It was a pink bag that had caught Reigen's attention as he entered Spirits and Such. Serizawa was already there. He was the first one in, usually. There was a spring in his step as he took a stab at Reigen's long neglected filing. The room was filled with the smell of what Serizawa called green tea. The atmosphere in the room was different, cheerful even. But that was not which held Reigen's attention. No. It was the pink gift bag resting on Mob's desk. He walked over to it and attempted to peer inside. Tissue paper obscured whatever was inside. He wanted to move it aside, to see what secrets this gift held, but he didn't.
This was not for him.
This was for Mob.
But why?
"Master Reigen, good morning!" said Serizawa as he emerged from the backroom. He walked in long strides, a wide smile on his face. Well at least his date had gone well.
"Mornin' Serizawa. What's up with this?" asked Reigen motioning towards the pink bag on Mob's desk. Her birthday wasn't until May….what holiday had he forgotten?
"It's a gift for Mob." Said Serizawa. Reigen frowned a little. She wasn't Master Kageyama to him and hadn't been for weeks.
"I can see that, but why? Her birthday isn't until May 10th." Said Reigen
"May 12th." Corrected Serizawa as he poured Reigen a cup of green water. Some might have even called it tea.
"…right…" said Reigen. How did Serizawa know her birthday?
"When's yours?" asked Serizawa
"October 10th. So, what's the occasion? Did I forget Girl's Day? Did they move Christmas?" Said Reigen not wanting to think about his last birthday. Away from her. Her last birthday, however, had been great. She had been so happy….that was why Serizawa remembered. That was the reason. No other reason.
"No occasion. I just wanted to make her a gift. I hope she likes it." Said Serizawa with a smile that made Reigen want to do things that bosses did not do to their employees.
"You just went and got her something for no reason?" asked Reigen. Don't look into it. This is Serizawa.
"To make her happy." Said Serizawa in a tone that Reigen didn't much care for. No. This was Serizawa. Remember that this was Serizawa.
"Just to make her happy?" asked Reigen. He had a girlfriend. He was not trying to get with Mob. This was not him making a move on Mob. Maybe he was just making up for last year's lackluster birthday gift. What had he gotten her? A doll? She was much too old for dolls.
"Of course. I love it when she's happy." Said Serizawa with an expression on his face that Reigen didn't want to label as….so he wouldn't. It was early. He hadn't even had his tea yet.
"Me too. Whatever it is I'm sure Mob'll love it." Said Reigen. He sat down at his desk and downed his tea quickly. It was early. He had been up all night being stalked by fourteen year olds…or just one fourteen year old. Damn it, Sho…damn it it Ritsu for putting Sho up to it.
"Is something wrong?" asked Serizawa. Reigen gave him a dismissive wave.
"Nothing. Just letting the day wash over me. Thank God it's Friday, am I right?" asked Reigen with a false laugh.
"You're right, thank God it's Friday. I just can't wait for the weekend!" said Serizawa sitting at his desk. He pulled out his phone and was typing something to someone, probably his girlfriend. How did she feel about him getting fifteen year old girls presents for no real reason?
"Big plans?" asked Reigen. More plans with this mysterious university student he had met God knows when? Reigen knew that the polite thing to do would have been to ask about her. What was she like? What was she studying? How did they meet? Hell, what was her name? But he didn't. He didn't want to make this woman real in his mind. For now she was abstract, something that made Serizawa look up to him and ask his advice. Someone who made Serizawa look at him like he was someone.
"Yes. My girlfriend is spending the weekend with me. I'm so excited!" said Serizawa. He looked it, too, Reigen thought. Even the purple of his aura was visible to the naked eye.
"Nice. See, I knew she'd come around." Said Reigen. Maybe he should follow Serizawa's example and find a woman. Not a one night stand but a girlfriend, someone who wasn't fifteen. Someone his own age. Mob…no. He couldn't hurt Mob. He could wait three years. He could wait for Mob. But would Mob wait for him?
Of course she would. She was Mob and she loved him enough to lay it all out on the table for him. He had done the responsible thing and turned his nose up at the spread provided. He could not be with her but she understood why. She understood why she had to wait.
"You were right. I just gave her time and now I can't believe that she's actually going to spend an entire weekend with me. I just don't know what we're going to do…" said Serizawa going off in thought. Reigen raised an eyebrow.
"You don't know what you two can do alone together all weekend?" asked Reigen. He'd give Serizawa the whole weekend off. Mob couldn't come in, anyway. It was her parents' wedding anniversary and they always went to some hot springs resort for the weekend every year. She wasn't allowed out of the house if they were going to be away for so long. Not that Reigen understood what they were so worried about. Anybody stupid enough to mess with Mob would be the one who needed saving, not her.
"Besides that!" said Serizawa with a blush. Reigen rolled his eyes. Serizawa was such a kid sometimes. There wasn't anything embarrassing about what two adults did together and, honestly, Serizawa should be announcing it to the world. A real, live, woman had slept with him. Not that Reigen wanted to be mean or anything.
"Well, what do you usually do together, besides the obvious?" asked Reigen leaning back in his chair. Serizawa really was lucky to have someone like Reigen to guide him.
"We watch TV and take walks, mostly. We talk, too. Well I mostly talk. She doesn't talk a lot unless she has a lot to say. We mostly talk about shows she likes, or things that happened to her at school. She liked to talk about all of her school friends. Oh, and her family too. She loved her little brother a lot. Sometimes we go to the arcade, too, or play go. She likes go." Said Serizawa. Reigen put his teacup down with more force than was needed. Well good for him. No, be nice, Arataka.
"So do all of that, then. The worst thing you can do, when it comes to women, is overthink it. Just go with what feels right." Said Reigen trying to sound like the wise master everyone thought he was.
"But I just feel like we should do something, well, special. She's never stayed the night before. I've never had a girl stay over before, especially for this long." Said Serizawa
"Maybe take her out to a nice dinner, then. Somewhere fancy. Where do you guys usually go?" asked Reigen racking his brain for what he did with his last girlfriend…back in university. Crap. Had it been that long?
"Usually we get ramen or convenience store dinners. I cook for her, too, but nothing too fancy." Said Serizawa
"Well then there you go. Women like it when you make them feel special. Take her out to the new French-ish place they opened. Something Amour. They've got pretty decent dinner specials." Said Reigen. When had he last been there? Oh yeah, cursed shoulders a couple weeks ago. She had been fun.
"Girls like things like that?" asked Serizawa. He had taken out a pen and paper, now, and was writing things down quickly.
"Oh yeah, they live for that stuff. Don't you watch TV? Candle lit dinners, foreign food, fancy wines that you can't pronounce the names of, the whole shebang. They love that stuff, trust me." Said Reigen. Serizawa stopped writing and looked at him.
"But she's too young to drink." Said Serizawa. Now it was Reigen's turn to stop and stare. He had been leaning back, propping himself up. Nonchalant. Now he was sitting normally, both eyes trained on Serizawa's. Blue eyes met brown.
"….is the drinking age still twenty?" asked Reigen. A very young university student then. A first or second year. Not that Reigen had ANY right to throw stones.
"Yes. It's still twenty." Said Serizawa after picking up his phone.
"Ok, then just get her some sparking juice…or just let her sneak from your glass. Nobody really cares, anyway, so long as you're not being obnoxious about it." Said Reigen. Serizawa was back to scribbling down on his notepad. Reigen ran a hand through his hair. Yeah, this girl was too young for him. How old was Serizawa? Thirty one. Over ten years younger than him. Reigen looked over at Mob's desk. He had no right to throw stones.
"But won't I go to jail for letting someone underage drink?" asked Serizawa anxiously.
"Not if you don't get caught. You know, like when you were a kid. Wait, sorry…I forgot…but yeah, everyone drinks underage…except you I guess. Sorry. Have you even ever drank before?" asked Reigen
"Twice." Said Serizawa
"Did you like it?" asked Reigen
"No, it didn't taste good. Shimazaki said that it would get better if I drank more but then I just ended up throwing up. Then he laughed…" said Serizawa
"Who's he?" asked Reigen trying to remember the names and abilities of Serizawa's old coworkers.
"Ryou? He's the teleporter." Said Serizawa
"Without eyes?" asked Reigen with a shudder. That had been…disturbing….seeing that man's empty eye sockets looking up at him after his self-defense rush. In Reigen's defense the guy was beating up middle school kids, and he had no idea that he had been fighting a blind man in the first place!
"Yes, but he doesn't like it when people make fun of him for it." Said Serizawa
"I wasn't making fun of him." said Reigen
"I know, but he might take it that way. When we met I asked him why he didn't have eyes and he hit me." Said Serizawa
"Yeesh, touchy much?" asked Reigen
"He'll touch you, too. That's how he sees you, in detail." Said Serizawa
"You've been spending too much time with Mob." Said Reigen with a dismissive laugh. To his surprise Serizawa sat straight up, his knees making his desk jump.
"Do you really think so? Did she say that?" asked Serizawa. Reigen could feel the energy around them beginning to crackle. Right, Mob was probably his only other real friend.
"No, I was just saying that because of how literal you were, back there. Ok? She hasn't said anything to me. If she didn't want to spend time with you then she would be spending time with someone else." Said Reigen. Like him. The way it was supposed to be. Reigen and Mob. Maybe Reigen, Mob, and Serizawa. Not just Mob and Serizawa.
"….you think she'd spend time with someone else?" asked Serizawa looking, somehow, even more panicked.
"Well, yeah, she has other friends she can be spending time with. Remember, just because you guy are getting closer that doesn't mean that you can monopolize her time. If she needs her space she'll take it…believe me she'll take it…" said Reigen. Those had been the worst two weeks of his life…and they had been all his fault. He smothered her. He called her in excessively. Of course, now, she was coming by almost every, no, every day. Not for very long today, though. She had said that she had to see her parents off. She was just coming in to say hi, she had said. Going their separate ways had affected her, too.
"….how will I be able to tell if she needs her space….?"asked Serizawa quietly. Poor guy, he really didn't have a lot of friends. Not that Reigen had any room to talk. He planned on spending his weekend in front of the TV, smoking, drinking, and maybe heading off to a singles mixer. Maybe he wouldn't close his eyes and think about Mob the whole time….
"Honestly? If you….when she needed her space from me she just took it. She took it because I smothered her. I…I didn't let her have her own life. Just remember that she's not at your beck and call. Remember that she has her own life and her own friends and she won't always be there with you but that's ok because she's still Mob. She's not going to ghost you." Said Reigen even though for two weeks she had. She had been gone and she had been fine but he had been alone.
"….I didn't even think that she could just…go…" said Serizawa looking every bit like a kicked puppy.
"She probably won't. She likes you a lot, I can tell. You're the only person who can nerd out with her about that show you guys like." Said Reigen
"Evangelion?" said Serizawa
"Yeah, that. You and Mob are so into it I can't even follow most of what you guys say. I had no idea she was so into it. When I met her she was crazy about Sailor Moon, so if you two ever want to talk about that I'm your guy." Said Reigen. She had been eleven and in love with that show. The friendship between the girls, mostly, and the love interest too. She had been so cute then…cute now, too, but in a whole different way.
"She's not really into magical girls right now. She's more into EVA. Some other Gainax stuff but mostly EVA. It's her favorite thing right now….sometimes it's all she wants to talk about…" said Serizawa
"Well, yeah, she's fifteen. You remember being her age, right? I mean, you must have had something you were obsessed with even if you were, you know…" said Reigen
"Gundam, mostly, and this RPG….I think. I mean I think I was fifteen, then. The years just sort of bled together after a while. Sometimes my mom would knock on my door and tell me that it was my birthday and I would think 'but I just had a birthday'. Sometimes I have to remind myself that's I'm thirty one." Said Serizawa getting that far off look he got sometimes.
"How about I make you a sign saying 'Happy Un-Birthday, Serizawa. You're thirty one years old', and hang it above your desk?" asked Reigen. Serizawa smiled.
"But then how will I see it if it's above my desk?" asked Serizawa
"Then I'll just have to paint a mural on the ceiling. Don't try to talk me out of it, it's the only way, my heart is set." Said Reigen
"You don't have to do that, Master, but thank you. I'm…I'm better now. Not all the way but I'm better. She helps. She helps me a lot. I really love her." said Serizawa with a look that Reigen could only describe as love struck. His eyes, again, glanced over at the pink bag on Mob's desk.
"Your girlfriend?" asked Reigen after a moment. Serizawa nodded.
"Yes. I love my girlfriend so much it…it hurts sometimes. When I'm not with her, I mean, even though I know I'll see her again. Is that…does that make me possessive or needy or weird?" asked Serizawa
"…no. That's love. When you think about her every morning when you wake up…when you close your eyes and imagine her next to you every night….when she's all you want for yourself and your will to succeed…that's love." Said Reigen still looking at Mob's desk. All he desired. Everything he would ever want. Her smiles. Her frowns. Her ups. Her downs. All of it.
"It just doesn't quit, though. Sometimes it's like…the more I see her the more I want to see her. It's like when I'm with her I'm…" said Serizawa
"Somebody." Finished Reigen
"Yes! That's exactly how I feel! I just…it just won't quit. I just…I just want so much from her…I want everything from her but I know that I can't ask." Said Serizawa
"Don't. Don't ask her for too much at once. I've been there. It's overwhelming, when someone just throws down the gauntlet like that. Ease her into how you feel. What you want." Said Reigen
"But I want so much from her. It's just…I've wasted so much of my life already. Fifteen years. No, eighteen years. I wasted so much time and now I have her and she's mine and I just…I want everything with her. I want her to always be mine. I want to wake up with her, I want to go to be with her, I want…I want things that I know that I shouldn't want because I know that we've barely been together but I still…want them…" said Serizawa
"Sometimes you have to put what you want up on the shelf. It's not about what you want, it's about what's good for her. For her and for you, too. Going too fast can really…mess things up." Said Reigen
"How fast is too fast. I mean…on our first date she wanted to…" said Serizawa
"Well that's just sex. There's a difference between sex and everything that comes afterwards. Sex is easy, relationships are hard." Said Reigen
"…but why does it have to be? When I'm with her I'm so happy but then when she's gone it hurts so much…and it's not hard when we're together. When we're all alone she's…different. She talks more. She touches me. She lets me touch her. It's like we're closer together when we're alone. When we're outside it's like there's this entire…world…between us. It feels like it's a lot even when she's right next to me." Said Serizawa
"Then be outside more." Said Reigen
"What?" asked Serizawa
"Outside, the world. You've spent so much time inside spend more time outside." Said Reigen
"But she likes being inside, mostly." Said Serizawa
"Take her outside more. Do things outside of your bedroom. Trust me, it gets old. It's just…sex is fun but everything that comes afterwards is just…hell. I wouldn't know. I haven't had a real girlfriend since university." Said Reigen
"You? Really?" asked Serizawa
"Yeah, I know, right?" said Reigen
"I'm sorry." Said Serizawa
"Don't be. It's my own damn fault. I'm fine, really." Said Reigen
"I feel bad, now, talking about her to you." said Serizawa
"Well don't. Just because I fucked my love life up doesn't mean that you need to fuck yours up too. I'm happy for you two, I really am. She's lucky to have a guy like you and I sincerely hope that this weekend goes well for you. Take her out, have a nice time. Dinner, romantic stroll, star watching, nerding out, all of it. It'll be great. Any woman would be lucky to have a guy like you." Said Reigen speaking a little more candidly than he had intended to. Serizawa was always so down on himself. He needed to stop it, stop kicking himself like that. In him was a world of promise. Serizawa was sort of like Mob to him, without the emotional mess they had gotten themselves into, and Reigen needed to help Serizawa be the best person that he could be. Mob had been trapped in it, too. The self-doubt. Serizawa was going through all of this for the first time, like a kid, so Reigen would build him up when he could and give advice when he could. Serizawa could learn from all of his failures.
"Thank you, really. I feel…better." Said Serizawa
"Don't mention it, that's what I'm here for. They don't call me Master Reigen for nothing. Now come on, we've got a big case today. Some guy got lost in one of those warehouse stores and died. Sounds like a job for us, huh?" asked Reigen even though they weren't due at that job for a while. The atmosphere was too…much…right now. Too much vulnerability to one day. He needed to put some space between the two of them and this office. That pink bag on Mob's desk.
Just a little distance.
Mob wondered if it was right, what she was doing. Wanting some distance between her and Serizawa. She was due home, soon. Mom and dad were going off on their trip. A wedding anniversary. Those were very important. They were going to go off to the hot springs that their honeymoon had been in. Mob had been there, before she was born. Not that she wanted to think about her parents doing things like that.
Things that she did.
Things that she was going to do.
If she had Sho's sense of humor she would have thought that it was funny, what every Kageyama was going to spend the weekend doing. But she was not Sho and she was, mostly, grossed out by all of it. Moms and dads were not allowed to do stuff like that. Little brothers were not allowed to do stuff like that.
Of course by that logic big sisters, daughters, were not allowed to do things like that either.
So she would say nothing to Ritsu even though he was way too little. She would say nothing and he would, in turn, say nothing. Not that he had any idea what she got up to. Not that she ever wanted him to have any idea of what she got up to. Not that she wanted to think about what her little brother and the boy he loved got up to. Sho was nice, she decided. She liked Sho. Ritsu liked Serizawa, she thought. He at least didn't go and give Serizawa any of his patented Ritsu looks. Ritsu was going to have Sho over all weekend.
What would it be like to have Serizawa over?
To have him eating dinner in her kitchen? To sit on her couch and watch TV? To play Nintendo on her console. He could use Ritsu's controller, his 'A' button didn't stick. To kiss her in her bedroom? To lay her down on her futon and….Nope. Don't think about it. She was on her way to work, now, just to say hi. Maybe Master Reigen needed her. Maybe Master Reigen would have saved a job just for her and they'd go just the two of them. Just like it had been before. But it wasn't Master Reigen who wanted to see her, it was Serizawa. Serizawa was the one who's face lit up when she entered the room. Serizawa was the one who would fuss over her when they were out on jobs together. Serizawa was the one who wanted her there, who looked forward to seeing her.
Master Reigen didn't love her, no matter what he said.
He had lied to her before, for years.
But Serizawa had never lied to her.
She told herself that she was going there to see Serizawa. She was going there to say hi and see Serizawa and make him happy because he was so upset when they were apart even though she would see him later but she wanted to see him right after school and not Master Reigen. Serizawa. Her…boyfriend.
Boyfriend.
She needed to get used to that word. She needed to get used to it because he was all she had and he was someone who wanted to be with her so she was therefore his girlfriend. She was staying with him all weekend because she was his girlfriend. Not Master Reigen's. She needed to stop telling herself this and start believing it because she was just going around in circles with herself.
She felt a familiar aura getting nearer and nearer. Not her brother or Sho, thank goodness. She had meant it when she asked Ritsu to stop with all the stalking. She didn't want to explain to Ritsu what was happening. He wasn't the sort of person who could just get out of her business and let her settle her own problems. That was how brothers were. They protected you.
Not that she needed any protection.
She saved the world. She could handle the emotional mess she had gotten herself into.
She felt Serizawa's aura getting closer to hers. No, she was getting closer to him. Their auras tried to bond. That had started happening more and more frequently, even when they weren't having sex. Maybe because they had been together like that so many times their auras always thought that they needed to be together. The other Shigeko certainly enjoyed the new situation.
Mob enjoyed it too. A lot of it.
But why couldn't she quit Master Reigen? Why did she close her eyes and imagine him when she and Serizawa were in bed together? Why did she always stare at him? Why was it Master Reigen who she thought about in her room when it was late and she was all alone?
Because she loved him. She was in love with Reigen Arataka and no amount of rejection would ever make her forget him.
And wasn't that just terrible of her?
She walked more quickly, as if it was even possible to outrun her thoughts of Reigen Arataka. Of how he would feel on top of her. The memory of his lips crashed against hers. The smell of him, all incense and aftershave and cigarettes. What would he be like? What would it be like to fit together with him like puzzle pieces? Would he treat her like Serizawa treated her? Like she was made of glass? Like she would shatter of he bit too hard? Grabbed her too hard? Kissed her too hard? Rocked too hard?
Would he know what she liked? Like Serizawa did? Would he know how to make her scream? Not constant screams, and she didn't even scream that often, and when she had it had come as a surprise to both of them. Master Reigen had been with other women before, the thought pained her, so he would know what to do.
At least she didn't have to worry about measuring up to anyone when she was with Serizawa.
They learned together. Now they could fit together with little awkwardness. He was hardly ever off target. She knew what to do with her arms, now. How he liked it when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and played with his hair. How he loved it when she kissed and sucked that juncture of nerves where his jaw met his neck. How when he was about to finish he liked it when she moved against him really hard. He knew what to do now, too. How to touch the nubby thing and be inside of her at the same time. How to grab her hips and pull her down onto him. Even how to move when they fit together. Sometimes it didn't feel like anything special, sometimes it was uncomfortable, and sometimes, rarely, she saw stars.
She hoped that would happen again.
But right now she needed to stop thinking about this because she was at work, now, and she just needed to open the outer door and get upstairs and say hi and see if they needed her and maybe talk to Master Reigen for a little bit. Maybe he'd be standing. Then she could stand next to him and he'd maybe even do that thing where he rested his hand on the small of her back…
The outer door opened. It was Serizawa.
Mob jumped back, almost fearing that what she had been thinking had been written across her face. Serizawa reached over and embraced her.
"Serizawa, we're at work." Said Mob as she was pulled to his chest. He smelled like tea and plastic and cigarettes a little. Master Reigen had been smoking inside again.
"I know. I'm sorry, it's just so good to see you." Said Serizawa still not letting her go. Mob wrapped her arms around him as best as she could. His hands could span her waist but her arms could barely span his body. He pulled away slightly and kissed her quickly.
"Serizawa…." said Mob. She looked up, fearing that Master Reigen was looking down out the window at them right then at that moment. Nope. He wasn't. She could see him, sort of. He had his back to them. He was doing something at his laptop. Still. He could have turned around and saw and then she would have all kinds of explaining to do.
"Mob…" said Serizawa kissing the top of her head. He was still holding her. It was like he was scared that she was going to run away or something, which was dumb, because if she was going to run away she would have done it a long time ago.
"You're smothering me." Said Mob into his chest as he held her even tighter. He let her go immediately. She smoothed down the energy crackling around him. Something must have upset him today. That was her job, to make him feel better. Just like he made her feel better.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! Please, don't go!" said Serizawa. He didn't have his umbrella. Mob reached her hand out. She would have to be his umbrella. He took her hand in his. Tightly.
"Serizawa, I have to go home soon. Remember, my parents are leaving and I have to be there when they do? That's why I skipped club today, so I would have time to see Mas-to see you." Said Mob. Maybe, just maybe, he could sense, or something, the way she had been feeling before about Master Reigen. Maybe. No. Maybe. She squeezed his hand back.
She was not going to hurt him.
"I didn't mean it like that. I meant…nothing. Never mind. You're still coming over, though, right?" asked Serizawa. Mob nodded. She had no desire to be at home when Ritsu and Sho did…couple things. Not that she was sure what two boys did exactly but she was NOT finding out from her little brother and his boyfriend.
"I said I would." Said Mob. Serizawa smiled, now, and kissed her again. She kissed him quickly and broke it just as quickly. Maybe she shouldn't have let him kiss her outside, before, because he was certainly doing it a lot now.
"Right. We're going to have so much fun…" said Serizawa. Outside, he could do that. When she was near he could do anything. Maybe he could even leave his umbrella at home…
"Lots of fun…" said Mob. She had no plans to get out of bed this weekend unless she was eating, going to the bathroom, or taking a shower because it was kind of gross afterwards. Slicky and slimy.
"Close your eyes!" said Serizawa suddenly. Mob was puzzled.
"Why?" asked Mob
"Please, just do it." Said Serizawa pleadingly. Mob nodded and closed her eyes. She heard fabric moving and suddenly something was tied around her face.
"Just to make sure that you don't peak." Said Serizawa
"Don't peak at what?" asked Mob reaching up to undo her blindfold. Serizawa took her hand. She expanded out her perceptions, kind of like that blind guy did. She could see Serizawa, sort of. The energy that made him up, anyway. Vaguely person shaped. If she ever saw that blind guy again she'd have to ask him how well he could see with his powers. After she said she was sorry, of course, because bad guy or not she felt bad beating up a blind person.
"It's a surprise." Said Serizawa
"What kind of surprise?" asked Mob, her mind going to that place where it shouldn't again. Not being able to see was…something…
"Not that kind of surprise. We're at work." Said Serizawa. Oh. Right. He could read her aura. She blushed. He took her hand and led her up the stairs.
"Serizawa, I'm going to fall down the stairs if I can't see." Said Mob. She felt herself being lifted with his powers.
"Mob, I will never, ever, let anything bad happen to you." Said Serizawa seriously. He meant that. If he had to stand by her side like he had stood by Suzuki's and keep her safe then he would. He'd pick her up if she needed it, put her down if she needed it, and smack people around with his umbrella if she ever needed it. Not that he wanted to. He would never let harm to come her. She was his.
"I won't let anything bad happen to you either, Serizawa, but why am I blindfolded?" asked Mob. Serizawa had blindfolded her because he had seen this in a movie before. Not those kinds of movies, he told himself, this was not one of those kinds of movies and she wouldn't like things like that anyway because she wasn't like that, no this had been in one of those romantic movies she liked.
"You'll see. It's a surprise." Said Serizawa as he used his powers to carry her up the stairs. She was so small and light he could have carried her easily in his arms. Actually…he used his powers to put her in his arms.
"Serizawa!" she laughed. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before he opened the door with his powers. He walked up the last few steps with her, it was more dangerous than he thought that it would be, and he put her down right inside of the office. Master Reigen was looking at him like he was crazy. He stood up. Serizawa put a finger to his lips. This was actually from one of his favorite movies. He had decided, when he was younger, that he'd do something like this is he ever met a girl who loved him. Of course that had just been a fantasy from when he was…her age? The years tended to blend together. Of course now fantasy was reality.
He spun her around twice and let her feel her away around. She used his powers to nudge her away from things that could hurt her. He smiled as she walked around with her hands stretched out in front of her.
"I play this with Ritsu before. What am I looking for? If it's a plate of noodle and you're going tell me it's worms I'm not falling for it." Said Mob with a laugh.
"I saw this in a movie, before. Keep walking, I'll tell you if you're close." Said Serizawa
"Close to what?" asked Mob as she walked slowly with both hands in front of herself.
"Your surprise, and it's not noodles." Said Serizawa
"What's happening here?" asked Reigen watching the scene fold out in front of him He'd seen this in a movie before, too. A romantic comedy.
"I'm looking for something. It's like a game, Master. Ritsu and I used to play this when we were little. Tell me if I'm hot or cold." Said Mob
"Warm." Said SerizawaShe could feel him nudging her away from something. Oh. The dip in the floor. She was near the electric kettle then. Yes. She could smell the tea. If she turned right she'd end up at her desk. If she turned left she'd end up at Master Reigen's desk.
"Less warm." Said Serizawa. She was smiling, she seemed so happy. Good. That was all he wanted, her happiness. Thank God for movies, they had all the best ideas.
"What about now?" said Mob with a laugh, one of her laughs. She never laughed out loud, well sometimes she's giggled, but it was more of a rapid exhale. She heard the familiar squeaking of shoes. She turned left.
"Even less warm." Said Serizawa. She was walking towards Master Reigen now. He was giving them a weird look, Serizawa had never seen him look like that before. She walked with both hands outstretched until she felt…warmth. Cloth. Buttons. A chest. She kept her hands there for a moment.
Reigen Arataka, for a moment, forgot how to breathe. A few minutes ago Serizawa had practically bolted from his desk saying that he would be right back. Then he had heard voices, Serizawa's and Mob. He caught only a few words, the barest snatches of whatever it was that they were talking about, before Serizawa had carried her in.
She had let Serizawa carry her in.
He did not want her in another man's arms.
But this was Serizawa, he didn't count.
She was blindfolded, too, with Serizawa's tie. She was smiling, not even her little smile. She had let herself be spun around and now, apparently, it was an office wide game of blind man's bluff.
Her hands were on his chest. She was close, so close. They hadn't been this close in so long…not since that day. He could smell her, her shampoo. Flowery. Something else too…plastic? Plastic and…aftershave? Huh?
Huh?
She kept her hands there. She just stood for a moment. He could feel her, he could see her, and he couldn't move. He couldn't even breathe. He couldn't look up from her. The blush spreading across her cheeks. The way her upper teeth bit down on her lower lip. Even her breathing was enthralling. Deeper, slightly.
"Ice cold." Said Serizawa in a tone that Reigen had never heard from him before. Reigen took a step back and ended up bumping against his desk. He sat back down and pretended to be busy on his laptop. He made an effort not to look at her as she stumbled blindly through the office. He made an effort not to think about her because he couldn't because it would be wrong to think about her like that.
Mob felt Serizawa nudging her towards…dip in the floor…her desk. This office was new, the old one burned down. This whole place was new, she didn't know it yet. The dips in the floor, the placement of the furniture, she still couldn't navigate what was around. Unfamiliar. The only familiar thing there was Master Reigen….and Serizawa.
Serizawa was nudging her to where he needed her to go. She had run into Master Reigen and just sort of…stood there. For a moment he had wanted to…but no. Master Reigen did not think about her like that. Mob certainly didn't think about Master Reigen like that. Mob only thought about him like that. She was his girlfriend. Not Reigen's. His.
He nudged her until she was in front of her desk. She stood with her hands out and, finally, found the bag.
"It feels like you." Said Mob as she felt something plastic in her hands. Long, no, tall. Handles at the top. Oh! A birthday bag! But it wasn't her birthday…..
"Here." Said Serizawa. He pulled her blindfold off. Her eyes were still closed. She leaned back into him a little. He wanted to turn her around and kiss her, once again from a movie, but he didn't. He was at work and his boss/only adult friend was there. He shouldn't have kissed her in the stairwell either, he knew that, but it had been hard not to. She was just so…perfect. She small and warm and she had let him kiss her in public before and if it were up to her he'd kiss her every moment of every day but he couldn't because they had lives and stuff but for three days he could and it would be amazing and-
"Can I open it?" asked Mob she held the bag in her hands. She looked over at Master Reigen. He was super busy with something. What it was she did not know. She wished that he would look over, to look at her the way Serizawa was looking at her.
"Of course you can, Mob, it's a gift for you….I hope you like it." Said Serizawa. He stood a little less close to her, just a little, because maybe they had been closer than was socially acceptable. He could feel Master Reigen looking at him.
"What is it?" asked Mob as she felt it through the bag. Two things, she could feel. They both felt like Serizawa.
"Mob, just open it already." Said Reigen more snappishly than he had planned. What did Serizawa get her? Why? Because they were friends? But that hadn't been…that whole exchange had seemed a bit beyond the platonic.
Did Serizawa have a crush on Mob?
No. That was insane and Reigen should have committed himself for even thinking that. Serizawa was thirty one and he had a girlfriend.
Mob nodded and pulled out the tissue paper first. White and soft. She'd fold it into a flower, later, like when she was little. After the tissue paper came something big and kind of heavy. She pulled it out, slowly, because she was excited. The pencil cup on her desk was rattling a little, she didn't want to accidentally break whatever it was. She pulled it from the bag, put it on her desk, and stared.
Serizawa's heart stopped. She didn't like it. She was being so quiet because she didn't like it. She'd say it was dumb and that she thought that he was dumb and then she'd go from him because he was so dumb and she'd find someone else, someone better, and they'd go their separate ways because if she could go her separate ways from someone like Master Reigen then, of course, she'd go her separate ways from him and-
"…..this is for me….?" Asked Mob softly, almost inaudibly. This was an EVA. This looked like unit 1….sort of. Not purple and green. Pink, bubble gum. Electric blue. The colors of her aura. The more she looked the more she could see that it was different. Built more femininely. Like a girl EVA.
Which made sense, of course, because all EVAs had the souls of their pilot's dead mothers inside and the angels that they were cloned from were genderless so, therefore, because of the female souls all EVA units were female.
She had told Serizawa that. He remembered.
"What the hell is that…?" asked Reigen. Serizawa had built her a plastic model. He knew that robot. After his and Mob's little talk he had done some cramming on the subject of her new favorite show. That looked like the main guy's robot, just recolored. Or maybe it was red haired girl's robot, because it looked vaguely female. Did robots need a gender? No, wait, they were clones of angels…Mob had a theory about that. What was it? Whatever it was Serizawa apparently remembered.
Serizawa remembered and he made her that robot…
"Unit four. Well, I call it unit four. You can call it whatever you want. I just saw it, well not this specifically, and thought that you would like it so I reshaped the plastic for you…but if you don't like it I understand! I mean-" said Serizawa. Had he screwed up? Maybe flowers and candy were staple gifts for a reason. Maybe he should have asked Master Reigen. Maybe he had been asking Master Reigen too much. Someone else who knew about women. Shimazaki? No, they weren't that good of friends. Minigeshi? No, he would have just said get her flowers. She must have hated it. That was why she was being so quiet and-
"EVA mark fours are from the third movie. They're autonomous EVAs, and they don't look like this. But thank you, Serizawa, this is so cool…" said Mob as she hovered her hands over it. She couldn't touch it. If she touched it then she might break it and she couldn't break such a nice gift. The best gift that she had ever gotten.
"I know but this is non-canonical. I mean, I always imagined you with the main cast so you would be unit four. You know, because unit three was possessed by an angel and then the pilot died. In the manga. So you would be unit four. So I made you this. There's something else, too, in the bag…but if you don't like it-" said Serizawa. He had imagined her in the main cast, sometimes, because she imagined herself there. She had told him about how when she was little she would imagine herself as an EVA pilot. The way she talked…it had been something that she really wanted. She hadn't been allowed to have it, though, and not just because EVA wasn't real. Her mom didn't want her to like it because it wasn't for girls. Not all moms were super accommodating like his was…
Mob reached into the bag and felt something smaller and also made of plastic. She didn't play the guess what it was game this time. She just pulled it out. She stared at it. At her. At tiny her.
Tiny her in a pink plug suit.
"That's you…I mean of course you know it's you! I mean that's what you would look like if you were an EVA pilot. I just wanted to….to make you happy so I made that. It used to be an Asuka figurine, I needed one with long enough hair…and you were your hair down a lot…and I just made her look like you…well Rei looks more like you but Asuka had the longer hair-" said Serizawa. Making tiny Mob had been the hardest part. Getting her expression, that non expression she always wore, right. Painting the eyes. Expressively non-expressive. Getting the hair to set right. It was thick and black and shiny and plastic did not do her justice. He thought that he had gotten pretty close, though.
"That looks….just like Mob…" said Reigen. He had gotten up, now, to see what they were hovering over now. It was Mob. Mob in miniature. Standing in that stick straight way she stood…her face perfectly placid….her hair long and thick….her fingers long and thin….every last detail. Even the way…no. Reigen, don't think about it. Don't think about how she looks like that. Don't think about the swell of her breast, the way her waist flares out into her hip, the way her collar bone just out like that…don't think about all the little things you've stared at and committed to memory about her.
That Serizawa, apparently, has as well.
"Yes, Master, that's the point. That's me if I piloted this EVA. There's even a little NERV logo on my plug suit….wow….thank you so much….thank you.." said Mob. She turned around and hugged Serizawa. Both of her arms could barely span him. He held her back, tightly. She didn't mind.
This had been so thoughtful.
Of course her EVA would be the same color as her aura. Auras were basically AT fields anyway. Of course it would have been a custom built model just for her. Unit 0 had been a prototype, unit 1 had been the final product, and after that they had made improvements. Of course she would have had her EVA colored like her aura. Asuka got hers painted red because she wanted it red. Of course her plug suit would have been pink, too. The blue in her AT field, her aura, was the other Shigeko. That was why it was a different color and only overtook the pink when she let the other her have control. She would not let the other her have control when she piloted her EVA, it would mess up her synch tests. Wow…Serizawa had even drawn her excited face on it…not that she usually had much expression.
Serizawa noticed.
Serizawa listened.
Serizawa remembered.
She had never had a person listen to her like this. Remember what she said. She had never even had a person do something like this for her, before. It was…
Amazing.
"I'm so glad you like it! I would have given it to you sooner but it took me a while to reinforce it enough. Now you can lose control but it won't break. I would have given it to you, later, too, but I wanted to see you open it as soon as possible. This was you can take it home with you and put it in your room…or wherever! I've never been to your house so I don't know where you keep things like this…I'm so happy you're happy…" said Serizawa putting his arm across her back. She was so small and there and warm and happy and if Master Reigen wasn't standing there he would have picked her up and held her and kissed her and never let her go-
But he had to let her go. Her phone had started ringing. She answered it quickly.
"Hi mom….uh-huh…but I just got here….ok…I'm coming. Bye." Said Mob hanging up. Right. Mom and dad's trip. All weekend. Just her and Serizawa all weekend.
It seemed pretty great, actually.
"Heading home, Mob?" asked Reigen after swallowing a few times. Swallowing what he had wanted to say. Questions he had wanted to ask. Questions like 'Why the hell is Serizawa making you gifts?' and 'Why the hell are you letting him hold you like that?' etcetera.
Questions that Reigen didn't want the answer to.
"Yes. My mom called…but I don't want to go…" said Mob softly. She wanted to be near them, the both of them…but she would see Serizawa later…but she wanted to…what did she want?
"It's alright. I'm thinking of calling it a day, anyway." Said Reigen. The atmosphere was too weird, here. He needed space. He needed to think, to process, because his mind was going to some strange and upsetting places.
There was nothing going on between Mob and Serizawa.
"But what about the clients?" asked Serizawa. It wasn't even four o'clock yet. They could always get a walk in.
"They'll live." Said Reigen with a dismissive wave of his hand. He needed time to himself, that was all. Time to get these crazy thoughts out of his head. Serizawa did not have a thing for Mob. Mob did not have a thing for Serizawa. Nobody had a thing for anyone and everything was platonic and that while exchange had been platonic and Reigen was only imagining things because he was so starved, romantically. He was so starved for someone's romantic attention that he was imaging things that just weren't there.
Yes, that was it.
Strictly Platonic.
Mob and Serizawa were strictly platonic.
They had to be.
