The Proclaimed Worst Retail Employee
~ And Reigen ~
Retail. All the world is built on its strong shoulders. Diligently providing mankind with all its needs, be it the necessity of toilet paper or the overly indulgent enjoyment of films. It never tires or rests. Everyone, from those in the powerful world of governing politics to the lowly, thuggish gangs surviving on crime-riddled streets rely on the world of retail for the fulfilment of their daily needs.
And if not for retail's good and loyal employees, who would sell sandwiches to hungry salarymen? Who would hand athletes their direly needed refreshments? Who, indeed, would make sure children got their daily dose of sugar? Yes! The world relies on retail and retail, in turn, relies on its hard-working and diligent employees!
Kageyama Shigeo was not one of them.
Having slept passed his alarm (again), he arrived late to work (again) and was thusly yelled at quite extensively by his manager (again), who proclaimed that he had yet to see another employee with as long a tardy list (that was new).
As soon as Shigeo could, he slunk away to work, stacking shelves. He relaxed and focused on work within minutes. And it had all been going well, until an old man insisted that they were still selling some product Shigeo was certain had ceased production over thirty years ago. Of course, the man would not listen to him and after an hour of arguing (in which Shigeo was largely silent, while the man yelled at him), the elderly gent stormed off and complained to the manager about the useless employee. Shigeo suffered another bout of yelling at from his manager. As it turned out, the product had restarted production recently and was on display in a very visible section of the shop.
Shigeo went back to work, keeping the new display of food product in mind. Then a child started crying in the corridors, having lost its mother. Shigeo tried to help, but for some reason, his presence just scared the child more. On the up side, the child's cries managed to attract its mother. On the down side, the mother accused Shigeo of quite a long list of unpleasantries and promptly went to complain. Another bout of yelling from the manager.
Eventually, he was relocated from shelf-stacking to working at the cash register. Things were smoother there, for a while. Most customers were in a rush and never spared more than a few words if necessary. Then a woman tried to reduce the sum price of her shopping by using her feminine charms. Thankfully, Shigeo's loyalty to the store stopped him from obeying her whims, but that resulted in her angrily making a very loud fuss in front of all the other customers, before calling the manager over and complaining that Shigeo had been harassing her.
The manager did not yell at him that time. No matter how poorly the manager thought of him, even he knew that Shigeo could never harass anyone, ever. Still, Shigeo was asked to go back to stacking shelves for the day, while someone else took over his position at the cash register.
It was a little after five, when Shigeo's bland day-to-day business was interrupted by an incoming text. Although he instinctively wanted to ignore it, since he was currently working, a small flare of curiosity urged him to just quickly check what it was and who it was from. He seldom received texts. He hurriedly looked around himself, to see if anyone else was in the corridor with him. Not seeing anyone to watch his actions, he quickly whipped out his phone and read the text.
~ AAAH! HELP ME! I'm at the abandoned house I was talking about yesterday. Hurry up or I might diiieee! ~
Shigeo hesitantly put the phone back in his pockets. He didn't even need to look up the name to know who it was from. He sighed tiredly and tried to decide what to do. On one hand, he couldn't know for certain that the kid was fine. Sure, the boy had unquestionably cried wolf more times than he could count, but Shigeo also happened to know how that particular tale ended. He was not eager to be partially responsible for such an end.
On the other hand, he was at work and the abandoned house was quite a bit away. Too long to simply take a quick break. If he wanted to help out, he'd have to leave work early. To make up for it, he could work overtime on a later day… But that might not be possible anyway. He'd already arrived late to work that morning and had seen his manager no less than three times for reasons that were definitely not good.
Leaving early, in itself, didn't look good.
But what if something serious was happening to him?
He sighed and finished stacking the shelves. Then he went to his manager and politely asked if he could leave early. He thought for a moment his manager would refuse, but instead, the manager nodded.
"Things are slow this evening. But you were late to work today and you're leaving early…" his manager trailed off.
"I'll work overtime another day. I promise," Shigeo answered. There was a pause.
"Fine. It't not like I'm the one missing out on pay. Off you go," the manager replied dismissively. He didn't bother to ask where Shigeo had to go so abruptly. He didn't care enough to ponder such a thought, even though this had started to happen increasingly often. Shigeo thought he didn't mind the manager's lack of interest or care.
10%
He hurried towards the location at a brisk pace, hands in his coat pockets. He refused to run. This had happened so often, that he was certain the situation couldn't be so dire that it required running. Of course, the speed of his stride clearly disagreed with him on that, as it tried desperately to turn his walk into a run. It was a little after half-past five when Shigeo arrived at the abandoned building.
He entered it, observing the rooms. Salt was splattered everywhere, hazily thrown in every direction. If he hadn't known better, he'd have thought that a violent war against snails had taken place there. He listened carefully and could hear some hushed voices, that were trying to hear him coming.
"It's about time!" a voice spoke out, above the others. It wasn't hard to recognise. It was a deceptively warm and colourful voice, belonging to the one person that was the bane of Shigeo's life, ever since they met three years ago. Shigeo rounded the corner and looked into a new room. Reigen smiled lazily at him.
"Sorry to call you out here, but it's too powerful for me," he explained, gesturing at the ghost, floating nearby. The ghost was covered in table salt and looked rather fed up. Shigeo also took note of two students that were with Reigen. They looked a puzzling mix of terrified and annoyed. Shigeo looked back at the ghost and frowned slightly enough that the shift in expression was barely noticeable.
"This is a very weak ghost," he stated. "You should be able to handle it on your own."
"W-well yeah, and I normally would!" Reigen hurriedly retorted. "But I used all my powers on this other ghost I came across earlier today. Don't have enough juice left to get rid of this one," he explained, waving it off.
"Why didn't you just run away then?" Shigeo asked in his usual quiet, monotonous voice. Somehow, it still managed to portray enough emotion that Reigen knew exactly how Shigeo felt at that moment. Reigen couldn't help but gulp nervously.
"Um, duh. I'm working for clients?" Reigen answered, waving his hands at the two students with him. Shigeo returned his attention to them. Their mood had shifted into nervousness for some reason. He noted that they wore a different school uniform from Reigen.
"You're not from the same school?" Shigeo asked.
"No! No, we aren't!" the girl hurriedly explained. "We, uh… Professional psychics are way too expensive and we heard that Salt Middle School had a psychic club… So we went to them for help with the Ceiling Crasher, but they didn't pay any attention to us! At all! Probably because of Taro the doubter…"
"What? I didn't…" the boy (Taro…?) started, but the girl continued without hesitation.
"… We were told about a freelancing psychic at that school though, which is why we've, um… I guess employed Reigen-kun now. I-I'm Hanako and this is Taro, by the way," she hurriedly explained.
"Why wouldn't the psychic club help you…?" Shigeo began to ask, but the ghost interrupted him.
"This is your secret weapon?" Ceiling Crasher asked Reigen, waving a hand in Shigeo's direction. "Some guy in a dead end job? Guess I shouldn't be surprised, since you're just a kid. Of course you'd be relying on such a loooooOOOO-"
Shigeo had raised a hand and banished the spirit in mere seconds. He looked back at Reigen once the dust had settled.
"Run away next time," he ordered, although his voice wasn't particularly commanding. "Refund your clients if you cannot exorcise the spirits yourself." He leaned slightly closer to Reigen, telekinetically dusting dirt off the teen's school uniform. Reigen subconsciously shrank away "And unless it's a real emergency, don't call me when I'm at work. How many times do I have to tell you?"
"Sir! Thank you so much!" Hanako suddenly shrieked, grabbing Shigeo's arm and jumping up and down with joy. "That ceiling crasher ghost has been giving me nightmares for months now! I can- I can finally sleep! I'll be able to study again!" she cried, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes. Shigeo was a little taken aback. She didn't notice his reaction, but let go of his arm and linked her arm with Taro's instead. Her joy was infective, as Taro lit up too.
"Yeah, thanks sir!" Taro said. "The ghost said he'd haunt me too, but now he's gone, so I don't have to worry about that! And you helped Hanako! Thanks for helping my girlfriend!" he continued, as happy and enthusiastic as Hanako.
"Girlfriend…?" Shigeo asked, a little puzzled. Weren't they a little young to be dating…? Reigen suddenly latched onto Shigeo's arm and smiled smugly at him.
"And that," he explained, gesturing towards Hanako and Taro, who were talking to each other happily and excitedly. "Is why I don't like running away."
Shigeo poked at his food. Those two kids had been really happy that they were free of that ghost. What was its name again? Ceiling crasher? That's what the girl had called it anyway. How had it gotten such a silly name…?
Conclusion: Reigen liked making people happy. At least, that's what he wanted Shigeo to believe. To be honest, there was something satisfying about seeing the kids look so… Relieved? Excited? Optimistic? Maybe something else? Those were certainly pleasant expressions…
But… was it worth it? Was it really worth getting into more trouble at work to exorcise a ghost, of all things? A weak ghost that had been foolish enough to manifest physically? A ghost that Reigen could have exorcised on his own, had he listened to Shigeo about the difference between plain table salt and purified salt…
"Well, Shigeo?" his mother asked. Shigeo sat up straight, looking up at his parents. "How's work?" she repeated. Shigeo hesitated for a moment as he did his best to remember what they had been talking about, before he finally shrugged.
"So-so," he answered. She frowned.
"So… nothing new?" she asked. "No excitement at all?"
"Well, um… No…" he replied, unwilling to talk about the three incidents that had happened over the course of the day.
"Honey, you're not going to drag this back up again, are you?" his father asked, sighing deeply.
"What?" she asked, doing her best to look innocent. "I'm just asking how his day was!"
"No, you're trying to bring up his choice in work again," his father responded, folding his arms.
"I was not! And there's nothing wrong with talking about it. I'm just a little concerned! Can't a mother voice her concern anymore?"
"He's a full grown man. He can make his own decisions," his father argued.
"Yes, but it's a dead end job! There's nothing he can do there! Shige, you're better than that. You can do better than that. There are so many other things you could be doing that actually have a future. Wouldn't you like a job that's more suited to your talents and skills?" she asked. Shigeo looked at his food with a concentrated expression. Then he shrugged.
"My current job's ok…" he answered. He wouldn't know what else he could do anyway.
"But it's such a soulless job!" his mother complained. "I would understand if you were working such a job as a young student that's trying to make end's meet, but you're not! You need a proper job," she insisted. "Like Ritsu. Why can't you be more like him?"
"Mum, you can't really compare us to each other," Ritsu defended, smiling nervously. "We're different people and we both have very different interests. Besides, in my case, my job was more of a calling. Not everyone wants to become a police officer."
"You just told me the other day about a policeman that acts more like a thug than a decent member of society. Conclusion, anyone can be a police officer."
"I think the thug's in it for the power, mum. So you still need a motivation to want to become a policeman. My point is, I don't think Shigeo's interested in working for the police."
"It's true. I'm not," Shigeo agreed.
"But that's not my point," their mother argued.
"Dear, don't hassle Shigeo anymore. We've had this discussion a thousand times. He likes his current job, so he should keep doing it. That's what we agreed, remember?"
"Um…" Shigeo mumbled.
"You are happy with your current job, aren't you Shige?" his father asked.
"Um…" Shigeo repeated. He couldn't say he was happy with it. He didn't hate it, but he didn't enjoy it either. It was simply something to do during the day. It wasn't what he'd wanted to do as an adult, it had just sort of… happened. It was a normal, average job, so Shigeo felt satisfied with it. So he thought.
His parents shared a worried look.
"Hm, let's talk about something else then. Ritsu, how's things going with Seo-chan? We haven't seen her in a while…" their father asked.
"Oh, well…" Ritsu stuttered. "We're… not seeing each other anymore."
"Huh? But you two seemed so happy together!" his mother exclaimed. "And you were getting serious! Weren't you talking about marriage the other day?"
Ritsu poked at his food.
"Did something happen?" Shigeo asked. Ritsu didn't seem to want to answer.
"Yeah, kind of… It's complicated," he explained. "All that matters is… We agreed it's for the best."
"Oh, well… Sorry to hear that son," his father said, in an effort to be comforting. "Guess she wasn't the one, huh?"
"I guess not…" Ritsu agreed.
"Well, that's fine, dear," his mother added. "These things do happen, after all… It's good she never moved in though. Imagine what a hassle that would have been! Living together makes for a very messy break-up…" she continued. Ritsu didn't comment and instead, once again, shrugged. Shigeo watched his brother silently for a few moments, then returned to eating, unable to come up with anything that might comfort him. Ritsu sighed and waved a waitress over.
"Can I have some more water, please?" he asked. She nodded and hurried off to get it for him. "You know, apart from what happened with Mei- with Seo-san, I've been doing pretty well," Ritsu continued, unable to handle the awkward silence anymore.
"Really?"
"Yeah. We've made significant progress in our current case. I'm very happy about that. I mean… Our finds are… A bit worrying, but if we work hard, I'm sure everything will be fine."
"Well, that's excellent news," his father cheered. "I'm guessing you'll be in the news again soon, huh? I can't wait to hear about another one of your solved cases. There's nothing my son Kageyama Ritsu can't do!"
"Dear, not so loud. We're in public."
"Bah, I don't care. They oughta know how proud I am of my son. Of both my sons!" he announced, grinning. Shigeo paused from his soup to smile at his father and was about to say something, when his phone started ringing.
"Oh, Shige, you haven't turned your phone off?" his mother tutted.
"Sorry mum, I must have forgotten. Um… Can I take this?" he asked.
"You might as well," she answered. Shigeo took out the phone and turned away from his family in an effort to give them space to continue a conversation, as well as get a little privacy. He absentmindedly played with the spoon in his free hand.
"Hello? Kageyama speaking," Shigeo spoke.
"Ah! Kageyama-san! I'm so glad you picked up! It's me! Reigen Arisu!" Of course. Reigen's mother. Why was she calling…?
"Oh. Hello."
"Hi, hi! So, um… I was wondering if you're free this evening?"
"Why?" Shigeo asked, a little surprised.
"Well… Tonight is parent's evening and I was originally supposed to go, but…" she trailed off and left the sentence hanging.
"But…?" Shigeo prompted.
"Ah, I got a call from the hospital! One of the nurse's has called in sick, so I've been asked to cover his shift. And I- I kinda said yes? As you can see, I'm, uh, kinda in a pickle here! 'Cause I'm supposed to go to the parent-teacher meeting, but now I have to cover a shift and I made two promises and I can only keep one- Ahem… So, um… Do you think you can go instead? In my place?"
"What about your husband?"
"As said, I was supposed to go tonight. You know how very busy we are with our jobs, which is why we take things in turns, usually… And it's my turn tonight. Please help me! I don't know what else to do! Or who else to turn to!"
Shigeo frowned.
"Well, the thing is, I'm not legally responsible for him…" he started, but instantly silenced when Arisu began sniffling. "Um… Are you crying?" he asked.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. I know I shouldn't be dumping my problems on you! It's just that you spend all your time with Ara-chan, so I thought, well, what difference does it make if you go? You might as well be his guardian, considering all the trouble you get him out of! And you're very reliable, you can tell us what's wrong and…. You spend so much time with him…"
"It wasn't my intention to end up spending so much time with him," Shigeo unwillingly responded.
"I know, I know, I just… I don't know what to do!" Arisu continued. "I mean, I want to take the shift, because we- we could use the extra money, you know? And the hospital needs me! Please, please help me Kageyama-san…" she begged. Shigeo hesitated for a moment. His grip tightened around the spoon.
"I'll go. Just please… Stop crying…" he said. "When is the parent-teacher meeting?"
The crying stopped so suddenly, Shigeo almost suspected that he had only heard crocodile tears. He dismissed the suspicions instantly though.
"It's at eight," Arisu answered.
"That's in half an hour… You realise I'm in town at the moment don't you? It will be difficult for me to get there on time…"
"Oh! Sorry for inconveniencing you then! And thank you so much for your help, Kageyama-san! You can meet with Acchan at the school. He'll have a letter from me, explaining that yes, you are there in my place. Again, thank you Kageyama-san!"
"Ah, but…" Oh. She hung up. Mob frowned. Going to the parent-teacher meeting in place of Arisu Reigen really was inconvenient. Especially since Ritsu was treating him and their parents to a nice meal at a nice restaurant. That didn't happen that often. And to be called out of the blue just like that…
45%
"Shigeo! What have you done to that spoon!" his mother suddenly cried. Shigeo looked at his hand, that was still clutching the spoon… Or what used to be a spoon.
"Ah," was all he could say, as he looked at the mangled, twisted remains of something that didn't even vaguely look like a spoon. However, after a moment of shock, he focused and managed to revive the dead spoon. It wasn't quite perfect, with visible dents and scratches, but at least it was usable as a spoon again. "Sorry," Shigeo meekly apologised.
"That's been happening a lot more lately. Is there something that's upsetting you?" his father asked. Shigeo shook his head.
"Not anything particular, no," he replied.
"You know, it's a shame really. Here I'd thought you had grown out of it, but here you are, at twenty-eight years old and still bending spoons at random…" his mother muttered, sighing. "At least you fix them now."
"But honey, he hasn't done this in years. Which is why… Are you sure nothing's wrong?" his father asked again.
"You can talk to me too, if you want," Ritsu offered.
"Um, no, no, I just… Um… I have to go," Shigeo finally said, standing up.
"Where are you going?" his mother asked, alarmed. "There is something wrong?" she asked, suddenly worried.
"No, no, nothing like that. I'm sorry, but I've been asked to stand in for someone, just now. That's what the phone call was about… Um… Thank you for the meal, Ritsu."
"No problem. It's a shame you have to go so suddenly, but I guess if you're needed elsewhere… Who are you standing in for?" he asked.
"Um…" Shigeo stuttered. Ritsu sighed.
"Is it that kid again? You know you can tell him to get lost, right?" Ritsu asked. "If he's being a bother," he added.
"No, it's… It's fine," Shigeo reassured him. "I'll see you all again later, right?"
His mother sighed. "Ritsu's right. It's a shame that you have to go so soon, but… It can't be helped. Have fun doing… Whatever it is you're doing," she said, smiling softly.
"Yeah, see you soon, son," his father added. Shigeo smiled and hurriedly left. Ritsu said nothing, instead watching his brother exit the restaurant. His gaze lingered on the entrance for a moment, a hint of bitterness visible… And then he was talking to his parents again, about more pleasant things, as if that emotion had never even been permitted to surface.
"Mob-shishou!" Reigen greeted, waving him over.
"How often have I told you not to call me that?" Shigeo asked, as he panted for breath. Reigen handed him the letter.
"What…? Shishou?" he asked.
"Mob."
"But… That's your name…?" Reigen asked, in mock innocence. Shigeo sighed.
"From a long time ago," he corrected. "No one calls me that anymore. So please don't."
"Ok, Mob-shishou."
47%
Shigeo gave up and began walking towards the school. A couple came out, just as he was about to enter and held the door open for him. Shigeo thanked them, then entered… to find Reigen in front of him again. The kid must have slipped in while Shigeo had been talking to that couple…
"Aren't you going home?" he asked.
"Do you even know where you need to go?" Reigen retorted. Shigeo didn't respond, his gaze instead wandering over to other parents and guardians attending parent-teacher meetings that night. Reigen huffed.
"I'm just following you to the classroom. I obviously won't follow you inside," he explained. Shigeo hummed approvingly. Although he knew there had to be something else that Reigen wanted to gain out of this (since he never stayed or was overly helpful if it was unnecessary), Shigeo wasn't particularly interested in figuring out what Reigen's ploy was. That was something that Reigen's actual parents were supposed to do. "Also," Reigen continued. "I need someone to take me home afterwards. Or do you want the Kuchisake-Onna to get me?"
"What's that supposed to be?" Shigeo asked. Reigen gasped dramatically, feigning shock.
"You don't know?"
"Nope," Shigeo answered. He glanced to Reigen and the teen instantly knew to drop the subject. Reigen rolled his eyes.
"Doesn't matter anyway," he announced, thumb pointing at a classroom door. "We're here. Takane-sensei awaits."
"The door is closed," Shigeo murmured. "Do you think that means there are still people talking inside?" he asked.
"You'll never know if you don't knock," Reigen disinterestedly answered, as he inspected his fingernails. Shigeo sighed, then knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Takane called back. Shigeo reluctantly started to open the door. Before entering, he shot one last look at Reigen, who gave him an unhelpful thumbs-up in response. Shigeo, in turn, gave him one last, flat look, then entered. He looked at Takane, about to greet her properly, when instead he found himself saying "Tsubomi-chan?"
"Mob-kun?" she replied. The two stared at each other for a few moments, surprised. Then Shigeo started turning red.
"Ah! Sorry, I probably shouldn't have called you that, it's- it's Takane-sensei now, right? Or can I call you Takane-san? I mean…"
She smiled, warmly. It had been a while since he had seen her smile like that. Well, no, it had been years since he'd even seen her.
"If you want to call me Tsubomi-san or Takane, you can. I don't mind either way," she answered. He hesitantly smiled back. "Can I still call you Mob-kun?" she asked.
"O-of course! I mean… No one calls me that anymore, but it's what you've always called me, so…" he agreed.
"I'm glad. Please, take a seat," she spoke, waving at a free chair opposite her desk. He hastily took it. "I was… actually expecting Reigen-san right about now," she admitted.
"Oh, yes, right" Shigeo replied, hurriedly digging out the letter from his pockets. "Here," he said, handing it to her. Tsubomi read it.
"I didn't know you had a connection to Reigen-kun," she finally said, folding the letter up neatly. "You're his shishou? What are you teaching him?"
I haven't a clue.
"This and that," Shigeo answered. "Um… psychic… things…" he added, when she looked sceptical.
"He's an esper like you?" Tsubomi asked, surprised.
"He says so, yes," Shigeo admitted. "We met when he was exor… Ghost hunting."
"Ghosts, huh? You believe in those?" she asked, bemused. Shigeo decided against answering and his gaze drifted away from Tsubomi.
"Just out of curiosity, Reigen-san failed to mention why she's suddenly unavailable. Do you happen to know?"
Yes.
"No, sorry…" he answered. Tsubomi sighed.
"Well, never mind then. Shall we start?"
Shigeo nodded.
Tsubomi began telling him about how Reigen was performing at school, as well as his behaviour in and outside of class. Over all, Reigen performed fairly well, with good grades in all subjects. In class, he had a tendency to zone out, but that was quite normal for kids his age. His class participation didn't show any sign of his daydreaming becoming damaging to his education.
She did voice her disappointment in Reigen dropping out of the athlete's club. Reigen had been a part of it in his first year, but had decided to leave by the start of the second. When she had asked him why, he had simply said that he was now fast enough to 'run away'. There was no reason to keep going.
"Maybe he wants to join a different club?" Shigeo suggested. Tsubomi looked thoughtful.
"He… He did once mention… Mob, do you remember there being a telepathy club at this school?" she asked.
I was part of it.
"Vaguely," Shigeo answered.
"Well, that club disbanded when…What was her name… Kuroba-san…?"
"Kurata Tome-san."
"Yes her! When she graduated middle school, the club disbanded. But now we have a different, um… special club in its place. The psychic club. Reigen-kun mentioned wanting to apply to that, but he never did."
"Oh," was all Shigeo had to say to that. Perhaps Reigen had decided against it, because he had a real (adult) 'psychic' to help him out? It was significantly better than a handful of kids who only claimed to be psychic… On the other hand, Reigen had known him for three years now, so did that really explain suddenly not wanting to join…?
Tsubomi sighed deeply.
"It concerns me, you know?" she asked. Shigeo looked at her questioningly. "It's not just his leaving his club… It's also…" She paused. "Reigen-kun is… charismatic and charming, but he seems to have difficulties making any real friends."
"Is… Is that so?" he asked.
"There's no reason for him not to have any. He's very personable. But something about him… I think something about him drives other students away. It's possible that there's nothing he can do about it… But… It doesn't match his character. I'm worried that it's mutual. That he distances himself from others and they, in turn, distance themselves from him."
"Oh." Shigeo looked at his feet. "Hm."
She once again sighed.
"I've been observing the interactions between Reigen-kun and his classmates. I still don't know if it's one-sided or not."
"Oh. Someone should talk to him then."
"That would help," Tsubomi agreed. "I'm actually relieved to know that Reigen-kun has another adult in his life."
"Really? How come?" Shigeo asked.
"I've met his parents several times and have seen how Reigen-kun acts around them. It seems to me, he doesn't really listen or talk to them," she admitted. "At least, I don't think so. But perhaps he'll listen to you."
"To me?" Shigeo asked, frowning, although Tsubomi probably didn't notice, seeing as his face wasn't particularly expressive.
"You are his shishou."
"But you're his sensei."
She sighed.
"He hears me, but he doesn't listen. Perhaps in Reigen's case, the fourth time's the charm," she said quietly.
"Four is unlucky," Shigeo unhelpfully pointed out. She smiled.
"Perhaps not for Reigen-kun," she said. "Either way, for now it's just something to keep an eye on. It doesn't seem to be serious yet."
"That's… good?" Shigeo asked, a little unsure. She looked grimly at the letter from Reigen's mother. She then let out a deep breath and looked back at Shigeo, with a less serious expression.
"Well, thank you for coming, Kageyama-san," Tsubomi finally said. It seemed their allotted time was already up. Shigeo would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed. She once again smiled at him.
"It's good to see you again, Mob-kun," she softly admitted.
"Ah, you too," Shigeo replied. He hadn't thought he'd ever see her again, let alone talk to her again… "It's been a while," he added.
"Yes. I haven't seen you since we were kids. It's a shame we didn't go to the same high school…" Tsubomi mused.
"We did."
"Huh?"
"We did go to the same high school."
"What… We did?"
"Yes."
Tsubomi suddenly felt, very, very embarrassed.
"Right, right! University is when we went separate paths!"
"Yes…" Shigeo quietly admitted. Although, he and Tsubomi had gone "separate paths" all the way back in elementary school… They just happened to go to the same schools for a while.
"I wonder how the others are doing… Did you stay in contact with anyone?" she asked.
"Um… There's… Ritsu…" he murmured. She laughed. It was a pretty laugh.
"Your brother doesn't count," she playfully scolded.
"Huh, well then… No." he surmised.
"Come to think of it, neither have I. Perhaps we should meet up some time then? It'd give us a proper chance to catch up and I'd love to talk to you again, properly."
For a moment, Shigeo was Mob again. He was that teenage boy with a helpless crush on his childhood friend. He was stunned into silence.
0%
"Mob-kun?" Tsubomi asked.
"Oh, ah, yes, me too, me too, it would be…" He paused. "… Good."
She smiled.
"Unfortunately I won't have any real time for the next few evenings, what with the parent-teacher meetings. They last the entire week… Of course, I'm always free from ten onwards. We could get a drink together. It's late and we won't be able to talk for long… But I think it could be a nice change of pace. Well, for me at least."
"I wouldn't mind," Mob admitted after her words had finally processed inside his brain. She wanted to get a drink? With him? Of course, all implications seemed to strongly suggest that it was just as friends, but spending any time at all, alone with Tsubomi, was more than he could have ever asked for. Her smile brightened. She picked up a pen and wrote on the opened envelope from Reigen's mother.
"Here's my phone number. Call me when you have time."
He accepted it and got up to leave, then hesitated a moment.
"Ah, wait…" Mob stuttered. He tore off a piece of the envelope and wrote his own number on it. "You can call me when you have time too," he explained. "I'm probably not as busy as you are," he reluctantly admitted. His life mostly consisted of his family, work and Reigen. She was a sociable teacher though, with probably loads of friends and tons of other obligations, so she definitely had far more on her plate to deal with. She looked at the envelope piece he was offering her, then she graciously accepted it.
She was about to say something else, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Oh. That will be the next set of parents," she muttered, sounding a little annoyed.
"I'll leave then," Mob announced, pocketing Tsubomi's phone number in his coat. She once again smiled at him.
"Ok. See you soon."
"Yeah…" Mob quietly replied, as he stumbled out. He opened the door and came across a mother and father. He squeezed past them as they tried to force themselves in, as if they were in a hurry to get the meeting over and done with. Reigen was, of course, standing nearby. He was also rubbing the back of his head.
"What happened?" Shigeo asked.
"One of the parents, uh… Saw me leaning against the door and thought I was eavesdropping. Told me off for that," he explained. "I wasn't, of course! It's just these dumb idi- parents jumping to conclusions."
Shigeo sighed, but didn't comment further, instead turning on his heel and walking toward the school's exit. So that had been Reigen's ploy. Eavesdropping. Probably to learn what the school had to say about the teen. That wasn't so bad.
"Let's go home," Shigeo finally said after several moments of silence. Reigen ran after him.
"So… Tsubomi-chan?" Reigen asked curiously.
"We knew each other as kids," Shigeo flatly explained.
"Is that so?" Reigen muttered. "You know, she's wrong about me. Not that I was eavesdropping, but I don't have to be a genius to guess what she was talking to you about."
"And?" Shigeo asked after a pause.
"And she's wrong. I don't have any of those problems."
"Problems?"
"You know. Like a lack of friends. That's not a problem, I just don't bother so much, you know? I don't see any reason to have friends here… But if I wanted to, I could make some, easy."
"Huh," Shigeo responded. So it is mutual? Or is Reigen lying to himself…? Or is it one-sided after all…? I don't know… "You know, I didn't really get a chance to eat earlier. I'm kind of hungry now. What about you?" Shigeo asked. Reigen looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I could eat," he admitted.
"Want some ramen then?" Shigeo offered. Reigen nodded.
"Yeah. Let's go."
This is pretty much going to follow the canon as closely as it can, without actually being the same story. I'm definitely going to take it up till the Mogami Arc, but any further will have to be seen. Since the chapters are relatively long (who knew that one episode is roughly equivalent to 6000 to 7000 words?), updates will be slow. I've decided to stick to Japanese suffixes, although if I'm getting them wrong, I'll go back and edit the entire story to be without them.
'k bye!
