Serizawa's body stiffened at the sudden sensation of fingers skimming through his hair, unfamiliar fingernails dragging gently across the length of his scalp as russet curls danced and flattened in unison to allow safe passage for the dexterous digits combing their way up and about the unkempt mass that was his head. Something within him seemed to snap to attention, and without thinking Serizawa whipped his head around to pinpoint the perpetrator behind these strange actions.

Except, when curious eyes followed the line of the stranger's appendage upward and locked with a dull chestnut gaze, the hairs on his neck spiked (along with every other miniscule object in the room, though more so with gradual ease and less detection from the owner of said-objects than he previously anticipated). In spite of the way Reigen's hand meticulously maneuvered through Serizawa's hair, the man himself appeared unfocused, almost entranced by whatever silent reverie wove his every train of thought; if Serizawa didn't know better, he'd assume Reigen had no idea what he was doing.

Nevertheless, Serizawa was quick to brush away the thought with a small shake of the head, swallowing hard before raising his voice amid the proverbial silence enrapturing his employer. "Uh, Reigen-san…? Is something wrong?"

Now, in all his time working alongside Reigen, Serizawa never knew the man to be jumpy, much less frantic and lost in his own little world, but here he was bearing witness to the very thing he never imagined he'd live to see- Reigen completely vulnerable in his own environment, utterly dismantled and sweating profusely (a lot more than usual, Serizawa couldn't help but note) as his eyes practically bugged straight out of their sockets and the hand placed on Serizawa's head twitched and immediately snapped back to his side in rapid fire succession.

Loudly, Reigen cleared his throat, visibly fighting off the downpour of perspiration glimmering on his forehead and the slightest tinge of red dusting across his cheeks.

"Shit, don't scare me like that! How long have you been sitting there anyways? What time is it? Why is everything so wet-?"

"Reigen-san, were you just… touching my hair?"

If Reigen had been ready to go off on a blind tangent, he'd surely shut himself up now. His mouth opened and closed faster than Serizawa could follow, his lips pulled tight in a forced smile, eyes flickering every which way as if to avoid looking in Serizawa's general direction.

"Uh, yeah! I, uh, I was just… You see, there was a bug and- well, you know, I hate bugs, I really do, and, uh, I was trying to…" He trailed off, leaving his jumble of words incomplete but not once daring to meet Serizawa's probing gaze, lest he find himself even further in trouble than what he already was.

Already, the atmosphere was taut with tension, the nervous wringing of hands threading themselves together only solidifying the obvious discomfort that had befallen Reigen. The air was electric with it. Not even Serizawa's aura could amount to the weight pressed around them, thick as ice and impossible to cut.

For what felt like an eternity, Reigen and Serizawa sat in silence. While it seemed like Reigen's mind was leafing through every possible excuse to weasel himself out of this awkward predicament, Serizawa's mind was scrounging around for ways to bring the topic back into light without driving his skittish employer away; it was plain to see that directly tackling the subject head on wouldn't work.

So, Serizawa tried a more vague approach. "I trimmed it down myself this time. The hair, I mean; it's not as good as what you could probably do with it, but I think I did a pretty decent job for a first try."

To his relief, Reigen seemed to break free of his flustered shell, if only a little. "Oh, really? Huh. I didn't even notice it grew back again… That's, uh, wow. Good job; it looks great."

Serizawa perked up, his hand subconsciously drawn to the top of his head as a smile spread across his visage. "Really?"

Reigen returned the smile before gesticulating wildly, flashing Serizawa a thumb's up. "Yep! Couldn't have done it better myself! Good on you, Serizawa. You're really making your way into society."

"Thank you," Serizawa said.

Reigen nodded swiftly in response.

Without another word, Reigen turned his attention away, and Serizawa watched with newfound interest as Reigen cupped his chin and leaned back against the couch cushions, eyelids pressed shut as his nose scrunched up. A deep exhale deflated his chest. Serizawa patiently waited for Reigen to contribute more to their conversation, but received no further indication of the man's desire to return to it.

Instead, Reigen shot forward and slammed his hands hard on the coffee table, rattling the tea placed upon its surface and startling Serizawa to a rigid stillness.

"Okay! Fine! You caught me! I was touching your hair, okay?!" Reigen exclaimed, his lips moving faster than they could keep up with as he thundered on without a moment's pause, "But I didn't know I was doing it until you said something! I wasn't trying to be weird or anything, if that's what you're worried about, but I was doing it without thinking and after I sort of realized it myself I just… I kept going because you didn't say anything and it didn't look like you minded... I mean, you obviously did mind it I guess, if you ended up mentioning it out loud- b- but that's beside the point!

"Listen, I'm probably making a bigger deal out of this than it really is, so just take all this with a grain of salt or whatever. I don't care what you do with it. You can either forget it or keep it to yourself. All I'm doing is clearing things up so it doesn't get awkward, okay?" Reigen jabbed an almost accusatory finger in Serizawa's direction. "I'm not a weirdo or anything, alright? So, don't go blabbing about it to anyone. The last thing I need is for someone to find out about this and think I'm some kind of pervert."

"Y- yeah... Sure," Serizawa replied, nodding.

Reigen sighed heavily. At last, his shoulder's slumped and his expression loosened. "Okay."

Taking back his place on the couch, Reigen ran a hand through his bangs before breathing out a more quiet sigh, leaning into his palm as his body hunched forward. "Sorry, sorry. I shouldn't have freaked out like that. I'm sorry.

"It's not a big deal, but I kinda blew up and dragged you along for the ride anyways, didn't I? I'm sorry. I just- I was thinking about how your hair felt the last time I cut it, and I wanted to see if it really felt the way I thought it did."

"... And?"

Reigen looked up, flushing faintly. "Uh, well, it. It did, I guess. No surprise there. Pretty anti-climatic. Kind of a dumb thing to think about now that I hear myself saying it out loud."

"No," Serizawa said. "I mean, what did it feel like to you?"

Reigen was caught off guard, if the stiffness of his figure was anything to go by. He averted his gaze instantaneously and let out a strained laugh. "It felt like hair,," he replied with forced nonchalance, pinwheeling a hand in the space between them as he went on, "Like I said, it wasn't really worth the fuss; it felt like how I expected it would, and now we can put this whole thing behind us and pretend it never happened!"

Although Serizawa doubted the legitimacy of his employer's claims, he decided it was probably best not to press any further on the matter. After all, Reigen was still his boss, albeit them being on rather familiar terms with each other and becoming more along the lines of casual friends than merely coworkers.

Rising to his feet, Serizawa gave Reigen a quick once over before offering a friendly smile and a stammered, "O- okay. Then I guess I should get going now."

"Oh! Right, right," Reigen replied, coming to stand alongside his coworker with a placid grin. Awkwardly, he gave Serizawa a pat on the back. "Wouldn't want you to be late for night school and all that. It's time for me to start closing up anyways."

"Reigen-san?"

"Eh?"

"If you need anything... feel free to call me. I have a free period for study hall that I normally use to get my homework done, but I'd be more than happy to talk to you if you're not busy with anything."

Surprise blossomed over Reigen's face. "Oh. Uh, yeah. Sure. I'll, uh, I'll do that then. I guess. Thanks."

The twinkle in Serizawa's eyes brightened. "Okay then. Talk to you later."

Shortly after Serizawa's departure, Reigen found himself dragging his hands over his face, his back pressed into the door as his body slowly lowered itself to the floor. Sweat was beginning to bead across his skin and roll down in salty rivulets, though the fierce scarlet scorching his cheeks had become more bothersome than the sweat itself, easy to mask but impossible to hide.

With an unsteady breath, Reigen wove clammy fingers around his mouth and swallowed back the elated noise threatening to surface from the fluttering recesses of his chest, his mind racing as blood pumped through his ears.

Fucking Hell… How does he get his hair to feel like that? It's like petting a dog!

No, there was more to it than that, so much more. Serizawa wanted to call him. He wanted to talk to him over the phone during his free period. He wanted to call him.

Shit. Reigen nearly banged his head against the door out of sheer excitement and frustration. Shitshitfuckingshit! What the Hell is he doing to me...?!

Notes: It's 3 A.M. and I just powered through this fic from start to finish because the idea's been in my mind for over a month, but I couldn't figure out how to write it for the life of me. I apologize if the characterization if off at all. This is my first time writing for Serizawa and my first time writing something extra long with Reigen in it.