling disconnected from the people around you?”

“That’s exactly it,” she says, voice a relieved rush. “It’s been so hard, ever my grandmother died…”

The conversation streams on past Serizawa. He watches as Reigen gives her advice, her hand still resting comfortably between Reigen’s long fingers.

The palm readings only happen occasionally, but Reigen seems satisfied enough with their performance— like he said, it’s a nice add on. But on days when someone asks for one, they cling to Serizawa’s mind the entire train ride to his night classes.

Regardless of Serizawa’s perception of Reigen’s aura, he proves himself as a natural when he sits down with a client for a palm reading. No matter what he says, they always gasp in shock at how accurately Reigen’s pinned down their life with just a few sentences. Then, he’s immediately pinwheeling into advice on how best to fix their relationships, their jobs, their life.

He doesn’t like it. The idea that, just by looking at his hands, someone can accurately judge everything inside of him. Reigen never says anything bad about the clients, of course, but he’s sure that he has to see it. All of Serizawa’s mistakes are surely reflected in the creases of his hand— and he’s made a lot of mistakes.

Serizawa spends a lot of time staring at his hands on the train. They’re square in shape, with short, blocked off fingers, and a tangled mess of lines and mounds— what Reigen calls the bumps of flesh on the client’s hands. He doesn’t know what any of it means. He doesn’t think it could be anything good.

It doesn’t really matter, he reminds himself. He’s making a change, just like all of Reigen’s clients. What’s on his hands isn’t set in stone. He just has to make sure Reigen doesn’t see it— even if it might feel nice to have that steady attention, Reigen’s hands that are so much nicer than Serizawa’s folding around his.

The train rumbles under his feet, and hurriedly Serizawa tucks his free hand under his armpit. Like if it hand is out of his sight, the obsessive thought might be too. It doesn’t stop his eyes from ghosting over everyone else’s hands, that all surely say much better things about them than Serizawa’s.

He’s not doing a good job of not thinking about the hands.

Mainly, he keeps thinking about Reigen’s, which doesn’t bode well for Serizawa’s attempts at professionalism.

Serizawa realized fairly early on that his feelings for Reigen exceeded the typical respect one should have for an employer. It even went past the gratitude that one should have for someone who saved Serizawa’s life— because genuinely, Serizawa thinks that Reigen saved his life by giving him this job, when Serizawa didn’t even have a high school education or any practical experience beyond being a reformed terrorist. Even if Serizawa’s managed to stop referring to every manual of business practice as inarguable law, enough of them reiterated the extreme inappropriateness of workplace relationships that Serizawa figured it was a rule he should stick with. Their cautions at power imbalances, lack of professionalism, and the inevitability of messy breakups bang around in Serizawa’s mind every time he looks at Reigen.

Of course, it’s not like Reigen would want anything to do with Serizawa even without these restrictions. Reigen’s a good, helpful person, and he saw that Serizawa was in a bad spot, and wanted to do something about it. That was all. So, it’s up to Serizawa to draw a professional boundary. If he maintains a distance, that’s better for both of them— Reigen won’t have to deal with Serizawa’s messy, inappropriate feelings, and Serizawa won’t get hurt.

But the palm readings make that so much harder than necessary.

Reigen has nice hands, and he takes full advantage of them in every moment. They accent every word that Reigen ever speaks, making his case for him before he’s even begun a sentence. And when Reigen’s hands are making an energetic arc across the room, Serizawa keeps finding his mind going back to the dim office— the candles flickering in the dark, the sweet heady scent of incense. Reigen’s hands comfortably enveloping his hands.

Not his hands, really. It’s only Serizawa’s hands in his flushed, distracted imagination. He wishes, very desperately, that Reigen wasn’t so dedicated to the atmosphere of his services, but if he’s being honest with himself, Serizawa probably would have the same problem if Reigen conducted palmistry under the boring office lights.

It’s just Serizawa’s embarrassing personal problem. It’s something he has to deal with on his own. Another misguided crush on his employer— except he’s so sure that Reigen would let him down gently it burns.

It’s a slow day in the office when Reigen says, tone casual, “Serizawa, let me read your palm.”

Serizawa’s pen jags across the paper. He’s doing homework, which he always feels guilty for, even though Reigen’s repeatedly told him it’s fine, even offering to help him with any assignments he’s having trouble with. Now, he’s punished for slacking on the job by way of an unfortunate ink splatter obscuring a section of his notes. Serizawa feels a static charge draw up around his ears, and he takes a deep breath as he settles the pen against the page. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Serizawa says.

“Why not?” Reigen’s half out of his chair before he’s distracted by a loose set of papers about to escape his desk. He pins them down with a half full mug of tea, then continues his circuit around the desk. “We don’t have a client until later this afternoon, and it’ll be fun— enlightening, even. It’s a good team building exercise.”

He’s pretty sure Reigen just wants to put off the paperwork that he’s been complaining about the whole morning. It’s given him too much time to let his eyes drift across the room and watch Serizawa, probably monitoring any possible mistakes in his work. The palmistry poster’s right behind Serizawa’s head at his desk, so maybe that’s what made him think of it. Regardless, Serizawa does not want Reigen to be enlightened by anything about Serizawa. He clenches his hands into fists and sticks them under the desk, like maybe Reigen will forget about it if he can’t see them.

All the excuses collecting in his brain don’t make it to his mouth in time, and Reigen’s leaning against Serizawa’s desk. “Come on, Serizawa,” he entreats him, voice wheedling. “Don’t you ever unwind? It’s not bad to have a little fun when it’s slow.”

Serizawa can’t think of something less fun than his crush learning all of his secret and not-so-secret inadequacies while holding his hand. Plus, he’s sure that there’s something better both of them could be doing— that’s another thing the self help books harp on, that you can always find something to do to improve your workplace. But he’s not good at telling Reigen no. And so, in a matter of seconds, Reigen’s setting up the office as Serizawa watches, arms locked at his side.

“You don’t have to waste the incense candles,” Serizawa mumbles as Reigen energetically lights a match.

“It’s not a waste,” Reigen says firmly. “Anyway, I do my best readings when there’s a proper atmosphere.”

Since there’s no way to get out of this, besides maybe running straight out of the office and never coming back, Serizawa sits down at the table where Reigen always ushers their clients and waits. Reigen draws the blinds shut and then sits across from him, wiggling forward in his chair.

Reigen’s thighs sandwich the low table between them, pressing close enough for their knees to touch. Even though he’d dreaded the low lighting before, Serizawa’s abruptly grateful for the fact that Reigen can’t see the way his face heats in the dark.

And then, Reigen’s hands are taking his.

His hands are cool, maybe even a little clammy. They rest calmly against Serizawa’s over-hot skin, and Serizawa’s sure Reigen can feel the way that his pulse is rampaging in his wrist. Even before the palm reading’s begun, Serizawa’s hands apparently have the ability to betray him. He tries to swallow his nerves, again, force it all down. He can control himself, even if he’s feeling scared and lovesick. He’s not the person that he used to be.

Serizawa’s reminding himself of all of this, when Reigen says, very seriously, voice a low murmur, “you’ve got nice hands, you know.”

“What?” Serizawa blurts. “No, I don’t.” And then he flinches, immediately berating himself for contradicting Reigen.

Reigen’s eyebrows rise up, vanishing under his bangs. “Sure you do,” he says, insistent. And then, he turns Serizawa’s palm flat, running one electric finger around the circumference. “Square palm— short fingers. You’ve got earth hands. Means you’re reliable, Serizawa.”

Even though his brain is buzzing with this much prolonged contact— Serizawa’s not exactly had a lot of people spend extended time touching his hands, much less Reigen touching his hands— this sentence manages to drag him a little closer to reality again. Reigen just meant that comment in the context of palmistry, of course. He’s probably said similar things to his clients, even if Serizawa can’t exactly remember him saying them in this moment. He breathes.

After waiting long enough to realize that Serizawa’s not going to say anything in response, Reigen returns to tracing the lines of his hands. “Look here,” he murmurs, moving one finger down the center of his palm. “You’ve got a pretty pronounced fate line.”

And Serizawa knows, immediately, that that can’t be right. He’s heard enough of Reigen’s explanations to his clients to have learned that a deep fate line means you have control over your life— that outside actors don’t control your fate. Serizawa can’t think of something less likely to be applied to him. He feels his face sink, watching Reigen’s hand move, back and forth, over his own.

Reigen’s lying to him. He probably doesn’t mean it in a bad way. He probably wants to boost Serizawa’s abysmal self image, because Reigen’s good hearted like that. But it stings that he’d tell Serizawa falsehoods just to make him feel better, against something that demonstrably isn’t true. It calls into question every other good thing Reigen’s said about him.

“Aren’t you going to ask what that means?” Reigen’s eyes move up to look at Serizawa, burning holes in him.

Serizawa sucks in a breath that ghosts over his teeth. “Reigen-san…” He swallows, throat clicking. Every noise he makes suddenly feels so loud and over important when they sitting this close, without even the hum of fluorescent lights to drown it out. “I don’t really know if that makes sense, from what I’ve heard you say to the clients.”

Reigen’s eyebrows work together. “Your fate line can change over the course of your life, you know,” he says slowly. “Just like how you can change. It’s just a reflection of you.”

Serizawa lets his hand drop— it’s only Reigen’s interlaced fingers against the back of his hand that keeps his hand from knocking against the table. “I don’t know,” he mumbles. “I don’t know, if I’ve changed enough to justify that.”

“You’ve made a lot of changes,” Reigen says, still insistently not letting go of his hand. His fingers interlace into a cradle, and Serizawa can feel the press of Reigen’s index finger on one knuckle. “You’re taking classes. You chose to leave a harmful situation, when it would’ve been easier to stay. You’re working here. Serizawa, you’re the one that’s taking charge of your life now.”

But even that’s a falsehood. Serizawa knows, deep in his bones, that he never would have left CLAW on his own. He never would have been able to see past the circumference of his umbrella and his own starry infatuation. The only reason he was able to leave at all was because of Kageyama, forcing him out of the fantasy he was living in, and Reigen, offering him a lifeline when Serizawa was sitting in the absolute rubble of his fake life.

“Serizawa.” Reigen’s voice is suddenly sharp. “Are you really going to doubt an expert spiritualist such as myself?”

“N— no, I didn’t mean—“

“Then accept it. You’re the only one in charge of your life. Let’s look at something else more interesting,” Reigen says, immediately shifting gears and ending the conversational thread. “Your heart line, it looks like it’s pretty—“

And this is something that Serizawa absolutely cannot handle. He yanks his hand out of Reigen’s before he can stop himself. “Reigen-san,” he said, voice climbing an octave. “I don’t know if that’s— appropriate.”

“Eh?” Reigen’s blinking at him.

“I mean,” he pulls his arms back, keeping whatever incriminating information is inscribed on his hands safely hidden. “Isn’t it bad to discuss… Relationships, in the workplace?”

Reigen tilts his head like Serizawa’s said something foreign. “It’s perfectly normal,” he says. “I help Mob with his relationships all the time.”

That’s obviously completely different, Serizawa wants to say, but the words won’t come. Suddenly, he’s seized with the idea— Reigen already knows exactly what he’s thinking and feeling. There’s probably a specific triangle of flesh on Serizawa’s hand that communicates, this person is in love with their superior, and Reigen’s seen it and knows. Serizawa feels the redness climbing all over his face. He can’t stop himself from looking down, palm turning up as he tries to find whatever betrayed him.

And immediately, Reigen’s grabbed his hand again. Serizawa feels his brain misfiring as Reigen yanks it closer. “Look,” Reigen says, eager. “Yours begins below your index finger, from the edge of your palm.” He indicates it, and Serizawa desperately wishes his heart would stop jackhammering in response. His pulse is loud enough to hurt his head, so surely Reigen can feel it pounding in his grip. “Means you’ve got a giving heart, Serizawa. It’s pretty short, so you’re introverted… But deep, so relationships are definitely important to you.”

“Aren’t they important to everyone?” Serizawa asks, floundering for any type of purchase in this conversation.

“Not necessarily,” Reigen says. “I mean, think about it— you’ve definitely met people who’ve put more work into relationships than others, haven’t you? But you value the people around you, so your hands reflect that. Maybe even…” His hand traces a crease, and he wiggles an eyebrow at Serizawa. “Value of a specific person? Someone you have in mind?”

Bone deep shame makes itself known from within Serizawa’s marrow. His fingers automatically curl inward, in an attempt to hide, and suddenly, without realizing, he’s holding the tips of Reigen’s fingers under his.

He expects Reigen to pull back, automatic, but Reigen doesn’t move at all. All Reigen does is go still, not meeting Serizawa’s eyes all of the sudden. His nose dips forward to look down at their hands, hovering above the table. It’s like he’s shy. Reigen is never shy.

“It’s a good thing, you know,” he says. “You’d be a good partner.”

He’s staring down at their hands, resting against the table, still not moving to pull his fingers away, or even to spread open Serizawa’s hand to continue his relentless assault of kind words. It’s like he’s perfectly content to rest there, long fingers trapped in Serizawa’s grip, which is probably too tight and not at all pleasant. Serizawa keeps waiting and waiting for Reigen to pull away, but he doesn’t.

Then, suddenly, the door to the office buzzes, signifying a walk in client. Reigen pinwheels away so dramatically he almost falls off his chair. A little pop of psychic energy spreads out from Serizawa’s feet, lifting everything in the office just an inch off the ground before it drops again. Serizawa stands, frantic, looking for something to do as Reigen hurriedly draws open the blinds.

It’s too late, though. The unexpected customer’s standing in the entrance, staring at both of them. “Um,” he begins, phone held lamely up. “I saw the sign outside, and I was wondering if I could ask about getting some spirit tags…”

Reigen recovers admirably, immediately pivoting into welcoming the customer and acting like it’s perfectly normal for both of them to sit around in the dark with only candles to see by. Serizawa guesses it’s not totally unreasonable— it is a psychic business, after all. You’d only know it was strange if you were a regular customer, and this man isn’t.

The only thing that betrays it as odd is the red blush that’s spread all over Reigen’s face, even staining his ears. It couldn’t be because of Serizawa, of course— it’s just that a customer caught him off guard. It has to be that.

Serizawa stares at the back of Reigen’s flushed neck, and wonders.

The rest of the day is tense.

It’s not exactly like Serizawa and Reigen sit side by side all day, but Reigen normally will get up and come see what Serizawa’s doing. He’ll hang over him as he supervises his work, or offer suggestions on whatever homework assignment he’s working on. In general, Reigen seems to dislike sitting still for long hours. He tends to pace about as he verbally puzzles through work problems to Serizawa, or Mob, or, probably, to an empty room. But after the palm reading, Reigen stays firmly confined to his desk, not saying anything at all as he still fidgets. Even when a client comes for an exorcism and he has to get up, Reigen maintains an exaggeratedly respectful distance between him and Serizawa.

The palm reading plays on repeat in Serizawa’s head, offering new mistakes for Serizawa to fixate on each time. The more they sit in silence, the more Serizawa’s completely sure that Reigen knows exactly how he feels. Why else would he suddenly become so shy? He wishes, fervently, that he’d just managed to keep it to act normally. Maybe if he hadn’t made such a fuss about the whole thing he wouldn’t have made Reigen uncomfortable. Now it’s even more obvious to Reigen where his feelings lie. It must disgust him, to have to deal with Serizawa’s sad, misaimed emotions— pathetically clinging to any basic kindness shown to him.

The whole afternoon, Reigen’s ears stay red as he works at his computer, only stealing glances at Serizawa when he thinks Serizawa can’t see.

He has to say something. He has to to apologize to Reigen for making everything so awkward. Maybe if he promises that he can control his feelings, that it won’t get in the way, things could go back to normal. Serizawa wishes the earth would swallow him whole. But it won’t— not without Serizawa splitting the earth open himself, at least. But if Serizawa wants to have any chance of reintegrating into normal society he has to deal with his feelings in an adult way.

Of course, Reigen beats him to bringing it up, as Serizawa’s dragging up the nerve to say something at the end of the day. He’s just stood, closing his laptop as he says, “Serizawa,” and pauses immediately, scratching the back of his neck. “You know, when you mentioned inappropriate workplace relationships—“

“I promise it won’t get in the way of anything,” Serizawa says in an explosive rush. “Please don’t fire me.”

Reigen stares at him, one hand still resting on the back of his neck. This is a look that Serizawa’s unfortunately gotten to know quite well. It’s the look that Reigen gives him when he’s said something unexpected. Serizawa’s begun to mentally mark it as a sign as conversational failure. “Pardon?”

Serizawa was really desperately hoping that Reigen wouldn’t make him actually say it, but that was looking less and less likely. “When you read my palm,” he stammers out, clutching onto the edge of his desk for dear life. “I know maybe not everything you saw was— appropriate, or maybe it showed something it shouldn’t, but I promise I won’t let it get in the way of working here. I can maintain professional boundaries, and… And…”

His voice trails as he dares to look back into Reigen’s face. It’s completely red again, naked surprise totally dominating his features. His hand’s gripping the back of his chair, like it’s stuck there. Reigen very rarely holds still, but in this moment, he’s completely frozen in place. By shock.

Abruptly, Serizawa realizes he was wrong. Reigen hadn’t seen his feelings in the surface of his fingers. But if he didn’t know about it before, he definitely, definitely knows about it now.

For a split second, Serizawa’s certain the office will collapse around them— his powers going rampant one last time to spare him this complete embarrassment. But all that happens is the furniture trembles, once. Serizawa supposes, under the part of his brain that’s screaming for death, that it shows he’s made good progress on controlling his powers.

He stands robotically. “I should go,” he says.

“No— no,” Reigen suddenly blurts, and he unsticks himself from behind the desk, racing across the office after Serizawa. “Serizawa, wait—”

Serizawa trips over his chair in his rush to leave, which gives Reigen the time to grab his arm before he reaches the door. It would be very easy to pull free and continue his frantic path onto the street and into the horizon, but the feeling of Reigen’s fingers digging into the side of his arm totally arrests Serizawa. He freezes, staring down into Reigen’s still beet-red face.

Reigen’s face is twitching in some kind of worrisome motion— he really looks like he’s about to have some kind of seizure, especially when his complexion is still so totally red. But finally, he manages to speak. “Our heart lines might not be so different, you know,” he says, voice wobbling just a little from— nerves? That can’t be right. Unless Reigen’s so totally disgusted by him that he’s nervous to be around him, now. But he’s holding on so tightly. Like he doesn’t want Serizawa to go.

Serizawa’s eyes slide away, not wanting to look at Reigen dead on, but then Reigen tugs his arm, insistent, trying to get his attention again. “Obviously, the qualities that we have, and the ways that we love— hypothetically— are very different,” Reigen says, voice gaining volume. “But, maybe similar things are revealed if you look closely. Just… A little closer.”

And then he doesn’t say anything, staring wide eyed at Serizawa. He’s clearly waiting for something, as Serizawa’s brain shudders to put the pieces together past every instinct that’s screaming at him to escape. Serizawa can’t conceive of a person being more different from him than Reigen. Any kind of similarity seems like too much to imagine. A similarity of the heart line? Maybe, Reigen has some of the good qualities he’s superimposed onto Serizawa, and that’s what he means. Or maybe— maybe—

Before he can stop himself, Serizawa’s hand slides up to grab the one that Reigen’s got on his arms. This time Reigen’s hand is damp with sweat. So is Serizawa’s, and he can’t imagine that it’s a pleasant experience for Reigen. Still, Reigen spreads his fingers, interlacing Serizawa’s fingers with his as they fall to the side.

“Just a little closer,” Reigen says again, voice almost a whisper as he steps into Serizawa’s personal space. The gap between their bodies narrows, and then vanishes, Reigen’s torso pressing against Serizawa’s.

It seems, impossibly, to be what Reigen wants. So before he can stop himself, Serizawa dips his head and kisses Reigen.

Reigen’s body leans up and into Serizawa, his free hand reaching up to touch his face. Underneath the fireworks happening behind Serizawa’s eyelids, there’s a moment of terror at Reigen touching his face— like he’ll find some patchy place where Serizawa missed shaving, or the pockmarked memory of an acne scar, and abruptly snap out of whatever insanity’s fallen over him. But Reigen touches his cheek gently, so, so, gently, and the fingers encircling Serizawa’s only tighten.

He’s sure, from any objective standpoint, it’s not a very good kiss— Serizawa’s never kissed anyone before, so his skills are probably awful. But it also means it’s the best he’s ever had. He never wants to come up for air.

Eventually, though, their faces break apart. Reigen’s face is still twitching a little, but now it’s up into an almost manic smile. Serizawa’s starting to wonder if the blush across Reigen’s face will ever subside. “This is,” Reigen begins, and then stops.

Reigen’s words rarely stop, and the silence stretches on for a few uninterrupted seconds until Serizawa realizes that genuinely, Reigen’s lost for words. A laugh threatens to break loose from Serizawa’s chest, but he doesn’t want it to seem like he’s laughing at Reigen. He only wants to express that whatever Reigen’s feeling, Serizawa understands. Completely and totally. It’s something he feels confident of when typically, Serizawa feels confident of nothing. So he just smiles, hoping that maybe, Reigen will understand too.

“I should have gotten into palmistry earlier,” Reigen says finally, and at that Serizawa can’t suppress his laugh. “Clearly I should screw around reading articles on the weekend more.”

“This wasn’t the reason you learned about palmistry,” Serizawa says, laugh still making his voice shake.

“Hell no,” Reigen snorts. “I just wanted to find another way to make a quick buck.” Then, immediately, he adds, “and also help our clients find out important truths about themselves, and the universe, of course—”

“While making a quick buck,” Serizawa says. It feels too joking, too disrespectful, but then, Serizawa’s just kissed Reigen. Reigen’s kissed him back. Worrying about professionalism seems suddenly pointless.

Reigen raises an eyebrow at him. “Sassy. Just don’t say that to the clients, Serizawa.”

His hand’s still clinging to Serizawa, gently swinging between them. Impulsively, Serizawa brings the hand up to his mouth, kissing the knuckles. Reigen’s breath pulls in, and Serizawa feels his face heat. He suddenly realizes that really, he has no idea what Reigen expects from this. They could be on completely different pages, Serizawa could be moving too fast, he could be doing everything all wrong.

But Reigen’s smiling at him. It’s a smile that he hasn’t seen before— totally unlike the dazzling grins that he gives his clients, and everyone he’s trying to convince to believe him. It feels different. The other smiles, Serizawa realizes, are something that Reigen puts on, in the same way that he puts on his tie in the morning. This one is real. This one is for Serizawa.

There’s a part of his stomach that’s still telling him this whole thing is a bad idea. Every chapter on workplace relationships he’s taken careful notes on is flashing on the back of his eyelids when he blinks. But, more and more, Serizawa’s realized that Spirits and Such is far from a typical office environment. Serizawa’s not a typical employee, and Reigen— wonderful, strange, perfect, Reigen— is not a typical boss.

When they walk out of the office, Reigen’s still holding his hand. Serizawa hopes, impossibly, that he never stops.

#reigen arataka #serizawa katsuya #serirei #mob psycho 100 #oneshot #fanfic

[casualearthquaketurtle]

Random Rambles ft. Cat Cafe AU

So, my braincell is screaming out ideas left and right, it's about Cat Cafe AU and Among Us AU but Cat Cafe AU was screaming louder-

- Mob and Tome own Spirits and Such after Reigen and Serizawa retire

- They're still doing regular walk-ins and stuff.

> Mob handles the exorcism stuff and also does counseling when clients need it

> Tome is basically Reigen but with her own style and knows how to bs her way against an unwanted client

- Okay, the origin of the cafe is when Mob and Tome are closing up for the day and the landlord of the building asks them if they know anyone who would be interested with the available space down stairs

- Since they're both okay with the guy they tell him they'll ask their acquaintances or something

- While they're walking back to their shared apartment (they're best friends and rent is expensive), they see a box full of cats

• Tome: *sees cats* MOB! LOOK!!

• Mob: *crouches down to see the cats closer* Aww, I think they're a family Tome

• Tome: You think? They are a family Mob! A cute ass family!

> Tome loves cats just like Mob

> They look for and feed strays on weekends

- Both Mob and Tome are just gushing about the cats, petting them and stuff

- After at least a solid half hour of them just adoring the adorable strays they're both happy, smiling dorks

• Mob: I really want to bring these guys back to the apartment...

• Tome: Then let's bring them!

• Mob: We can't though, the family's too big and our landlord doesn't allow pets, remember?

• Tome: Shit- But I don't want to leave them :(

• Mob: We can come take care of them this Saturday

• Tome: That's too fucking long Mob!

• Mob: *sighs* I know... Maybe if we had a cat center or cafe maybe we could take them in...

- Something clicks in Tome's brain

• Tome: :0

• Tome: Mob you absolute genius!

• Mob:

• Mob: what?

- The next day they talk to the landlord about animal policies and about renting the space down stairs

- Since the landlord is okay with animals as long as they don't cause lawsuits with anyone and gives them a discount (at least 25%, though Tome tried for 30%) on the space since they're already renting

- And before they know it they're already applying for a loan

- Luckily since Tome and Mob learned a lot from Reigen, they manage to get a few items cheaper

- They take in the cat fam during the process of making the cafe

> Mob named four cats Mochi, Strawberry Milk, Cheesecake, and Matcha

> Tome named three cats Momo, Andromeda, and Aries

- After months of fruitful labor they finally open it up

> They both take turns at the register

> Mob is the one to make the meals and pastries (I firmly believe in the headcanon Mob is great in the kitchen) while Tome does the drinks and serving

- The cafe gets some good traction for the first week and Spirits and Such is still getting clients and appointments like always

- Since they're still accepting walk-ins they both take turns depending on the reason why the client is there

> Like Mob deals with counseling and Tome handles massages

- Sooner or later they start to need extra help since they have two businesses running so they call up their friends

- Takenaka is a frequent one working at the cafe but he only comes in during slow days when Mob and Tome do more field work

> Sometimes the rest of the old Telepathy club come to work at the cafe

> Also, the Body Improvement club help with moving supplies into the storage room

- Teru, Ritsu and Shou comes on the busier days since they need all the help they could get and they still have to deal with the appointments

- At some point Tome and Mob find a cat in a salt box and their immediate reaction is;

• Both:

• Both: Reigen

- They take in the cat and show it to human Reigen and Serizawa when they come to visit

• Reigen: *petting the cat* What's his name?

• Tome: *serving them their drinks* Reigen

• Reigen: What

• Mob: *from the kitchen* We found him in a salt box

• Reigen:

• Serizawa: ... I mean... He does look like you...

- Also, Ritsu has a wanted poster on the cafe's bulletin that says "Spoon Bender: Do not let in the kitchen"

> The picture of Ritsu came from Shou

> Mob made the poster after Tome complained for the 40th time about Ritsu bending the spoons

I'm very sorry for this huge block of text that is my rambling

#mp100 #mob psycho 100 #long post #cat cafe au #i rambled about this on discord but it was more than the word limit #it couldnt send so #i rambled this to my friend who is yet to reply #tome and mob friendship is important #but they could get romantic subplots since ya know #its a cafe au #i might do this for the among us au too #but seriously #we lack in cat cafe fics

[nyndelion]

共感 - empathy -

MP100; Serizawa & Reigen centric fanfic

SFW, general audiences, no pairings, AU

Wordcount: 2058

AO3 link

“Reigen-san… Why don’t you relax and take a break for a bit?”

The blonde looked up from his laptop to the man sitting across the room, feeling his facial muscles stiff and tired, especially around his eyes. “You don’t know how much I literally can Not do that right now without my business to collapse before my very eyes, Serizawa” Even as exhausted as he looked – and sounded -, he still conveyed his words dramatically, punctuating every other expression with his usual wild gestures, achieving to make Serizawa’s mouth corners lift slightly. “This is serious business, after that quite problematic case we had this week, I really got to work my ass off so we don’t get sued, and also I am late with taxes, which is the last thing we need after all that” He returned his eyes to his laptop screen. “Doing taxes correctly could be the sole difference between a running, successful business and a sinking one”.

Serizawa stayed silent, but kept looking at his boss. Reigen’s face was being illuminated by the computer screen, adding a creepier and sick looking glow to it, intensifying by the minute as the sun started to set outside, darkening the already closed Spirits & Such office, where the two men kept working on different kinds of paperwork. He looked down to his hands, fidgeting absentmindedly; Serizawa knew he couldn’t really help his boss with what troubled him right now, given he was extremely inexperienced in all this ‘serious intimidating adult stuff’, as he prefers calling it, and suggested Reigen to take a break in the first place as it was the only thing that he came up with after at least 20 minutes of being the only witness to the greatly unpleasant vibes he was letting swarm all around the office.

The truth no one else knew yet is, after his first encounter with Shigeo Kageyama at the stairs of that building in the center of Seasoning City two and a half months ago, Serizawa got a new power off of Shigeo’s display of empathy towards him when he returned the ball of energy that was tossed at him by accident, resulting in Serizawa to be able to sense other people’s most intense emotions, even if they weren’t ESPers themselves. He was able to sense, and even sometimes clearly see how that intense emotional energy spread in the ambient, and how it interacted with the energy of animals, plants, minerals, and other people.

He had to admit that a couple of weeks after gaining this new ability, and after getting used to it and recognizing the similarities in the more usual emotions and the way different people used to release the analogous energy, it was very useful in everyday life. He could prevent himself from interacting with angry strangers that might lash out on him simply because he wanted to know where the soup aisle was in the convenience store, or be more mindful and kind if interacting with someone that was trying really hard not to let out an especially dreadful sad energy. So yeah, for someone that struggled reading new circumstances and that tends to overanalyze everyday social situations to the verge of anxious breakdowns, it was a very useful tool at trying to be more independent and navigate casual human relationships more confidently.

However, these new ‘empathy powers’ could be perplexing in other circumstances, such as interacting with someone every day. And even more perplexing if that someone was, well… Reigen.

Serizawa wasn’t complaining, not at all, but he also couldn’t really lie to himself about this. If social relationships and being able to ‘read the mood’ successfully were a mystery to him back then in grade school, and even more after being a hikikomori for so long, existing around Reigen and being able to sense his many fluctuating, often contradictory and usually intense emotions without enough verbal correlation that served as an explanation or context for such sudden changes made their time together at the office – that is, while not doing any exorcism job- a hell of a ride for him, as a certified anxious overanalyzer he was.

So, even is this has been a rather calm day at the office and he could finally get some school assignments done before going home, at some point of the evening the dreadful energy emanating from the self-proclaimed Greatest Psychic of the 21st Century started to distract him from his task, and also to slightly upset him. He could sense stress, fear, a little bit of anger, and something else there he couldn’t really place, that he didn’t sense before he tried to talk Reigen into taking a break. It was something bittersweet that seemed almost out of place in the mix, but that was surely filtering all the energy and spreading in every direction, circulating viciously as if made out of thick smoke, hovering the plants that Reigen kept there and tried to take care of, slowly infecting their faint pale green auras.

Serizawa decided he needed to do something, even if it was a small gesture. Now Reigen had started to stamp his feet rhythmically, adding more frustration to the emotional soup, in pumps that mixed extremely well with the prevailing anger, enhancing it. He thought he better change his strategy; he had already tried talking to convince Reigen he needed a break, and he had been around long enough to realize insistence didn’t work well with him, given he could easily turn the tables around in any kind of debate. So he stood up and went to the kitchen.

He started by boiling some water, and reaching out to the assorted tea box from the counter cabinet. He then saw the dark brown box that was hidden behind the other, more colorful one, and remembered the time Reigen told him to keep it a secret from the teenagers that used to frequent the office a couple of days every week, since it was his preferred dark chocolate he kept for special occasions, such as when he had an unusual sweet tooth day. Serizawa connected the dots and realized that the ‘sweet tooth days’ were those when Reigen released more of what seemed sad energy all of a sudden, which perplexed Serizawa because he didn’t have almost anything to work out the reasons that could have triggered those sad emotions waves. He could only guess it seemed to be something unpleasant he saw on his computer.

Suddenly, he thought… maybe that out of place emotion he sensed that beamed from Reigen after he told him to go take a break was sadness? No, it was clearly something else, but it was quite similar. Maybe it was a complex emotion that had sadness into its mix.

By now, the water he put in the electric kettle had finished boiling, so he took the box that was hiding at the end of the counter and proceeded to make some chamomile and honey tea for his boss. He realized the chocolate box was halfway eaten already, and doubted if it was ok to bring it to him all of a sudden, without him asking to… But then he sensed another frustrated / anxious / angry / bittersweet unplaced emotion wave reaching him and he knew it was the right thing to do right now. Didn’t Reigen tell him more than once to trust his inner voice more and make decisions by himself in order to learn how to be a fully functional, contributing member to society? Maybe this was a good way to practice.

After taking the tea mug and the chocolate box in his hands, Serizawa stood in the kitchen for some seconds before going out to the main office room, breathing deeply through his nose a couple of times to relax and think about the exact words he was going to say. This was another technique his boss taught him, originally to be used before talking to customers, and he has been using it to any other occasion that seemed to get him nervous, since now that he didn’t have his umbrella he realized he needed all the help he could get to get a hang of how unpredictable and chaotic adult life could be.

Finally, he could gather himself enough to come out of the kitchen and approach Reigen’s desk determinately. He didn’t seem to realize he was heading to his desk until he was handing him the mug and the chocolate box. New –and old- emotions were now pumping from him, adding to the soup… Surprise, confusion, that bittersweet emotion again. No anger though; good to go, then.

“Hey, Reigen-san, I thought I should bring you something to help you, and given I couldn’t really help directly with the task you were working on, I figured that maybe I could help with the relaxing part a bit… I hope that’s ok” He turned his eyes away from Reigen’s, not being able to maintain eye contact for much longer as he realized the other man’s gaze was getting more intense. He sensed the surprise to give itself way further into the atmosphere, tuning down the more intense stressful emotions, but also giving more space to the bittersweet emotion to intensify. It was a little different than before, though…

“Ah, Serizawa! Did you suddenly become a telepath?” Reigen’s tone of voice and teasing attitude was very off tune with what his emotional energy gave off, as usual. Serizawa got stiff after the last part. “Hey, that was a joke! Everyone knows telepathy is a bunch of bullcrap, remember you don’t have to take everything so seriously” Reigen finally took the mug and chocolate box from his employee’s hands, letting out more of that weird bittersweet emotion as he put the chocolate box in his desk and proceeded to open it. Now that Serizawa was getting more familiarized with this emotion, he could sense it was morphing to something… warmer? “Y’know, I guess it’s time for a well-deserved break… Hmm?” He screened rapidly at Serizawa, “You didn’t make some tea for yourself? Aren’t you taking a break too? It won’t contribute to a good break atmosphere if you just keep stressing over your homework” he stated, matter-of-factly.

“Yes, sir!” Serizawa went back to the kitchen and prepared himself some green tea with mint. When he stepped back in the office he could sense how the energy changed drastically, now everything was tinted with a warm kind of drowsiness, an energy that surely was fainter than the last stress emotion soup they were being affected by, but that was effective enough to almost wipe it out completely, only a vague sense of nervousness and that bittersweet morphed feeling fluttering around. Also now there was a calming classical music video Reigen was playing on his computer, while sitting on one of the armchairs, across the coffee table Serizawa was using as a desk. He was sitting with his legs crossed, fully supporting his back in the armchair, while taking one chocolate square from the open chocolate box that now was placed in the middle of the coffee table. It seemed he was taking this break very seriously.

Serizawa sat across Reigen in the other armchair. The later coughed a couple of times before talking in a nonchalant way, as if sharing a random thought “I just remembered, I read the other day a quote from this very successful businesswoman on FriendBook, that it’s important to remember any time you apparently are getting stuck into a problem that seemed unsolvable to not let it fool you, no problem in life is unsolvable. You just need to take a break, do something that helps you clear your mind, and look at it in another perspective. Y’know Serizawa, that could really help you in your studies if you find yourself in a seemingly dead end. Remember this advice next time you feel like you need to take a break, and let me now, ok? I’ll try to do the same”.

“Yes, that seems very reasonable” Serizawa held his mug with both hands, staring down at his tea with a soft smile in his mouth, feeling the much calmer atmosphere that surrounded his boss, and realizing the new warm feeling that emanated from him could be placed as gratitude. His new Reigen-convincing technique was officially a hit.

#mp100 #mob psycho 100 #fanfic #serizawa #reigen #serizawa katsuya #reigen arataka #mp100 fanfic #not serirei per se but can be read as pre-serirei #empath!Serizawa #nyn.doc #pls give me feedback if u can!

[grandmasterreigen]

For the prompts, how about 72, "You deserve so much better.”? And congrats again on passing the exam!!!

@creativeoutlook​​

THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS <3 I ended up combining these two prompts because they worked super well together and ended up with a 1.5k monster drabble. I hope you enjoy it!! 

For the dialogue prompts “You deserve so much better” and “I got you a present.” 

--

When Teru wakes up early in the morning on April 13th, the apartment is silent and dark.

Like it always is.

He should be used to it. It shouldn’t bother him anymore. Most days he can pretend it doesn’t, that everything’s fine, that he’s fine, and most days he can even convince himself that it’s true.

But today’s his birthday, and the loneliness of facing another day alone weighs him down into his mattress with leaden limbs and a growing pressure behind his eyelids.

It’s mornings like this that he lets himself dwell, just for a few minutes, on what he used to have. To waking up on his birthday to smiling faces and whispered congratulations, to an extra special breakfast and the promise of yakiniku after school, to a day of happiness instead of isolation.

He almost skips school. He knows no one will even remember it’s his birthday anyway, and why should they? He’s fifteen now, way too old to care so much about something so stupid.  It shouldn’t bother him. He’s Hanazawa Teruki. He’s a straight-A student with awesome fashion sense and enough maturity to hold a part-time job on the side. How many of his peers could claim the same? Almost none of them, that’s who.

He forces himself out of bed and doesn’t bother making breakfast at all. He’ll pick up a sweet bun of some sort at a convenience store instead, maybe a coffee with extra cream. Some cake on the way home. He’d normally make it himself, but, well.

He doesn’t really have the energy to bother today.

 --

 The apartment is as cold and empty as Teru’d left it, and for once he doesn’t care enough to put away his schoolbag. He leaves it on the ground, his uniform in a heap next to it instead of carefully hung in the closet, and sets the slice of cake he’d picked up at a bakery on the table.

He checks his phone for what has to be the hundredth time so far. Nothing. Of course. He shouldn’t feel so hurt by this – what did he expect, really? It’s not like his parents had remembered the year before, either.

Sorry we forgot! Happy belated birthday!

Not even a phone call. Just a six-word text two days late.

Teru almost turns off his phone entirely. He’s just riling himself up with all this pointless anticipation. Instead he compromises, setting it on the table within easy reaching distance while he queues up an old home video on his laptop.

The cake is stunning. White cream with meticulously crafted yellow and pink flowers, perfectly baked and spongy. It tastes like ash.

When his ringtone suddenly breaks the silence, Teru knocks what’s left of the cake to the ground in his haste to grab the phone. He fumbles, almost swipes in the wrong direction and breathlessly says, “Hello?” without even checking the caller ID.

“Oh, hey, Teru! It’s Reigen,” the caller says cheerily, and for the first time in his life Teru can’t stand the sound of his voice. Why him? Why did it have to be him? He knows he’s being unreasonable, unfair. He really looks up to Reigen, and normally getting calls from him is the highlight of his day.

But Reigen’s not the one Teru was hoping would be on the other end of the line.

“…able to help me out with an exorcism job today? Shouldn’t take long, but Mob was busy and couldn’t make it… Hello? Teru? Are you there?”

“I’ll be over in fifteen minutes,” Teru says, and he hangs up before Reigen can respond. It’s a little petty, but whatever. It’s his birthday, he can be petty for once if he wants to be.

 --

 The office is dark when Teru walks up, and he regrets hanging up on Reigen now. He was probably supposed to meet Reigen at another location, and now he’s letting him down. All that pettiness Teru was holding onto washes away with a wave of regret. What if Reigen doesn’t call him again after this because he thinks Teru’s unreliable? Teru was acting like a kid. He’s fifteen, he should be able to control himself better. He’s still reprimanding himself as he tests the office door.

It’s unlocked.

Reigen never leaves the office unlocked when he’s out, but the lights were off. The world narrows down around him, and he pushes open the door, dread and apprehension lodging in his throat as he peers into the office ready to employ defensive measures at any moment –

“Surprise!” an assortment of voices yell, and power is already sparking at Teru’s fingertips by the time what he’s seeing registers.

Shigeo and Ritsu are standing behind Reigen’s desk where they’d been hiding. They’re both smiling with so much enthusiasm, Shigeo’s lack of reservation so refreshing and bright. Shou is lounging on the couch, grinning widely and holding what looks like an explosion of wrapping paper. Tome lets loose a party popper, sending a spray of rainbow confetti.

“Happy birthday!” she yells with a dramatic spin, snapping something off the couch and dumping it onto Teru’s head. He reaches up in a daze, touching the smooth plastic of a party hat.

Reigen and Serizawa are here too. They’re standing off to the side, both smiling at him with matching proud expressions.

“Happy birthday, Teru,” Reigen says. He holds up a box impeccably wrapped in bright paper. “I got you a present.” Teru can see tiny white scuff marks on the paper where the tape had been removed more than once, indicating a less-than-perfect start to the wrapping process. It’s just a little bit wrinkled where the paper has been refolded.

It must have taken ages to get right.

“We all did!” Shou chips in, launching himself over the back of the couch with a much more… creatively wrapped box. Teru just stares dumbly at it until Shou practically forces it into his hands. “Come on, dude, take it. It’s for you. You’d better like it.”

Outwardly, Teru recovers quickly, even as he reels internally. “You guys didn’t have to go to all this trouble,” he says, and he means it. The more he looks around, the more he realizes just how much work went into all of this. The entire office is done up with streamers, a lopsided banner hanging over the window that declares Happy Birthday Teru in painstakingly handwritten letters. There’s a homemade cake on the coffee table, unevenly cut strawberries set in a mostly-circular pattern in the frosting. It’s listing slightly to one side. It looks like the best cake Teru’s ever seen.

This was all for him. They spent all this time for him.

Teru’s phone is a deadweight in his pocket. He’s spent all day with his hand hovering near it, just in case one of his parents actually bothered to call. He’s been waiting for so long for any sign of love from them without anything, not even a text.

He slips a hand into his pocket and holds in the power button to shut it down.

 --

 It’s dark outside by the time everyone goes home. Shigeo and Ritsu are the first to go, followed closely by Shou and Tome when Reigen not-so-subtly reminds her of the curfew her parents set. Serizawa’d left to get a pack of trash bags, Reigen’s meager stock having been almost immediately depleted.  

“Did you have a good time?” Reigen asks as he wipes a glob of frosting off the table. Teru waves a finger and confetti flies up from the ground, spiraling neatly into the trashcan. His spare hand absently fingers the soft material of the bright green sweatshirt Reigen had gotten him. It has a big decal of a dog across the front, and if Teru’s being honest it’s not quite his style.

It’s too warm out to be wearing it, but he doesn’t really care. He doesn’t ever want to take it off.

“Yeah,” Teru says. It’s quiet now that almost everyone’s gone, and he chews the inside of his mouth nervously. “You really didn’t need to do all of this. I didn’t mean to put you all out like this.”

Reigen stares at him, almost incredulously. It melts away almost immediately into one of understanding, and he offers an only partially convincing smile. “You were alone, though, right?”

Teru freezes, and he searches Reigen’s expression for any sign of pity. He can feel the defensiveness already rising up, emotions still raw from the earlier hours of the day. “I’m used to it. It doesn’t bother me,” he says.

Reigen isn’t smiling, but he’s not pitying, either. He reaches over and pulls Teru into a loose hug, giving Teru plenty of time to back away first. Teru doesn’t resist.

“You deserve so much better,” Reigen murmurs into Teru’s hair. He tightens his hold, and after a few seconds Teru reaches up and hugs him back, fingers curling into the fabric of Reigen’s shirt.

Teru knows he’ll never stop wishing it was his parents here with him, telling him that he mattered. But he’s got Reigen, and Shigeo, and all the others, and for now that’s enough.

#mp100 #mob psycho 100 #teruki hanazawa #reigen #reigen arataka #teru #prompt fill #my writing #i'll probably post this on ao3 later!! #anyway I really hope you enjoy <3 #i can't for the life of me get the read more link to work so i'm sorry to mobile users #i didn't proofread at all so i'm sorry if there are mistakes lmao #aeru.stuff

[simpleidiotpsychic]

Serizawa Week Ficlet #2: Power

@serizawaweek2019

Day 2: Gen. Tome learns the true extent of Serizawa’s powers.

AO3 Link

“Fuck,” Reigen wheezed.

It occurred to Tome in that moment that he didn’t usually swear in front of her. She’d assumed he just never swore in general, but now she had a flash of suspicion that he consciously chose to wash his mouth out around her and Mob.

What the hell, Reigen. She was 17, not a baby.

But this thought came and went very quickly because they were both currently running for their lives, and that was a more pressing issue to attend to.

The forest around them bent with a cracking and snapping of trees, like they were wrenching their own roots out of the ground. It was only a little farther until she and Reigen made it back to the village at the edge of this cursed woods, but the sun was blotted out by a mass of darkness chasing after them. At this rate it would catch up to their heels in no time.

Tome had abandoned her dress shoes to run better, and her socks were absolutely sloshing with mud. She wasn’t used to running in a suit either. Since this was the first weekend job they’d allowed her on, she thought she’d put on the charms and prove herself as a useful marketer, fashion and all. She wanted more experiences that could actually be put on a college application when the time came, and maybe she’d been a little inspired by Reigen’s general getup as well. But now even the memory of how snazzy she’d felt earlier was a little bitter with how much the nice blazer weighed her down. At least a suit was better than her school skirts for running, but her tie kept flapping around her head like it was trying to attack her face.

She didn’t want to die looking so stupid. Least of all with Reigen.

“Fuck fuck fuck!” he was spouting like a mantra, stumbling out of the way of a falling log. He threw his arm across Tome’s back--either to keep spurring her onward or to shield her from something, she didn’t have time to check--and then the whole earth heaved under them, throwing them up into the air. Something grabbed her before she fell back down again. The world spun and jerked around. Then she found herself hanging upsidedown with her legs held fast by something itchy like ivy. She blew her tie and her hair out of her mouth. The darkness had caught up with them and she couldn’t see a thing.

“Reigen-san!”

“I’m working on it!” came his voice from beside her, but she wouldn’t be surprised if he was similarly confined.

Well. They’d lost.

“My mom’ll never forgive me if I die!” she yelled, and the darkness grew thicker, suffocating. It was like she could feel it sticking to the insides of her lungs. This wasn’t even supposed to be a real exorcism! It was supposed to be a networking event!

“Your mom will never forgive me, she practically murdered me just because you lost your uniform’s tie--”

“It was your fault for not going down that sewer after it--”

“Are you telling me you’d gladly wear a sewer tie?”

“You’re the worst!”

“I know! Shut up!”

Then all of the sudden the darkness exploded in a blinding wash of purple. The awfulness constricting in Tome’s lungs shriveled up into nothing and she gulped in good, fresh, warm air and blinked into sudden sunlight.

She was hanging in the air not by possessed trees now, but instead by Serizawa’s psychic powers. He had both hands extended toward them. Reigen was weirdly sideways and looking irritable.

“Just in time, Serizawa,” he said, spitting out a leaf.

Serizawa smiled a little, but looked worn out and worried.

He gently tilted them both upright and then floated them to the ground, depositing them lightly on their feet. Tome stood there for a moment, breathing deeply and trying to think of a joke, but then the shock wore off and she realized where she was standing.

Serizawa had not just exorcised the evil entity of this woods. He’d reduced the trees surrounding them to nothing but splinters in an instant. A huge circle was leveled to a fine powder around them, indistinguishable browns and greens all trampled down together, as if there hadn’t been a forest here at all within ten meters.

Tome was stunned. It was more power than she had ever seen Serizawa use.

He was still thrumming with it, a certain intensity in his eyes that wasn’t usually there, a leftover energy radiating from him.

It maybe frightened her a little, how very powerful he was.

Reigen seemed to sense something, because he stepped his way through the rubble and laid a hand on Serizawa’s shoulder.

“Just in time,” he repeated, in an oddly comforting way. “Good work, Serizawa.”

Serizawa seemed to shake off his darker mood and his smile became more genuine.

“You two really need to be more careful,” he chastised.

----------------------

Tome had done some research. She knew that Serizawa Katsuya, perhaps one of the most powerful espers in Seasoning City, had not just popped up out of nowhere.

What could she say? She was a conspiracy theorist at heart. Just out of her own interest she’d been poring over news footage and Youtube cellphone videos of the terrorists who tried to take over the world just over a year ago, and she’d spotted an umbrella among them that made a sick feeling coil in her stomach. After that shock, she’d had to stop prying for about a week or so. It felt like she’d seen something private, something twisted.

But she was always too curious for her own good. She couldn’t stay away from it.

She went to the internet and found a tiny local newspaper story about a boy twenty years ago who hurt four other kids and his own mother in an accident. The story didn’t supply details on the nature of the accident, but it did supply a name.

Serizawa Katsuya.

She started grilling Mob, who to his credit lasted a very long time before he finally caved under peer pressure.

“Serizawa-san has had a hard life,” he said simply. “He drew the attention of cruel people.”

“Tell me about Claw,” she demanded.

So he did. She could tell he was leaving out important details, probably for Serizawa’s sake, but she couldn’t blame him for that. She felt a horrible guilt even asking in the first place, like she was betraying Serizawa and everything he’d done for her.

But she was always too curious. She needed to know.

She’d known for awhile now.

She knew Serizawa Katsuya was powerful, so powerful that he was actually quite dangerous.

And sometimes she didn't know what to do with that.

------------------------

They still had a ways to walk to get back to the village. It would probably take some explaining to tell the villagers why their local forest had a giant hole in it now, but they’d surely be relieved to hear that their evil spirit problem had been greatly reduced.

Reigen talked too much as they walked, like he always did, and Serizawa quietly chuckled off and on. Tome was a little distracted. She’d lost her shoes after all, and now she just felt kind of foolish for dressing like a professional when she was really so over her head all the time.

Also her ankle hurt. A lot.

She must have twisted it or something. It kept shooting pain all the way up her calf to her knee, until she was limping to avoid putting pressure on it. It was just turning out to be an unexpectedly shitty day.

“Are you alright, Kurata-san?”

Tome stopped and looked up. Serizawa had appeared beside her, his eyebrows just slightly creased with worry.

“It’s just my leg…” she mumbled, feeling weirdly embarrassed. Or maybe it was more like ashamed.

Ashamed for knowing. Ashamed for being scared, even for a moment.

“Can I look at it for you?” he asked.

She sat there on the ground and he knelt in front of her, like a knight in front of a queen, and gently rolled her nasty mud sock off her foot. He pressed her heel between thumb and forefinger. It kind of made her think of getting help from her dad when she was little, when she scraped her knee or something. Even now she was still young enough to get that treatment sometimes, if she hurt herself badly enough and her dad was there. If the timing was just right. He was a good dad, all things considered.

Serizawa’s fingers were big but careful, barely touching her unless they had to test something, and then they were firm and sure.

“Does this hurt?” he asked, laying his palm on the bottom of her muddy foot and pushing up slowly.

“No-- not yet-- YEP there it is.”

Reigen hovered over them with a calculating look, but she had a feeling he was just bullshitting because he wasn’t sure how to be actually useful at the moment.

“It’s not broken, but…” Serizawa frowned. “Well. My powers aren’t really good for healing,” he said quietly.

Only destroying things.

She thought maybe she spotted a hint of sadness in him because of that, and she again felt ashamed.

“That’s ok,” she said lamely.

He turned, still kneeling, and patted his back. “Want a ride?” he asked.

She couldn’t help but laugh because it was so ridiculous. They were both still wearing suits. It looked so stupid.

“A ride would be great,” she said.

She climbed up on his back and he looped his arms under her knees and stood. Reigen was sneering at them. But Tome liked this, honestly. She perched her hands on Serizawa’s shoulders and sneered right back because hey she was taller than Reigen now so fuck you Reigen.

Also Serizawa’s back was warm, and she could feel a sturdiness behind her, like he was holding her in place ever so gently with his powers as well, to make sure she didn’t fall.

You’re really powerful aren’t you, Serizawa-san?

But like Mob he didn’t see a usefulness in psychic powers. In the sort of powers that could level trees and take over the world.

He instead saw usefulness in carrying someone on his back, very carefully, making sure they didn’t fall. In having gentle hands.

She remembered what he’d told her about finding out for herself what skills were important to her, and doing her best to put those out into the world. She decided that Serizawa was doing a really good job.

She luxuriated against his back like a queen, or maybe more like a cat who’d stolen her owner’s dinner.

“This is so much fucking better,” she declared.

Reigen’s head whipped around at the swear with the most alarmed look she’d ever seen.

#serizawaweek #serizawaweek2019 #serizawa katsuya #kurata tome #reigen arataka #mp100 #let me know if these ficlet posts are murdering mobile users and i'll just stick to ao3 links lol #this one turned out longer than expected! #fics

[nie7027]

DadReigen week day 3: Sports | Lessons

AHHHHH I DONT KNOW WHAT I’M DOING BUT AT LEAST I AM DOING SOMETHING 

well heres the second (third, sorry mods of the event it wasn’t my intetion to disrupt the order ) fic for dadreigenweek with some Shou feelings(or at least tried)

I hope you like it 

Sports

“It’s here” Reigen said at last stopping in the green open field.

“Here?” Shou glanced around and pointed with his thumbsat the monkey bars a few meters away from them “It’s a park Reigen. What kind of second rate spirit would haunt a park?” he deadpanned.

“What do you even know about spirits?!! Stop talking and let’s get to work. I’m the specialist here and I know what I’m talking about!”

“Sure you do old man. Sure you do” said Shou knowing fully well there wasn’t any spirit here. When Reigen turned his back to keep walking Shou stuck his tongue at him but still followed him.

Truth be told Shou had nothing better to do with Ritsu and the others being at school. He had already exhausted all his options and was dying of boredom, so when Reigen had asked his help this morning with a job he was very quick to accept. Too quick actually. I

f he had known it would require this much walking he would have thought it better.

But well this is what he deserved for sneaking into the office at unholy 8 in the morning and scaring the shit outta of Reigen.

Shou chuckled at the memory of  the first time when Reigen took hold of his umbrella and lounged to attack what he thought was a intruder, screaming the entire time

It made Shou realize he should tell Reigen to put better locks at the office because if thats was how he planned to defend against an attack then he had very poor chances. It had been very easy for him to block the umbrella.

Reigen just groaned when Shou said this to him the next day.

“If some people just entered through the door like any decent person, I wouldn’t have the need to defend myself “

“Where’s the fun in that?” had said Shou grinning.

Reigen suddenly stopped and waved his hand “What are you laughing at? We are wasting time. Spirits wont be exorcised by just chattering!”

Shou decided to play along 

“So, what exactly are we doing here? What was so important that you had to explicitly ask me for help instead of your oh-so-helpful-goodie-two shoes Serizawa?” Shou had to stop himself from cringing, that had come out more bitter than he had intended.

If Reigen noticed he didn’t acted on it.

“Even Serizawa has his personal matters to attend. Besides it’s not like he isn’t doing his work, someone had to stay back and look after the office” he then shrugged the backpack he had brought along and started rummaging looking for something “As for what we are doing….We are going to do and old ritual of sorts known from warding off evil spirits and attracting good energies-AJA HERE IT IS”

Shou had to do a double take at what Reigen was proudly holding in his hand.

An old worn out baseball ball.

Shou knew the man was a fraud but he was starting to think he had gone nuts. 

“Reigen you do realize that’s a baseball ball right? Like do you realize you are holding a toy?”

“Of course I know what it is!” he said tossing the ball at Shou who caught it reflexively “It’s the most important part of the ritual”

“Ritual?” Shou inspected the ball. As he thought it was just a simple ball. “ What kind of ritual involves a baseball ball?”

“Im telling you. It’s a very old ritual!” Reigen exclaimed offended “We pass each other the ball thus creating with our own energies a ward circle that extends and protects the whole area”

“What? Where did you get that-” Shou bursted laughing when a relizations struck him “Ritsu was right and you get all your practices from shady webpages... How old are you exactly to believe that kind of bullshit?”

 “Hey! you brat, I’ll let you know this is 100% real bussines, but what would a kid like you know disrepecting adults-”

“Shut up”

Shou frowned, it had been fun at first but now it was straight up annoying. 

“I’m not Mob and if you think I am as naive as him to believe everything you say is right just because you are and adult and you said so then you are wrong.”

Shou turned his back fully intent of going away but froze when Reigen spoke.

“No! wait Shou, I’m sorry! It wasn’t my intention to make you feel less just for being a kid”

“I’m not a kid” Shou huffed 

“I’m sorry anyway”

Shou sighed and turned around, scrutinizing Reigen’s gaze. It seemed sincere...unlike what he had seen in most adults throughout all his life.

“What are we doing here then?”he said crossing his arms “No more lies”

Reigen sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“For the last 2 weeks you have spent the morning at the office-I’m not saying you can’t, you are always welcomed but you just sit there waiting for Ritsu to come, or Mob or whoever gets there... It’s not good for you”

He then looked down at Shou “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Shou nodded, he had thought of those things already but….it was stupid but he had been so focused with taking down his dad he hadn’t thought what he would do next.

“So I thought...When I was young I used to play with-err I enjoyed playing fetch” 

Reigen tried to leave it there but Shou wasn’t dumb, nor liked to be treated like he was fragile “I said no more lies, if you have something to say just do it”

“I was there, when you father tried to take over the world and I saw...I bet you have never played it”

He was right.

Shou handed him back the ball “Fine, let’s play.

Reigen smiled and for the second time that day Shou felts he shouldn’t have said yes so quickly. He had of course seen people playing fetch, it wasn’t that complicated but for some reason he still stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

Reigen moved some meters away and asked him if he was ready before throwing the ball which Shou caught again with no problem at all.

He returned the ball 

Shou was confussed “How is this supposed to be fun?”

“Just wait and see!” 

Reigen then took a few steps back before tossing the ball again. This time with too much force.

The flew past Shou to high for him to reach it so with a flick of his hands he commanded his powers to bring the ball to him.

“HEY NO POWERS THAT’S CHEATING” Reigen immediately screamed 

“You were the one who threw it with too much force! How was I supposed to catch it? Running?”

“THAT´S THE POINT”

Shou was gonna make him eat his words.

With as much force as he could muster (and not powers) Shou threw the ball at him, it went above Reigen’s head but he actually ran and jumped catching the ball.

Shou pursed his lips, his competitive side taking over, when Reigen made a silly dance of victory.

The game was on.

They played until they were left panting and sweating on the ground, both their hair sticking to their foreheads and it was until then that Shou saw what else was inside the bag.

Juices pouches and sliced fruit.

Shou didn’t want to know why Reigen thought he could pass this as some spirit exorcism.

#dadreigenweek2019 #mob psycho 100 #mp100 #reigen arataka #suzuki shou #nie's writing #usually shous voice comes very easily to me but this time i suffered

[serenlyss]

And Just Like That, They’re Gone

Rating: G Relationships: Reigen&Serizawa&Teru&Shou, Reigen&Shigeo, Reigen&Ritsu, Shigeo&Ritsu, small background serirei and ritshou Summary: A series of drabbles about Reigen coping with watching the kids grow up and move on. Crossposted to AO3: And Just Like That, They’re Gone

It's me, back at it again with more stepsiblings AU because I'm weak for it. Anyway I've been thinking a lot about Reigen in an AU where he ends up living with the boys, specifically Teru and Shou, and having an up close and personal insight into how they grow and mature through middle and high school, so now here I am. I had a lot of fun thinking about and writing this, I hope you all like it!

---

The end of Shigeo’s second year of middle school marks a season of change in Reigen’s life.

Reigen prides himself on being good with change. He’s always been rather unpredictable, especially in his career choices, and so, he thinks, these changes are natural. Shigeo diverting his attention away from working at Spirits & Such in order to focus on school is a reasonable change, and it doesn’t mean he’s gone forever. He still stops by the office when he has time, even if it’s only to sit quietly on the couch and work on homework for a few hours while Reigen and Serizawa take exorcism jobs, and Reigen never turns him away.

Their relationship is a lot more honest now that Reigen’s secret is out for good. Reigen finds himself talking to Shigeo more like someone might talk to their nephew rather than their former student, keeping tabs on his how studying for finals is going, his escapades with the Body Improvement Club, how his family is doing. Shigeo grows more expressive every day as he tentatively begins to feel the emotions he’s kept locked up for the past four years. It warms something deep inside of Reigen to see him finally acting like the kid he is, showing off his goofy side, laughing and smiling and crying and getting overwhelmed by his schoolwork until Reigen announces that it’s time to take a break and go for ramen.

Another thing that changes that summer is much more personal, much closer to home. After months of arguing with himself over whether it’s a good idea and a few extra days of arguing over why it is a good idea, Reigen finally convinces Teru to move in with him. The lease on his old apartment is up for renewal and Reigen doesn’t really want to move, but he can’t get the image of the fourteen-year-old boy living by himself, going out to buy groceries by himself, doing homework at his desk by himself, and after thinking about it enough he finally decides to rip off the metaphorical band-aid.

(He finally gets the idea to stick in Teru’s head after agreeing to split the rent equally, but even after they move in together, Reigen never asks him to uphold his end of the bargain.)

It’s a long time coming, everyone says. Reigen’s been standing in as a surrogate caregiver for a long time now—from afar, at least—picking up the responsibilities that Teru’s absent parents refuse to fill. He calls his school when he gets sick and goes over to his apartment occasionally to check in on him. Teru starts coming by the office to do homework with Shigeo, which results in all of them inevitably going out for dinner together, and by the time this routine has been going on a few weeks he ends up seeing Teru for at least a few hours on most days anyway. Shigeo seems more than pleased when Teru explains their arrangement, and after Teru officially moves in Reigen starts to see Shigeo more often, too, as he comes over to work on homework or sleep over or just for fun, sometimes. Reigen’s apartment is livelier than it’s ever been before, and despite the noise and the extra clutter and the long nights spent staying up late while Teru complains about school projects, he never regrets making the offer.

---

Halfway through Teru’s third year of middle school, Reigen and Serizawa start dating. Shou, who’s been rocking back and forth between living with his mother and crashing at Serizawa’s apartment, makes a big deal out of having known all along that they were bound to get together, and is, in turn, the one who makes the biggest stink over the few instances of PDA they indulge in.

(Reigen gets him back years later when he and Ritsu start dating, and the stink eye Shou shoots him is worth more than every smile put together.)

---

Shigeo and Teru graduate from middle school, and swap out their old uniforms for matching blue suit jackets and crisp white dress shirts as they move on to attend the same high school. Shigeo is quick to express how excited he is to have a friend going to the same school as him, and the two of them immediately make it a tradition to walk home together whenever they can.

That same summer, Shou moves in with Serizawa officially, loathe to leave Seasoning City behind even as his mother moves to a nearby city for work. He goes with her blessing and a promise to keep in touch, and winds up bumming on Serizawa’s floor until they can find a bigger place. Ritsu keeps him tethered to his hometown, the one person he knows he can never leave behind, and the two of them end up hanging out together more often than not as Shou transfers to Salt middle school and winds up, somehow, in Ritsu’s class. He complains about how stifling the boring black uniform is and refuses to wear his blazer for a minute longer than is necessary, but both Reigen and Serizawa can see that he’s happy there.

In the end, it’s Teru who suggests moving Serizawa and Shou into his and Reigen’s apartment. They have plenty of extra space, as he’s quick to point out, and Shou can’t sleep on Serizawa’s floor forever. Rationally, Reigen knows that adding two more people to the apartment is sure to make it feel a little close and cramped, but he can’t deny that the prospect of splitting rent and saving money is appealing. Not to mention, he’s rather fond of the noise that comes from having people over, now. His office is rarely empty anymore, flocks of middle and high schoolers constantly streaming in and out alongside his clients as they laugh and bicker and complain and conspire. It only takes a few weeks of talking and planning before they’re putting the plan into motion.

Shou shares Teru’s room now, something Reigen worries might be a point of conflict since Teru’s so used to having his own space, but he’s surprisingly quick to adapt to his new roommate. Shou convinces Teru to stay up late playing games on the weekends, and in turn Teru makes sure he does his homework on time. Sure, it’s not a perfect arrangement, but the positives seem to far outweigh the negatives now, the more Reigen thinks about it.

(Teru would later admit to Reigen that having a roommate makes him feel less lonely, like he’s not the only one in the apartment late at night after Reigen’s long gone to sleep, but he never tells Shou to his face. Reigen has a feeling Shou knows anyway.)

---

Reigen really loves living with Serizawa, even if it means he tends to see him most of the day, now. They commute to work together in the mornings and then part ways so Serizawa can attend his night classes while Reigen goes back to their apartment and finds something to eat. Sometimes they all get dinner together, on the occasions that Shou and Teru decide to stop by and help out and Serizawa doesn’t have classes, and then they’ll ride the train home together in high spirits. It’s times like these that make Reigen feel most like he has a family now, as unorthodox and dysfunctional as it is.

Reigen’s no parent, and he knows this. Neither is Serizawa, for that matter, as hard as they both try. Teru and Shou don’t refer to them as their fathers—except for Shou, who might call Reigen ‘dad’ in a mocking manner whenever he does something particularly father-adjacent—but the sentiment is there, sometimes, on nights when Shou’s insomnia keeps him up into the early morning or days when Teru’s anxiety really gets the better of him. It’s the feeling that he’s needed, in a way no one else can quite fill, that makes Reigen wonder what would have happened if he’d decided to leave well enough alone. Whenever these thoughts come to him he’s quick to squash them; he doesn’t want to think about these boys, barely old enough to care for themselves, being forced out of their childhood and into the world too early. Reigen knows a thing or two about fending for himself, and he wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy.

---

Until he sees Teru cross the stage and accept his high school diploma from his principal’s hand, Reigen had never believed the parents who would bemoan how fast the years go by. All of a sudden he’s hit by the realization that Teru is an adult now, just a tad taller than Reigen himself is and on his way to university in the next few months. It’s been nearly four years, now, since Teru had stepped foot in Reigen’s apartment for the first time as his new home, and the traces of him are everywhere, from the Flying Dead Pig DVD nestled between Reigen’s own collection to the potato chips in the cupboard he’d started buying just because they’re Teru’s favorite snack. He can no longer seem to wrap his head around a house without Teru in it, despite the fact that he’d lived a majority of his adult life by himself.

It’s no different for Shigeo, who Reigen has been watching for even longer than Teru. Shigeo is tall, now, taller than Teru, and his continued exercise with his high school’s Body Improvement Club means he fills out his uniform in a way he never had before. Neither of them are kids anymore, they’re adults who are getting ready to move forward, to seize their futures, and the thought of it makes Reigen’s chest tighten in a way he’s never really felt before. It’s a new feeling, to have so much pride in another person, but he feels it potently when he sees them hug after the ceremony is over, sees the euphoric little kiss Shigeo presses to Teru’s temple in the excitement of the moment, sees the tears that well up in the corners of Teru’s eyes as he holds himself just a little straighter than usual. It overwhelms him in an instant, and he has to blink and tip his head back to keep from crying before he even gets the chance to congratulate them. Serizawa settles an arm around his shoulders and smiles at him knowingly, and no words have to pass between them for Reigen to understand that the feeling is shared.

---

The summer after Teru’s graduation is a rush of grad parties and packing and preparing for the move to university, interspersed with late-night breakdowns over whether or not he’s ready to take the next step and excited phone calls to Shigeo about his class schedule, the apartment they’re going to move into together, or any other new discovery that sets his hands quivering in apprehension and anticipation. It’s simultaneously amusing and nerve-wracking to watch the boy who’s become almost like a son to him practically jumping up and down in excitement for the coming days.

Summer ends before he can blink, and Teru’s move-in day arrives. He and Reigen and Serizawa pile boxes of Teru’s things into the back of a u-haul they’re renting; he doesn’t take everything with him, just the necessities, and leaves his keepsakes in his room in the apartment. Serizawa drives the u-haul with Shou while Reigen follows behind with Teru in the rental car he’s borrowed for the trip. The university he and Shigeo have decided to attend is about a two hour trip away by car, close enough to visit on long weekends if they decide they want to get off campus but far enough away that they can have their own space and room to stretch their legs.

The apartment they move into is small but cozy, with a bedroom big enough to easily fit them both even with Teru’s bulky wardrobe to account for. Shigeo and his family are already there when they arrive, and they greet him warmly, as though Reigen is an old friend. He supposes he is, in a way; he’s been a part of Shigeo’s life for nearly eight years now. He’s been to their house for dinners and birthdays and graduation parties, and they’ve been accepting of him despite his fraudulent actions and tendency to lie under pressure. Even Ritsu greets him in a semi-friendly way, even if he still refuses to give Reigen as much as a smile.

(Reigen laughs and ruffles his hair when Ritsu’s back is turned, just to annoy him, but to his surprise, Ritsu doesn’t so much as glare. It makes him wonder if Shigeo made him promise to play nice for the day, but something tells him there might be more to it than that.)

It takes a few hours to unpack and organize all of Teru’s and Shigeo’s combined belongings, even with the eight of them working together, but by the time they’re finally finished the apartment always looks much more lived-in. They all go out for the busiest, loudest, most hectic dinner Reigen’s ever been a part of before they drop Teru and Shigeo off at their apartment again, this time for good. He manages to hold it together pretty convincingly up until the point that Teru moves in to give him a good-bye hug, and suddenly he can feel his chest tightening and his eyes watering and his lip quivering and he knows it’s going to be a long drive home. Shigeo hugs him, too, and it hurts, because these boys have been a constant in Reigen’s life for years now and he can’t imagine them being so far away. Serizawa, to his credit, seems to be keeping it together a little better than he is, but even he can’t hide the bittersweetness that settles itself in his eyes and stays there as he watches the two boys, caught somewhere between childhood and adulthood, say their good-byes to their families in preparation for their first night on their own as roommates.

Reigen doesn’t say that he’s going to miss them, even though he really wants to. Instead, he wishes them good luck and reaches up to ruffle their hair. They’re too tall for it to be comfortable anymore, but the annoyed expressions are worth the awkward motions ten times over, he thinks. Well, Teru’s annoyance, anyway. Shigeo still doesn’t seem to mind, even though he’s long outgrown such displays of affections and is nearly too tall for Reigen to give them anymore.

(When they decide to give Reigen a call days later, he insists that he isn’t sad at all that they’d left, and doesn’t tell anyone but Serizawa about how he’d cried on the drive home, alone in the rental car.)

---

Ritsu and Shou are the next to graduate, but to Reigen’s surprise—and relief, in the end—they decide to stick around a little longer than Shigeo and Teru had. Ritsu gets accepted into a high-end private university in the city, one he can commute to easily while living at home in order to save money, and Shou has no desire to continue with school any longer than he has to. He gets a job working at a local animal shelter and spends all of his extra time there, putting his spare energy into playing with the rescue dogs and socializing the kittens dropped off by cat owners who can’t afford to keep them. It doesn’t pay a whole lot, but it makes Shou happy and gives him something to do now that Teru’s gone. He keeps living with Reigen as he and Ritsu start to tentatively pursue a budding relationship with each other, and even after he hits his final growth spurt just after graduating, he never quite reaches Reigen’s height. Ritsu, meanwhile, shoots over everyone’s head except for Serizawa, who holds the title of tallest inside and outside of their ragtag family. He gets close, though, the spikes of his unruly hair giving him the extra few inches he needs to match Serizawa’s height.

(Serizawa teases Shou sometimes about how he must have gotten his height from Reigen, and it never fails to make Shou loudly and argumentatively flustered. Serizawa has a way of getting under Shou’s skin that Reigen can’t seem to replicate, no matter how many years Shou sticks around.)

---

As promised, Teru and Shigeo come to visit whenever they can, whether it’s over a three-day weekend or during the holidays. They’re always glowing when they do, eager to reunite with their families and catch up on lost time, and for Teru that means crashing in his old bedroom with Shou again, a room that is still partly his despite how Shou’s begun to overtake the extra space. Reigen is amazed every time just how easy it is to fall back into old routines whenever Teru decides to come home, but Teru comes with new stories now. He talks everyone’s ear off about his college life, his apartment with Shigeo, his classes, how different college life is compared to high school. Reigen’s just glad to have him in the apartment again. He misses Teru’s exuberant energy when he’s away at school, energy he only gets to hear flashes of whenever Teru decides to call and talk to him.

---

Eventually, Shou and Ritsu move out. They don’t go far, but they’re both long overdue for their own space, and so they decide, a year or so into their relationship, to go in together on an apartment of their own, somewhere equidistant from Ritsu’s university and the shelter Shou now works at full-time. Reigen and Serizawa help Shou move his stuff over to his new place, and though the goodbyes are not nearly as emotional are they had been with Teru—Shou’s only moving a fifteen minute drive away, and knowing him, he’s sure to come barging back into his old home whenever he pleases—it still feels like a time of change to Reigen.

Reigen prides himself on being good with change. Change is a constant in his life, as much as it sounds like an oxymoron in his head, and he’s quick to accept new changes with what he considers to be graceful flourish. Despite his optimistic views of change, however, he can’t deny the profound loneliness that comes over him when he walks by Shou and Teru’s old room and sees it empty, half of its previous belongings shipped off to other parts of the city, other parts of the country. The apartment suddenly feels spacious again, and it’s quiet, during the week. Serizawa is still there, of course, and Reigen has a sneaking feeling he might always be there, but it still knocks him off-balance to think that the kids he’s been watching over for the better part of a decade now have grown up and moved on, at least in some ways.

It’s bittersweet, he thinks, but he’s proud, really proud. He feels that pride every time Teru brags about the memories he’s making with Shigeo and when Shou talks about the animals he’s helping at his shelter.

Reigen understands now, when he hears parents bemoan how fast the years have gone by. He understands because he’s experienced those years, as few as they’d been. He’d given advice, provided innumerably meals, weathered late-night breakdowns and broken hearts and anxiety attacks. And just like that, they’d come and gone, like a snap of his fingers.

But it’s not a bad thing, Reigen thinks. After all, change is a part of growing up.

#mob psycho 100 #mp100 #dad reigen #reigen arataka #serizawa katsuya #hanazawa teruki #suzuki shou #kageyama shigeo #kageyama ritsu #serendipitousfics #stepsiblings au

[eisa96]

When did mob realize he has feeling for reigen when he has a crush on tsubomichan?

Hello! This is a tricky one, I must say :o

For me, it all start with him having a tiny crush towards Reigen during his time at the Spirits and Such office. A crush so tiny, he didn’t even noticed because during that time, his feelings are all focused on Tsubomi.

After been rejected by her, he started to think more of his personal life. About what he likes, what he dislikes and what he wanted to do once he started high school. He always been amazed with Reigen whenever he started doing their usual jobs. On how he handles things. On how calm and composed he is whenever he is dealing with a difficult client. He simply thinks Reigen is amazing.

I would like to think that Mob realized his feelings towards Reigen during a time when Reigen lets his guard down. It could be when they’re eating takoyaki. When Reigen gets so tired, Mob has to tell him that it’s okay for him to take a nap on the couch. Or the time where Reigen’s face just lights up whenever Mob drops by his office. During the times, he was absent from work because of the abundance of tasks he has to do once he started high school, he will feel at ease once he talks to Reigen about it on the phone and Reigen will just listen and comment here and there.

I could think of many things but my personal favourite will be when he felt this tremendous feeling to protect the man whenever he saw him having cuts and bruises from going on the exorcism requests. It will be when Serizawa and Ekubo didn’t make it in time to shield him or when Reigen miscalculated the level of danger once he accepted the job.

Mob will feel this sudden pang in his heart whenever Reigen plastered his rare smiles towards him, to reassure him that he’s okay, that there is nothing to worry about. It just makes him want to protect the man even more. Mob will start to think over this sudden wave of emotions. Something he never felt for anyone other..than for his little brother, parents and friends. But this one is different. It’s stronger and terrifying. It’s warm and gentle. It’s overflowing.

Until it clicks, after a few days of collecting his thoughts that he is in love with Reigen.

It’s so much more different with Tsubomi. With her, he wants. But for Reigen, he needs. He needs him. His love for him is stronger, more firm and more secured. He’s in love with Reigen. He’s in love with him, in love, in love, love..

He’s in love with him and it felt so natural. He’s in love with him and he feel this tremendous happiness ready to burst. He’s in love..

(Ah, it became like a short fic but I hope this can answer your question, anon ^^“)

#mobrei #eisa answers

[fireflysummers]

MOB PSYCHO 100 FANFICTION Job Offers

Serizawa outgrows Spirits and Such.

Nobody is happy with this.

There’s a man in a tan suit, exuding the same oily persona that Reigen does at times, but with far greater amounts. For some reason, he sets Serizawa’s teeth on edge, makes his skin crawl, and he makes a conscious decision to put Reigen between them.

They meet on the sidewalk, outside of a supposedly haunted house. The client is so sure of the haunting that he’s hired two psychic agencies, to ensure that the building is ready for renovations.

There’s no spirit there. Serizawa knows this, and nods at Reigen to make sure that the other man knows as well. All this has become routine, a familiar pattern that he can slip into, and try to forget the other man accompanying them of their tour.

The exorcism is, of course, uneventful. Reigen throws salt, the client pays in cash up front, and they part ways.

Or at least, that’s how it was supposed to go.

“Hey.” The other man’s voice stops them before Serizawa and Reigen can begin the walk to the train station. “You, tall one. You’re the real deal, aren’t you?”  There’s an unspoken implication that Reigen, however, is not.

The client is already long gone, excitedly giving the green light for tomorrow’s renovations. There’s no danger to Reigen at the moment, but Serizawa’s skin crawls as the man speaks.

“Oh?” Reigen turns and crosses his arms, eyes narrowed and calculating, sizing the man up in every way.

“You know he’s a real scam artist, don’t you?” the man continues, ignoring Reigen altogether and sidling up to Serizawa, close enough that he can finally feel the other man’s aura. An esper, for sure. A weak one, but he too is the ‘real deal.’

“I mean, I am too but everybody in the business—all the real espers, that is—know your boss is a fraud. He was all over the news back last October. You’d have to be hiding under a rock not to know that.”

Serizawa wants to respond, but his mind stalls, trying to process this information.  His mind flashes back, cataloging dates, wondering how he could possibly have missed this. And then it occurs to him that eight months ago in October, he had indeed been living under a metaphorical rock. Or an umbrella.

“All I’m saying is that you don’t have to hang around this guy, if you don’t want to,” the man gives him a sleezy grin, and with an oily slick motion slips a white business card into the pocket of Serizawa’s suit coat. “Our agency is always happy to bring new espers on board. Put your powers to good use, stop wasting your time with wannabes like this hack.”

With that, the man shrugs, turns, and leaves. Serizawa watches him go, still too stunned to properly register everything he’s been told. It takes him a moment to realize that Reigen has already begun walking, leaving Serizawa to jog to catch up.

 When they get back to the office, Reigen immediately sits down at his desk. He’d barely said a word on the way home, uncharacteristically quiet with hands eerily still at his sides. There’s an expression in his eyes that Serizawa can’t place, one that he doesn’t like.

The expression doesn’t fade as Reigen clicks away at his laptop. Doesn’t fade when Serizawa brings him a cup of tea.

As Serizawa turns away to return to his usual place to do homework, Reigen catches him, a hand resting on his forearm.

“Hold on,” Reigen says, actually getting to his feet and motioning for Serizawa to take the seat. “I…well, I should’ve shown this to you earlier, but I don’t really like looking at the files myself.”

Confused, Serizawa sits awkwardly behind Reigen’s desk, using the mouse to peruse the folder Reigen has dug from the depths of his archives.  There are about two dozen pdfs and a couple video files, all dated within a couple weeks of each other.

He doesn’t want to look.

He doesn’t know what is in those files, but he doesn’t want to know.

Serizawa feels his stomach clench and wants more than anything to return to his usual seat, but Reigen is watching him expectantly. So Serizawa swallows his anxiety and begins clicking through the archive.

They’re newspaper and magazine articles, and television news reports. With each successive report, Serizawa clutches tighter at the mouse, a nearly foreign rage rising from somewhere inside him. The final video, cut short by the explosion of electric lights and the destruction of news cameras, does nothing to set it aside. When at last he closes the file, he sits there in utter silence, trying to wrestle down his emotions enough to speak.

Reigen beats him to it.

“Sorry that’s…real bad,” he confides, and there’s a grating honesty in his voice that rubs against Serizawa’s skin like sandpaper. “I really should’ve told you before, I guess. Waiting until I didn’t have a choice makes me look sketchier, but well…” It’s never a good sign when Reigen flounders with words.  But his distress only serves as fuel to Serizawa’s anger.

“Look, Serizawa,” Reigen says at length, “I’m not an esper.”

The silence stretches out between them. Reigen’s face is entirely closed now, waiting for a rejection he’s resigned himself to.

Serizawa lets out a long breath, the hot air hissing between his teeth.

“I know,” he says, forcing himself to continue while Reigen gapes at him with eyes wide. “I  mean. My last job…I was supposed to find and fight espers. Some are better at hiding it than others, but…I can tell you aren’t one, Mr. Reigen.”

Reigen opens his mouth once, twice, an excellent impression of a fish struggling. And then he deflates, head bowed and cradled in his hand.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, “I thought that’s why you were…”  Reigen sighs, and straightens. “It was all right, in the end, you know. Business went through a little boom after Mob’s little show of power at the press conference.”

“Besides,” he finishes, “I really…did it to myself. I was lucky Mob decided to come back and save my sorry ass.”

It’s really not all right, but Reigen is clearly done talking about it. He’s jumping topics again, faster than Serizawa can follow.

“So, a job offer!” Reigen says brightly. It takes Serizawa to catch on to what he’s talking about. When he does, he swears he can feel the little white business card burning in his pocket.

“It’s not really a job offer,” Serizawa mutters, ashamed that he hadn’t immediately thrown the card away.

“Of course it is!” Reigen says, clapping him on the shoulder. “You’ll be graduating from high school soon, won’t you? You should probably start thinking about where you’re going to go then!”

Oh. Serizawa thinks, his stomach dropping.

It’s not like he hasn’t considered it before, envisioning a nearly boundless future where before he had none. But it’s always been a daydream, and hearing Reigen say it feels…wrong.

“Don’t get me wrong, you’ve always got a place with me!” Reigen says, backpedaling, “It’s just…the world is your oyster! You should live while you’re still young!”

Serizawa doesn’t want to point out that Reigen’s rehashing one of the speeches he uses on Shigeo-kun. Doesn’t want to point out that Reigen is younger than him, but doesn’t seem to have any grand visions for his own future either.

But instead, he agrees politely and excuses himself from Reigen’s desk to go back to do his homework.

For the rest of the afternoon, the business card feels like it’s burning a hole in his pocket.

 Serizawa is one semester away from graduating high school, and people are pointing him towards a career counsellor.

He doesn’t like the woman, with her stern eyes that peer out from rectangle glasses.  He’s wearing his normal business suit, but the way that she eyes him makes the familiar fabric feel…claustrophobic. Uncomfortable.

He has to physically stop himself from squirming, or worse, from pulling back into his shell.

(He finds himself desperately wishing that Reigen had accompanied him.)

“Mr. Serizawa, you have…quite a resume,” she says at length.

He knows he does. He and Reigen had worked hard on that single page document, fleshing it out to bring out his prior ‘work experience’ without screaming to the word ‘reformed terrorist.’ It’s still too vague, he suspects, but he’s sure as hell not going to discuss those four years of his life with this woman here.

“So tell me, Mr. Serizawa,” she begins again, after several seconds of silence, “Your current place of employment is…Spirits and Such Consultation?”

“Yes,” he nods, glad that she’s picked on the one line item he’s comfortable talking about.

“It’s not really…well. I’ll just come right out and say it. You’re going to have a difficult time finding a job, based on that alone.”

Serizawa sits in stunned silence, reeling from the words. The way that the woman speaks makes it sound like the consultation is shameful.  It’s not, he knows that as sure as the sun will rise, but her judgmental gaze still causes a blush to begin dusting his cheeks.

“You have a lot of potential, despite your late start in life,” she continues, “But I think you should consider seeking an internship somewhere, perhaps, to add some more…professional line items to your resume.”

“That aside, I would really suggest you look into careers with a little more stability. A small office like the one you work at must be barely compensating you, let alone offering benefits of any sort.”

That should feel like another dig at Reigen and his business, but this time Serizawa stops short. It’s true that he’s not paid much, but that’s never really bothered him before. He has funds left over from his time in CLAW, as well as a small inheritance left from by his mother. It’s not much, but he can live comfortably in his small apartment, and use his income from Reigen for food.

But Reigen…doesn’t have that luxury, he realizes now. Spirits and Such is his only source of income, and while business has picked up… he thinks back to the jokes he’s heard Kageyama’s brother make about how stingy the con man is, never compensating Shigeo-kun for his work. Thinks back to clients with little to nothing, who had their fees waived entirely. Thinks back to the meals Reigen has bought him after stressful days.

Thinks back, and for the first time wonders how much kindness costs.

The thought sits heavily in Serizawa’s stomach.

He barely makes it through the rest of the meeting, nodding vaguely at everything the counsellor says.

Back at the office, Reigen seems excited to hear about his talk with the counsellor. Normally, Serizawa would assume that it was the man’s normal excitement about his overall progress. Or at worst, that Reigen wanted to hear how well he’d done editing the resume.

But now, with thoughts of finances lingering over his head, the enthusiasm feels…different.

He leaves that day, ashamed that he did not notice sooner.

 He’s not going to work for that consultation office.

Or any consultation office, if he’s honest with himself.  The very thought feels like betrayal.

And that aside…if he’s going to leave Spirits and Such, he’d like to try something new. Something that doesn’t depend on his psychic abilities.

Even if it’s as dull as a desk job, it’s still something.

Secretly, he hopes to find something close to Spirits and Such. Close enough, maybe, to catch Reigen staying late at the office. Close enough to have plenty of excuses to take him out to dinner, in part to return the favor, and in part because…

He shakes the thoughts out of his head, and tells himself to focus on the tasks at hand.

 In the end, he finds a job. It’s well paid (compared to what Reigen has been paying him at least), but it’s a good distance from Spirits and Such.  He decides to take it though, after a long streak of bad luck. It turns out the counsellor, as condescending as she was, hadn’t been totally wrong about the state of his resume.

Reigen seems positively overjoyed when Serizawa presents to him the official offer letter, smacking him on the back and offering to take him out for a drink later. Unfortunately, Serizawa’s classmates had again beat him to it, and they’d had to reschedule for later in that week.

That, however, never entirely panned out because suddenly there was so much to do. And before Serizawa knows it he’s putting the few personal items he leaves at the office into a box, preparing to spirit them away to his new place of work.

Reigen helps, where he can, but clients come in and out as Serizawa packs, distracting the man. Soon, Serizawa runs out of ways to stall, and is left clutching his box and announcing his eminent departure. The office is blessedly quiet at that moment, and Reigen gets up from his desk and wanders over to where Serizawa stands, a strange knot of anxiety in his gut.

Reigen stands back a little ways, observing him with a crooked grin. There’s pride in his eyes, and the enthusiasm that he’s shown non-stop for Serizawa’s progress, but also something…else.

That something vanishes the moment Reigen begins to talk, vanishing into his exuberant words and rapid hand gestures.

“You got everything?” he asks, peeking into the box, “You sure you don’t want the stapler, to remember me by?”

“I’m not leaving for good, Reigen,” Serizawa replies, almost automatically.

“Sure, sure,” Reigen shrugs, tone unconvinced. “Either way, it’s the start of a new adventure, Serizawa! You should be proud of yourself!”

And he is. He really, really is.

If he’d told himself, not long ago, where he stood at this moment in time, his past self would not have believed him.

It feels good.

(Except that it doesn’t.)

That something has returned to Reigen’s demeanor, and he gently reaches a hand out, placing it on Serizawa’s shoulder. The look in the other man’s eyes is…calm. Placid, almost eerily so.

“You’ve grown up,” he says, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You’re going to be amazing, Serizawa. Text me, and we’ll get drinks, okay?”

“Thank you, Reigen,” Serizawa hears himself say, and almost in a daze, turns and leaves.

 The world outside is bright, almost blindingly so, but Serizawa barely notices. There’s no spring in his step, no feeling of a excitement for the unlimited future ahead. His thoughts are jumbled again, but amidst all the mental noise Reigen’s farewell continues to ring.

You’ve grown up.

It takes him a moment to place where he’s heard Reigen say that before, in that same way.  

The video of the press conference.

He’d only seen the video that once, and at the time had been so furious he could barely hear above the sound of his own heartbeat. But that’s when he’d said it before, right before the film was cut short in a show of psychic powers.

He remembers Reigen’s sparse explanation.

I really…did it to myself. I was lucky Mob decided to come back and save my sorry ass.

He’d been so, so angry at the time…angry at the cruelty of the people that Reigen had helped. Angry at the jealousy of other self-proclaimed psychics towards him. Angry that anybody would go out of their way to hurt Reigen so deeply.

He hadn’t even paused to wonder how this could have happened.

He hadn’t paused to wonder why Shigeo-kun hadn’t been there in the first place, supporting his master as he always did.

He hadn’t paused to wonder why Shigeo-kun had to come back. That there had ever been a time when Shigeo-kun had left.

He’s probably overthinking it.

Except that, it’s not too late to check. Just in case.

With a split second decision, Serizawa whirls and almost sprints back to Spirits and Such.

 The office is exactly as he had left it, when he arrives. There’s something off, though, because he swears he hears a soft, watery gasp as the bell chimes to announce his return.

Reigen isn’t at his usual post, though, and the laptop is folded down and silent. It shouldn’t be hard to find him, but it takes a half second too long for Serizawa to spot where he sits on one of the couches. Reigen seems…smaller. He’s curled in on himself, so tightly that it looks like it hurts.

Of course, he immediately shifts when he hears the door chime, flying to his feet and stretching to make it look as though he hadn’t been hunched into a corner just a half second prior.

“Serizawa!” Reigen says, voice suspiciously thick. He clears his throat and manages to start the next sentence off with clearer tone. “I didn’t…did you forget something?”

“Yes,” he replies, slowly. Serizawa is watching Reigen’s face now. Eying red, puffy eyes and blotchy skin. Eying tear and snot tracks that had been hastily and unsuccessfully wiped away.

“Ah well. We’ll get you fixed up in a jiffy here,” Reigen confirms, nose obviously still a little stuffed. “I’m just…going to go make myself some tea.” He wants to escape into the kitchen area, Serizawa realizes. To compose himself. “You go ahead and look around for…whatever it is.”

“Reigen!” Serizawa’s tone is surprisingly sharp, desperate. He sends the box he’s still holding off, spinning away from him with idling psychic power. He crosses the space between them, hand outreached in an attempt to close the distance even faster. He manages to snag the sleeve of Reigen’s coat.

The other man has stiffened, eyes suddenly panicked. Before, there had been a chance that he could slip away to compose himself without anybody noticing his grave error. But now the signs were far too clear.

“Sorry,” Reigen says after a moment, “I didn’t…you weren’t supposed to see me like this.”

“Reigen,” Serizawa breaths, slowly adjusting his grip until both hands settle on Reigen’s shoulders. Still, the man does not look up at him.  The floodgates have been opened, the last bit of self-control vanished. Try as he might, Reigen can’t hide the returning tears.  He’s still mumbling though, watery words (mostly apologies), slipping out almost faster than Serizawa could follow.

“It’s pathetic, I’m sorry. I’m pathetic. I promise, I’m happy for you, I’m really happy for you, please don’t think…” his voice cracks a little, voice lowering to a whisper, “Please don’t think I’m trying to force you to stay here.”

One of Serizawa’s hands moves from Reigen’s shoulder, raising Reigen chin until their eyes meet. Or should meet, but Reigen still stubbornly looks away.

“Arataka,” he says at last, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Reigen jumps at the sound of his first name, and finally, finally returns Serizawa’s gaze. He’s searching for something, Serizawa realizes, and hopes desperately that Reigen finds whatever he’s looking for.

Except he can’t risk that, this time.

So instead, Serizawa bends down, planting a gentle kiss on Reigen’s forehead.

The other man gives a shuttered gasp, but instead of pulling away he leans in, closing what little space is left between them.

Encouraged, Serizawa gives another butterfly kiss. Then another. Slowly, gently. Down from Reigen’s forehead, down the bridge of his nose, down his tear-streaked cheek.  The tears have stopped now, though, replaced with wide-eyed shock and the awkward hitching-breaths that come after a good cry.

He pauses, a hair’s breadth from Reigen’s lips.

“I’m sorry,” he says, suddenly deeply ashamed, “I thought you wanted…needed me to go.”

Reigen’s mouth meets his, preventing him from apologizing forward.

And for once, there are no more words. Just the two of them, holding each other tightly, terrified at the thought of how close they’d both come to letting go entirely.

#mob psycho 100 #mp100 #serizawa katsuya #reigen arataka #seirei #my fanfiction

[breezy-cheezy]

Some Mob Psycho 100 Gen Fics

So call me inspired by this post by @guttersnipequeen because I’m always overjoyed to be seeing gen works getting some appreciation, and I wanted to share a few of my favorites! :’D So here are a few (with an emphasis on Mob and Reigen or Dad!Reigen, since their dynamic is my favorite ;v; ) And sorry most of these are pretty short or oneshots, I tend to have a very short attention span;;;

Also heed the warnings on these fics! They’re not all pure fluff...no romance/sex/shipping or anything like that to be found in these fics though.

I’m just going to start on @sukikobold ‘s works, because she’s a wonderful writer and literally all of her works are beautiful gen. All of them. Some favorites include:

Thorns   (one-shot)

The thorns that surrounded him were red and twisted. Every plant was so intertwined with the others, it was impossible to tell where one ended and the next one began. Or maybe they were all one plant. It didn’t make much difference. 

(Such a beautifully symbolic piece for a beautifully symbolic picture, I’m extremely fond of them, oh my goodness...)

Hospital Flowers  (one-shot)

It was bad enough for Ritsu knowing that his brother had been kidnapped. He didn't think finding him would be so much worse.

(It’s nice seeing how many people worry about Mob, and I also like seeing Ritsu learning to trust Reigen a bit more :’) )

One Afternoon  (multi-chapter)

A possible answer to the question, "What would have happened if Mob had asked someone else for help with his powers?"

Aka: An AU where Mob and Reigen don't meet until the present day.

(Not finished yet, but it’s already plenty heartwarming and I’m very interested to see what this story is building up to!)

Now as for some other gems I’ve found in this awful mess of an AO3 tag:

Three  by Ravenesta (multi-chapter)

The staff of Salt Middle School consider Kageyama Shigeo's third emergency contact.

(First gen fic I found and liked for this series! It’s really interesting seeing character studies from the outsider POV of a well written OC. Plus the ending is precious <3 )

 99  by entrenched (two-shot, part of a series I haven’t made it all the way through yet but it is indeed all gen)

In which Mob & Reigen ask the same question: Will you forget me?

(Oh mannnn...really sweet but melancholic fic, this one breaks my heart in all the best ways ;~; )

Symbiosis  by  ruthwrites (multi-chapter)

In the aftermath of the night fighting Claw's 7th Division, Mob's powers return to him. However, something unknown is left behind with Reigen. Something that doesn't want to remain there. And someone begins to take notice of the strange psychic activity coming from the Spirits and Such Consultation Office.

(Or: in which Reigen is saddled with ???%, and things go poorly for all involved.)

(Woo, okay, REALLY COOL fic here, full of some interesting headcanons and theories (some horror too, be careful) The last few chapters kept me on the edge of my seat! I love the descriptions and characterizations soooo much, and I was also happy to get a sort of Psychonauts-ish vibe from the end scenes which I don’t wanna specify because spoilers lol)

On Glass Shoulders by NotHereForIt (two-shot)

Mob is not answering his phone.

And Reigen really does not want to be the one to tell the Kageyamas that he lost their kid while on an exorcism job.

(Admittedly, I was a liiittle iffy on the premise at first glance, but after reading...dang I think I’m in love with this one really. Wonderfully in character, protective Reigen, good fluff, the return of Reigen lecturing bad guys and being awesome in general...plus a surprise follow up chapter update recently to nicely wrap things up! What more could I ask for really? )

When You Need Me  by SpiritusRex (multi-chapter)

Five times Mob hugged Reigen, and one time Reigen hugged Mob.

( Gosh this one’s so good and sweet, and I can see these happening in canon too! They actually fix/add a few scenes that I think should have happened; all very good, I’m always excited to see a new installment :’D Annnd I know it was already mentioned on the linked post, but @ghoststrawberries​ /SpiritusRex and @starsfadingbutilingeron​ /GlowingArrowsInTheSky also made the adorable  A Cat Named Milk fic series, SO precious and pure, oh man...I had to put it here still, I had to ;v;)

Lysis  by caratcake (one-shot)

The boy stared, his eyes holding the immeasurable depth of black holes, empty but all-encompassing. He lifted his hand, and the man tightened his grip on his charm. The boy did not reach for it. Instead, he splayed his hands palm up, eyes directed upwards -

“There is no rain.”

(Super short but super beautiful Serizawa-centric fic, I loved reading it!)

Influential  by macrauchenia (multi-chapter)

Alternatively, "Five times Reigen inadvertently adopts an esper and the one time he actually realizes what he's gotten himself into."

(There’s only one chapter of this so far but it already looks very promising, so I’ll go ahead and put it here! :’D)

As for @phantomrose96 , I feel like her angst fics get talked about alot, and for good reason too (I’m sure you all have seen me yelling about A Breach of Trust at some point or another asdhureiregh), but I sometimes like to remind myself she can write some really good fluff when she wants to...this is one of those times. A compilation of my faves of her gen fluff ficlets (these are Tumblr links btw): The Butterfly Test ,  A Condensed Guide to Living With Psychics: by Arataka Reigen ,  Scribbled-Out Shopping Lists ,  Gold Stars ,  The Business of Telling Lies ,  Smoke 

Chiasmus  by fireflysummers (two-shot)

In the end, Mob can’t protect other people from himself. In the end it all comes to a head, and when he wakes up people have died. It doesn’t matter who they were or what they were trying to do. It doesn’t matter that his life, and the lives of those most important to him were at stake. All that matters is that he failed.

So, in his despair, he builds a cage and willingly walks into it.  His vessel sleeps, and he knows that the others may mourn him for a while, in the end it’s better this way. The others, however, aren’t going to let that stand.

Even if they have to go in after him.

(Another tumblr link, it’s not on AO3, but I definitely felt like I should put it here; rather short, but very beautiful and extremely heartfelt. Also accompanied with amazing art!)

#breezy babbles #mp100 #fic rec #long post #LOTS OF FIC RECS #because there are alot of gross fics in this fandom's ao3 tag #and I've never been a big fan of romance #like #ever #so here #there are some quality gen works #even more in the post I linked at the beginning #I almost tacked this onto it but then I started rambling soooo #separate #there were some I almost put here but had to take off #because on another read through #I realized the author snuck in some shipping I didn't notice :T #I feel like the author was trying to imply some Shou Ritsu in 'Three' too #but it's only like one sentence while the rest is absolutely gen #so I'll leave it #may change my mind later we'll see;;; #I'm really fond of that one as one of the first I read ;v; #I have alot of respect and love for gen fic writers #thank you guys for all you do #also sending lots of love to my friend who wrote me amazing gen fics during a very very bad time in the AO3 tag #you know who you are girl I love you so much thank yoooou!!!! <333

[dartlekey]

A walk in the park

~For the MP100 Valentine’s week challenge, Day 1~

Category: Gen, M/M

Pairing: Serizawa Katsuya/Reigen Arataka, mention of Terumob

Word count: 2363

Warnings: Child neglect, Child abandonment. Also some Death (well, you know. Dead people. It’s a show about espers, ghosts and exorcists; what do you expect)

Notes: Yes, I managed to take a cute, fluffy topic and turn it into an absolute angst fic - although it does have a fluffy ending, so please forgive me ;)

***

"Cinnamon Park?"

The client, a young mother with tired eyes, nodded nervously. "I always go there with the twins in the afternoon, because there's a great playground. Lots of my friends bring their children there too, and the kids have lots of fun together - or at least, they used to. Since a few days ago, a spirit has manifested in the tube that connects the play structure, and violently attacks anyone that goes near - even the adults! My friend Mina still has the scratches to prove it!"

As if on cue, the small girl on her lap started crying; whether she understood the words or just got frightened by her mother's fearful tone, Reigen didn't know. He couldn't even tell how old the kid was; he'd never been good with children. Dealing with Mob from a young age had only worked out because the small esper was so insensitive to social interaction, and despite his naiveté so very mature for his age. (As Reigen had learned, the two weren't mutually exclusive.)

To make matters worse, the other twin, a small boy resting at the mother's feet, looked up because of the noise and realized his sister was crying - and suddenly his lip was wobbling as well.

The mother herself winced, looking exhausted already; she'd probably suffered through a lot of this in the past few days. "There, there," she said half-heartedly and patted the girl's back, but the kid didn't let up, and the boy started sniffling.

"E-excuse me - may I...?"

Both Reigen and the mother looked up at Serizawa, who'd previously been standing off to the side, taking notes, but now had stepped up to them, looking nervous.

The mother shrugged, while Reigen hesitated; he had no idea what Serizawa planned to do and also doubted it was the best idea to let someone with strong social anxiety near a crying child - but surprisingly, Serizawa didn't wait for Reigen's okay. Instead, he crouched down, picked up a toddler with each hand, settled them on his lap and said, "Hey, do you like sparkly things? And colors?"

The girl ignored him and continued bawling, but the boy looked up and wrinkled his tiny nose at him in confusion. "Oh, you do? I love them as well. Blue, yellow, green... my favorite is orange, you know. What's your favorite color?" The boy hesitated, then stammered out: "W-wed..."

The girl looked over suspiciously, seeming almost irritated that her brother was hogging the attention, and started to cry louder. Serizawa, on the other hand, beamed at the boy. "Oh, yes, I love red! A strong color for a strong boy... Oh, maybe I can call it here... 'Red! Red, appear!'"

Even though he still wasn't very susceptible to such things, Reigen could feel the aura charge collecting around Serizawa - and suddenly the dark-haired esper and kids were surrounded with pulsing red swirls and sparkles, flowing and weaving around them. The kids stared at the sparkles, completely baffled. The girl even stopped crying, she was so surprised.

And then the boy started laughing and clapping his hands. "Pwetty!!!", he squeaked, bouncing up and down on Serizawa's knee. "Pwetty!!!" Serizawa smiled, and turned to the little girl, who was still pouting. "And what's your favorite color?"

The girl pressed her lips together, then mumbled, "Blue." Serizawa's smile widened, and he said, "How fitting, a cool color for such a cool little girl. Could you call for it, do you think? Call for blue?"

The girl frowned, then hesitantly nodded. "Blue. Bluuuue!"

Serizawa flicked his fingers, and more swirls burst foward, the blue mingling and intertwining with the red, creating a starburst like fireworks. The girl, fascinated, reached out to grab one of the strands, and it flowed towards her and nuzzled against her cheek; there was no other word for it. "Warm!"

Reigen and the mother stared down at the little scene, lost for words. "How does he do that?", the mother asked. "No idea," Reigen responded, not realizing she meant the aura manifestation. How does this guy get more amazing every time he walks into my office...?

Then he shook his head to regain his focus. "Anyway, this spirit, you want it exorcised? No problem at all, as you can see, this office has three strong, capable espers to take care of your problem."

The woman frowned. "Where's the third?"

Reigen scowled, about to retort angrily - until he realized his mistake. "Oh, right, Mob isn't here today. He has his date..." He frowned. "That Hanazawa kid better not mess this up, Mob's been excited about it for days..."

He turned back to the woman, who gave him a confused look. "Ah, no matter. Lets discuss the different exorcism courses..."

*

An hour later, Reigen and Serizawa were walking through the park, on their way to the playground. It was a beatiful day, the sun was shining and the first cherry blossoms were opening on the trees despite that sudden frost five days prior. Wow, Reigen thought drily, such a wonderfully romantic setting for an exorcism. The spirit will be thrilled.

Why not you?, an unacknowledged part of him whispered. After all, you're here alone with Serizawa...

No! No, shut up, brain!

Even so, Reigen couldn't help but glance over at Serizawa, who was marveling at the cherry blossoms. It had been more than two years since Serizawa had joined the Spirits And Such office, and in that time, Serizawa had grown so much. In the beginning, Reigen had actually thought that he'd be dealing with just another frightened child, but he'd been so wrong that it made him cringe now. Because once he'd finally managed to coax Serizawa out of his shell of fear, Serizawa had turned out to be so much more. So thoughtful, so dependable, so kind, so gentle, so sincere... always so sincere.

Not someone a fraud like him even deserved to be working with. Reigen was constantly afraid of the day when Serizawa would shed his past insecurities completely, and realize he could do so much better than Spirits and Such. But Reigen had no right to keep him tethered here, and definitely no right to ask for anything more than friendship.

No matter how much his heart ached.

"Uh, Reigen-san? Is there something on my face?"

Reigen blinked, and realized he'd been staring. "Ah, sorry, no... I was just, uhm. Thinking. That you were really good with the kids back in the office. Amazing, actually. I hadn't expected that."

Serizawa smiled, flushing at the praise, and Reigen felt a stinging in his chest. "Ah, thank you, Reigen, but that was nothing. Children are easy to understand, it's the adults that are difficult... Not that I think you're difficult," he quickly added, "but-"

"It's fine, I understand," Reigen quickly interrupted, "but well. You know. I couldn't have done it. I'm terrible with children, and always have been. Maybe it's hereditary. But I always feel like their big round eyes are judging me, like they see right through me. And that makes me nervous, and that makes them dislike me."

Serizawa chuckled gently. "Huh. Well then, I guess we'll just have to stick together." Then his eyes widened and he blushed. "F-for balance, I mean. Socially. Dealing with adults a-and kids. Um. Ah- sorry. Forget it."

Reigen swallowed, and forced a smile. Of course he doesn't want to stick with me for other reasons. "Right."

They spent the next few minutes in silence, only broken when they finally reached the playground. Reigen slowed his walk, letting his gaze trail over the swings and monkey bars. "Do you sense anything?"

"Only a slight presence," Serizawa responded, frowning at the tube.

Reigen chuckled. "Then I guess this'll be... a walk in the park."

Serizawa paused, then snorted, a grin sneaking on to his face. "Indeed."

Reigen felt absurdly proud of himself.

He walked over to the tube slowly, and started doing what he did best: talking. "Hello? Spirit, are you in there? Can you hear me?"

He stepped closer, but as soon as he neared the opening, an angry array of something spiked and broken lashed out, narrowly missing him as he jumped back.

Reigen inspected his tie. About half of it had been torn off and ripped to shreds. "Um. Well then."

"Reigen-san!" Serizawa was immediately at his side, staring alternately at the deceased tie and the tube. "I... the aura just expanded tenfold. I think the spirit was hiding it... I apologize for not noticing -"

Reigen waved his hand airily, hoping his legs weren't shaking. "Ah, it's fine, no harm done... Spirit? Why are you here?"

A buzzing like of a thousand bees, and a distorted voice, "gO aWAy;.!"

Reigen frowned. Not a good start. "Spirit -"

"gO aWaYyy; . aND dO''Nt caLL mE ThAt;;!"

Reigen stepped closer again, frowning. "What? 'Spirit'?"

Another explosion of spikes, this time blocked by Serizawa. Reigen felt his hair stand up on end, but remained still.

"My nAMe iS kaITo.,."

"Kai-" Reigen faltered. Something about the way that the spirit spoke, petulant, almost whining. So adamant about it's name, but only giving its first name, not the surname. Could it be -

"Are you a child?"

The spirit was silent. Then, "I dON;t AnsWEr tO StrAnGeRs,,."

Reigen exchanged a worried look with Serizawa, because that answer was as clear as any. They were definitely dealing with the spirit of a child, and those were violent and unstable at the best of times.

Serizawa stepped forwards, and crouched down to the tube even though he couldn't see in - the entire opening of the tube was blocked by dark, writhing aura tentacles, shimmering like oil slicks. What a powerful spirit, Reigen thought and shivered.

"Are you..." Serizawa wet his lips and tried again. "Are you waiting for your mother?"

A pause, then. "i DO';nt HaVE a mOTheR;.,."

Did it sound sad? Reigen couldn't tell through all the buzzing.

"Then, your father?"

The spikes flashed out again. "hE,,'S CoMiNg:., HE prOMiSeD!!.-,!"

Was it... agitated?

Serizawa slowly shuffled closer. "He's coming for you? Did he say when?"

Another pause. "DadDY wOrKs LonG. loNG. DaRk alReaDy. KaITo WaiTs."

Serizawa smiled softly and inched towards the psychic mess leaking out of the tube. "Because you're a good boy, a very responsible one. Practically an adult."

The tentacles withdrew a bit, became a bit more see-through. "ThAt'"s RIgHt.,. i;'M stRonG.. NoT cOLd.;,,-. Don#;T fEEl coLd--.,,,."

Reigen leaned closer, confused. "You're cold?"

"NOT COLD!;::!!;"

If not for Serizawa's shield, they would both have been shredded. "NoT cOlD. ,, nOT slEePy.;:: i WaIT.;;;:.-,-"

"Yes, you wait, like a grown-up," Serizawa said soothingly, then turned to Reigen, worry evident on his face. He mouthed, Should I excorcise him now?, but Reigen held up his hand, signaled him to wait. Because he had a horrible feeling in his gut and a growing suspition in his head that he needed to prove.

"How long Kaito? How long have you been waiting?"

"i,::,"

The spirit paused, became even more see-through. Reigen and Serizawa peered into the tube; they could just make out something small and lumpy at the bottom of it.

"I wAit.;::"

"More than a day?"

"i wAIt.;:-"

"Two days? Three?"

"I WaiT..,;:-"

"A week?"

Silence.

Reigen clearly remembered the weather report. '- experiencing a sudden cold front despite the previous approach of spring. Be sure to bring your jacket if you're going out at night, because temperatures are dropping below zero degrees celcius-'

"Five days?", he asked.

The spirit paled even more, almost translucent now. Reigen leaned as close to it as he dared, staring into the tube and confirming the shape of of the lumpy thing.

"I----:;;--:... hE PrOmiSEd.;:!:;,"

Reigen looked up at Serizawa, and swallowed hard. Exorcise it, he mouthed, feeling close to throwing up. Now.

Serizawa blinked. "Are you sure?"

"Now!"

And Serizawa - Serizawa shook his head.

He shook his head, and said to the spirit, "Of course your dad will come. He'll be here. Because he loves you."

And suddenly, there was a little boy crouching at the edge of the tube, form glowing green, looking up at them with empty eyes. "he dOEs,,:?;,.,"

Serizawa smiled softly. "All parents love their children. But your dad? He loves you the absolute most."

The spirit smiled, and glowed gold - and then it dissapeared, gone forever.

Reigen swallowed.

Then he reached into the tube with trembling hands, and pulled out the corpse.

The former body of small Kaito smiled blissfully in death, happy with a promise that may or may not have been true. "Not all parents love their children," Reigen said hollowly, gently brushing the hair back from the bluish tinged face, not even caring about the smell of five day's decomposition.

Serizawa gently pulled the body away from him. "They do. Even yours did. Even if they weren't there when they should have been."

Reigen stared at him.

Stared at Serizawa, his insides exposed; opened and closed his mouth without words coming out. "How...?"

Serizawa smiled. "Reigen-san... if anyone, I know what real fear looks like. You were projecting onto Kaito."

Reigen suddenly feels a tear running down his cheek without being sure how it got there. "I..." He swallowed again. "I guess I was, huh."

Serizawa reached out, hesitantly, and brushed the tear away. His hand was so tender, and Reigen leaned into the touch.

"Don't worry, Reigen-san. I'll never leave, as long as you want me to stay. Because you're important to me, so, so important. Because I -"

Serizawa hesitated, then plunged onwards, "Because I love you."

Reigen's breath hitched, but Serizawa didn't notice. "And I know you don't love me back, not in that way, but that's okay. I don't have to be your lover, and I won't leave just because I can't be... I just want you to know that you always have a shoulder to lean on."

Reigen stared into Serizawa's warm brown eyes, and thought, I don't deserve you... But I want to, I want to, so much.

And Reigen leaned forwards and as his eyes closed, he brushed his lips against Serizawa's; carefully, tenderly. Serizawa froze, at first, but as Reigens hand came up to cup his face he melted into the kiss, a soft sigh escaping his lips and warming Reigen to his core. Never cold again.

He pulled back and smiled softly, saw his blush mirrored on Serizawa's face, as the esper stuttered, "R-reigen-san?"

And for the first time in too many years, Reigen thought he'd like to hear his own first name again.

"Please, call me Arataka."

#mob psycho 100 #mp100 valentines week #serirei #terumob #serizawa katsuya #reigen arataka #kageyama shigeo #hanazawa teruki #angst #fluff #child neglect #child abandonment #death #wow i feel like a terrible person #sorry reigen