Reigen had always been a dog person.

He had never in his life understood cat people. Sure cats were cute and fluffy, as Mob had told him time and time again, but you couldn't really be friends with a cat. To a cat you were just another animal sharing their space, and yes the space was always theirs, you weren't a friend. Cats didn't really cuddle up to you unless they felt like it and they scratched you when they were sick of you. Also you couldn't walk a cat, really play with a cat, or any of that other stuff.

So, yeah, Reigen was something of a dog person.

He would have gotten a dog years ago if it had been possible.

Mom hadn't really liked pets…or much of anything, really. A pet would have been too much work, she had said, and he hadn't been responsible enough to take care of one. It hadn't gotten easier once he'd hit his adult years, either. So few places would rent to people with pets and the ones that did had truly exorbitant pet fees. Being chronically short of money Reigen had pretty much resigned himself to only being able to enjoy dogs from afar.

Or at least as close as the Seasoning City Municipal Dog Park.

There was no better way to spend a Sunday, in Reigen's opinion. Just him, a nice warm cup of tea, and dogs as far as the eye could see. Mostly small dogs, of course, considering how much of the city was made up of apartment buildings. Plenty of toy poodles, pugs, shih tzus, and those little wiener dogs that he forgot the names of…oh! There was even one in an actual hotdog costume!

It was a good day.

He sipped his tea and kept up the dog watching. He'd wait a little longer before trying to play with one of them. The best way to go about it, after all, was to wait until he saw someone let their dog off it's leash and take out a ball or a frisbee or something. Then it was his time to swoop in, but not in a creepy way. No, he wasn't here to pick guys up, he was just there to play with their dogs. If he just so happened to meet someone, well, he wouldn't have been opposed to it but really he was here for the dogs.

Not that he really cared too much about all of that.

He shook his head. He didn't even know where that had come from. He wasn't out there, not anymore, at least not for a while. There was just too much going on with work and the kids and…well that was pretty much it, work and the kids, and maybe his plants too if he really reached. As he had told his mother time and time before he just didn't have the time for dating and bringing home some grandkids right now. Maybe when he was older…and maybe when he was ready to be more truthful with her.

He had agreed to be more truthful, just not about EVERYTHING.

And anyway it wasn't like he had much of anything to offer if he did so happen to meet someone who loved dogs as much as he did. He barely made money, barely had anything resembling a career, and barely even had any friends. No, he wasn't worth risking everything over. Things were better these days then when he had been young but they weren't perfect, or even great really….but maybe better was all that he could hope for in his lifetime.

He was starting to get old.

Old at twenty eight. By the time he was thirty eight he'd be ancient. Just another old man sitting in the park on a Sunday watching the world go by. Oh well, there were worse things a person could go through than growing old alone. The kids would have their own lives in ten years and then it would just be him and…and he was ok with that. That was just the way it was supposed to be. He couldn't treat them like ten year olds forever, they had lives, and pretending that they didn't…well he didn't want to end up making that mess again. The time he and Mob went their separate ways. No, he and Mob were cool now and he and Tome were, well there had never been anything like that between them, and while he wasn't happy about it he knew that no matter how much time passed it wasn't like…he didn't know, it wasn't like he was going to die and be found ten years later after his body had been partially devoured by cats.

Yup, no chance of that, and not just because he didn't have fifty thousand yen for his building's pet fee.

Cats were just so…ugh. He had no idea why anyone would have voluntarily chosen to get a cat or…or take one to the dog park? He stood up and…yes. That wasn't a small black dog with pointed ears, long whiskers, and a long tail. That was definitely a cat being walked on a leash like a dog…for reasons that were beyond human comprehension.

He'd seen stranger things before, this was Seasoning City after all, but this was definitely in the top five.

The cat was being walked by someone tall, very tall, in a purple Gundam hoodie. Very purple. Reigen got up, curiosity guiding his feet. He had to see what kind of person would do such a thing, who could possibly think that it was a good idea to walk a cat, how a person could ever come into being who would even begin to consider…any of that. He walked quickly, hoping just to catch a glimpse of the stranger as he passed…

He caught more than a glimpse.

"Reigen! Hi." said Serizawa, beating Reigen to the punch. Reigen didn't know what to do, say, or think. This was too much at once, far too much. Serizawa was here and…alright. He collected himself. He was fine. He straightened his jacket out and reached for his tie.

Which he wasn't wearing and therefore couldn't straighten.

"Oh! Sorry Zelda, that's Reigen." Said Serizawa pointing at him. The cat looked up and then licked it's paw. Reigen didn't know why but he suddenly felt incredibly out of place.

"Hey Serizawa, what's up? What are you, uh, doing?" Said Reigen as he adjusted his shirt, a shirt which probably didn't even need adjusting. He'd probably just ruined it and now he looked terrible and…wait, had he combed his hair this morning. He ran a hand through it. There. Now it looked like he looked that way on purpose.

Which he did because he was Reigen Arataka. Everything he did he did with purpose.

"I'm just walking Zelda, well her name used to be Paul but then we found out she was a girl cat, so now she's Zelda." Said Serizawa motioning towards the cat. It looked up at Reigen and hissed.

"Sorry about her! She's normally so friendly." Said Serizawa as he picked his cat up. Reigen plastered a smile on and nodded.

"Yeah she looks really friendly…real, real friendly." Said Reigen as he stared down at the cat. It stared right back up at him, directly into his soul. It then flattened it's ears and began to make a low growling sort of noise. Reigen was having flashbacks to his childhood, the traumatic kind, and it came to him. The other reason why he didn't like cats. When he had been a small child he'd tried to pet a stray cat and then it tried to drag him off and…alright, that might have been from a movie…but still!

"Normally she is. I really don't know why she's being like this." Said Serizawa

"Maybe because she's a cat and this is a dog park?" asked Reigen. Serizawa looked around almost like he needed it confirmed. Reigen didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. He decided to do neither, it seemed best, the last thing he wanted to do was make Serizawa feel bad. Then he probably would have gone back the way he came and left Reigen all alone…

Which had never been a problem before so why was it a problem now?

"I guess that makes sense. I've never brought her here before but Shimazaki said that it would be alright." Said Serizawa

"Shima-who now?" asked Reigen

"Shimazaki, he's my friend and this is his cat." Said Serizawa

"You have friends?" asked Reigen. He bit his tongue as soon as he was done. That hadn't come out right at all. What he had meant to say was 'other' friends. As in Serizawa had friends beside him? Other people to hang out with? Well of course he did and Reigen was an asshole for thinking otherwise. Not everyone was like him, some people made friends easily, even guys who'd spent half of their lives in social isolation.

"Yes-" said Serizawa

"Other! I meant to say 'other' friends. Of course you have friends, everyone has friends." Said Reigen

"Not everyone has friends." Said Serizawa

"Well, I guess-" said Reigen

"It's kind of sad, when people don't have friends. The President said that a person needs at least one friend, well he said confidant but I think he meant friend, because otherwise you end up going crazy. I guess that he and I were friends even if it doesn't always seem like-" said Serizawa

"No amount of friendship could ever have made a difference with that guy. He's certifiably insane." Said Reigen. If he were a cat he would have looked just like the one at the end of that leash. Why did Serizawa always have to bring that guy up? Mob's little brother didn't even bring the guy's son up that much and, according to Mob, they were planning on getting married and living on a hamster ranch together. Of course he didn't exactly talk to Ritsu that often but…but still!

"I guess so. I mean he did always say that there was a thin line between genius and madness and he was, is, a genius. At least he said-" said Serizawa

"People who have to tell you that they're smart usually aren't that smart." Said Reigen. He knew that he sounded bitter there and-and he had every right to be. That guy had tried to kill him, and Mob, amongst other very serious crimes. So Reigen therefore had every right to be a little bitter when Serizawa stood there singing his praises.

"He was, is, was, though. He could-" said Serizawa

"Zelda's an interesting name for a cat." Said Reigen, gracelessly changing the subject. Serizawa, of course, didn't seem to notice.

"Do you think so? I liked it…that's why I picked it." Said Serizawa

"It's a great name, I've just never heard of a cat having a person's name before. Don't they normally have names like Fluffy and…uh…Kitty?" asked Reigen

"Her name was originally Yoko but then Minegishi and Shimazaki got into a fight about if Yoko really broke up the Beatles and it got pretty bad and they wouldn't let him sleep in their bedroom so he claimed the kitchen as his bedroom and he wouldn't come out so Shibata said that we had to rename the cat because he wanted his kitchen back." Said Serizawa. Reigen nodded.

"That's…something." Said Reigen. So Serizawa lived in a house share. He had never pictured anything like that but then again he had never really pictured Serizawa's living situation before. So he had roommates. Reigen knew that it was wrong of him but he suddenly felt better about his efficiency apartment. It may have only been one room but it was his.

"Yeah, it was their worst fight yet but we settled it. We all put names in the deciding hat and I won…well I won eventually. Hatori won first but he wanted to call the cat something that…that people really shouldn't say out loud and then Shimazaki won second and the cat was Paul for a little while but then we realized that it was a boy, we hadn't been all the way sure what it was because we didn't want to invade her privacy, but once we were sure then I won and…and that's the story of the cat's name…sorry." Said Serizawa

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to the cat. I'm not really a cat person but I do know dogs and I know that it's incredibly confusing to change their names like that." Said Reigen. No wonder the poor little thing was so pissed off. That must have been so confusing for it. A dog would have been confused and they were much smarter than cats.

"Do you think? I'll ask Sho, he knows about animals. I mean I'll ask him when I see him next, not today. I have no idea where Sho went today." Said Serizawa

"He's probably hanging out with Mob's little brother and doing something hamster related. I swear, that kid's obsessed." Said Reigen. He didn't want this conversation to pivot back to Suzuki the father so he had to get this away from Suzuki the son. Not that he minded talking about the kids, it was something that they both had in common, and he did miss them at least a little bit…so this was what he'd become huh? He'd turned into one of those people who could only talk about their kids…and these weren't even HIS kids!

He needed to get a life. Maybe Serizawa would let him borrow his for a little bit.

"He really likes animals…but I said that already…sorry. This is still kind of hard. Making conversation I mean. I guess that I don't have a lot of practice, I mean I didn't, but even now I could just…use some more practice I guess." Said Serizawa

"Your four roommates don't help?" asked Reigen

"Kind of. Minegishi spends most of their time at work and Shimazaki either spends time with them or…I'm not even sure where he goes during the day. One time he came back with snow on him and…Shibata works too and Hatori, he's kind of my closest of our friends, can be nice but he's also kind of…it's hard to describe. It's like we both like videogames but he likes the kind where you kill people and also he loves screaming while he plays and it can be a little stressful for me so…um…yeah. You're the person I talk to most, I guess." said Serizawa. He shuffled in place. He was turning red from the cold. Reigen wondered if he could blame his similar condition on the cold.

He could certainly try if it came up. He prayed that it didn't.

"You and Tome, her too, but she's a lot younger than me and also a girl so it's just different." Said Serizawa

"Well you shouldn't, you'll make more friends than just me, and your conversation skills are perfect…ly serviceable. Perfectly fine." Said Reigen

"Do you mean it?" asked Serizawa

"Yes, yeah, yes. This is perfectly fine. I mean it's our first out of the office conversation and-" said Reigen

"Oh! I hadn't even realized! And I don't know how because we're nowhere near work…" said Serizawa. He shuffled in place and nearly stepped on his cat's tail. Reigen felt bad for the poor thing, having to witness this…whatever this was. Why was he so nervous? He hadn't been like this around anyone since…times that he had thought that he'd moved past.

There was no way in hell that he…no. He knew better than to let himself feel that way again.

"Well then that's just a testament to your improved social skills. You can't improve if you don't practice. Life is a series of lessons after all and…and all of that." Said Reigen pulling forth all the wisdom he'd gotten from fortune cookies over the years and cobbling it together into something serviceable. Amazingly enough it worked.

"You're right and-" said Serizawa before he was interrupted by another low growl. He looked down, that cat was beyond pissed off.

"Good kitty, nice kitty." Said Reigen nervously, further pissing the cat off.

"I should go. I mean you can walk with us but I think that Zelda wants to walk and-" said Serizawa

"I think I'll just head back. Busy day today, very busy." Said Reigen quickly as the cat began to try and use his leg as a scratching post. Serizawa pulled her off and took with him any lingering sympathy that Reigen had towards that cat.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, I guess." said Serizawa. Reigen felt…relieved? That was the word for it, yes. Relieved. Relieved that Serizawa was gone but also he wanted him back and…and he got to walking. He needed to clear his head after that. It was a very sudden thing, sudden and surprising, learning that Serizawa was a cat person.

That was the most amazing, most surprising, part of all.

He would have thought that Serizawa would have been a dog person, especially considering what his life had been like. He had been alone for so long, and used for so long, what he needed was unconditional love and affection. The kind that only man's best friend could give you. Instead he had chosen a cat, an animal that pretty much only hung around people to be fed and petted. It was a lot to wrap his mind around.

There was a lot for him to wrap his mind around.

Like how Serizawa looked in normal, every day, clothes. That hoodie would have been ridiculous on anyone else but he made it work. The color, the robot on the front, all of it should have just been a mess but on him it was perfect. He hadn't even known that Serizawa was into Gundam. He'd have to brush up on it…he knew that he was several series behind. Just so that he'd have something to talk to Serizawa about. There was still so much to learn about him. He hadn't even known that Serizawa had roommates! Yeah, he had really dropped the ball on this one, but he could fix it. He could get to know Serizawa better, to be a better friend, and that was all. Nothing more. He just had to unlock more of the enigma wrapped in a puzzle wrapped in a hoodie that was Serizawa Katsuya.

Like how in the world he could have possibly been a cat person!