Telling Ritsu was not going to be easy. Mob knew this to be a fact. Yesterday she had told Serizawa and today she was going to tell Ritsu. He was her little brother and he deserved to find out in person. Master Reigen said so and he was good at people stuff. That was what lead her to the cheapest all you can eat sushi buffet in Seasoning City on her lunch break. Not that she usually got a lunchbreak. Today she did. She had something important to do. Serizawa was filling in for her while she was out, too, so that she could take all the time she needed. He was acting weird today, though. He was making an effort not to look at her. Had she done something to offend him?
He had been weird yesterday, too, when they had passed on the stairs. He was had his umbrella opened, which meant that something was setting off his anxiety. He hadn't been able to look at her then, too. He had rushed past her and almost didn't take the soda she had gotten him, and it was his favorite. People were complicated. Thank goodness that Master Reigen, Arataka, had given her some pointers for delivering big news.
This was a public place, so then everyone was less likely to make a scene. Not that Ritsu had ever caused a scene, before. Ok, he had, actually. Like the time when they went out for dinner when he had gotten the highest score in the city on his entrance exams and Sho had dipped his fingers into all of Ritsu's food to be funny. Or the time when he tried to break up with Rei and yelled really loud that he didn't like girls at all and everyone stared at him. Or the time when he walked in on her and Teru and then he ran outside and made himself throw up. That had been a little too dramatic, actually, and also just because he had a spare key to Teru's apartment didn't mean that he got to let himself in even if he thought, based on what was happening, that they were fighting. Hopefully this would go better than those times.
She had invited Sho, too. Sho could help to keep Ritsu's worst impulses in check. Well, he sometimes did, like when he stopped Ritsu from beating Teru up for breaking up with her. Or when he stopped Ritsu from getting back with Rei because he thought that he owed her happiness or something. Or all the times he had stopped Ritsu from ruining the tea because he never, ever, got the tea leaf to water ratio right. Sho could also egg him on, though. Like the time when they were out in the abandoned mansion in the woods and demolished it. Or the time when they had seen who could fly the highest and Ritsu got lost in the stratosphere. Or the time they had…Mob wasn't sure what, exactly, they had been doing and she didn't want details but it had ended with both of them drunk and half-dressed teleported into her and Master Reigen's apartment at two in the morning and Ritsu trying to say…something…to Master Reigen but getting motion sick all over him and the rug. Ok, maybe inviting Sho along had been a dumb move. Or maybe a good one. He was hard to predict, sometimes. Maybe he'd be good for Ritsu, calm. There would be food after all.
Food and drinks were essential, Master, no, Arataka, had said. You needed something to do with your hands, something to do in the dim moments between words. Something to fill up the white noise. Something to do to give yourself time to think. Smoking was good for that, too, but Mob didn't care for cigarettes. Food was also good for keeping the blood sugar level. Blood sugar lows could cause all kinds of negative emotional effects. Food was good, massive amounts of it was better. Also, Arataka had said, it was best to pay for the meal yourself. If you paid for it yourself then you could leave at any time. Also the other person might be less likely to have a massive public freak out.
Mob really, really, REALLY, hoped that Ritsu wasn't going to have a massive public freak out.
She felt two auras pass into her range. Not her full range, she tended to keep her aura as close as possible. They were getting closer, Ritsu and Sho. She let herself see only the aural spectrum. She filtered out everything else that wasn't an esper or a spirit. Calm auras on the both of them. Good. They weren't having one of their usual arguments. Ritsu argued with everyone. Sometimes when they were little he'd even get himself worked up into an argument. Sometimes he would even argue with her about the dumbest stuff. Obviously instrumentality was a good thing and SEELE were the good guys. Everyone got to live without AT fields holding them back and they all got to become perpetually happy orange goo together.
She wished that this was just going to be one of those days where they argued about the meaning of Evangelion. Those were fun arguments because they hadn't gotten heated since they were little. This might get heated. Ritsu had never liked Arataka, not even from day one. He had told her, at first, that he sounded like one of the adults that mom and dad had been warning her about for their entire lives. That she had to be extra careful because she was a girl and lots of bad stuff could happen to her. Then he insisted that Master Reigen, that Arataka, was a fraud and was just using her because he couldn't do any of the spirits part of Spirits and Such by himself. Well, Ritsu had been right about Master Reigen not having powers at first but she didn't care. She hadn't been used. Arataka had saved her in every single possible way that a person could be saved. She could have been the worst kind of monster, like Sho's dad or Mogami. She wasn't, though, and that was because of Arataka. Ritsu just couldn't see it. Ritsu was so attached to his dislike of Arataka that even after the fight with Claw, when she had poured herself into Arataka and he awakened his powers, Ritsu still accused Arataka of using her. Maybe Ritsu just plain did not like Arataka. Well, they weren't kids anymore, so hopefully this would go well.
They were adults now. Hopefully they could discuss this like mature adults. Well, Ritsu was still seventeen but that was practically an adult. He was tall now, taller than her by almost a head. Broader, too. At some point Ritsu had grown up. It had taken Mob by surprise, one day, just how much bigger than her Ritsu had gotten. She was taller, now, but not by much. She at least didn't look like she did in middle school anymore. They looked like adults and now they had to act like adults.
She let herself see normally. They came in and went right to her. She pulled out their chairs with her powers and they sat down. Ritsu sat down carefully, as if he were afraid that the chair could break. Sho practically threw himself into his chair and grabbed the menu. You paid a flat fee and you go to pick as much as you wanted, thank goodness, because Sho could eat like a hamster, or a duck maybe. Lots of food crammed into his mouth at once so that when you looked away and then back again everything was gone in an instant.
"Sister, this is a nice surprise. You don't usually invite us out like this." Said Ritsu eyeing her wearily. When Shigeko did something out of the ordinary it didn't automatically mean anything good. The last time she had invited him out to hang out with no warning it had been to tell him that she had no plans to go to a real university and that he shouldn't throw the entrance exam just for her. What was she going to tell him now? That she was dropping out of community college to become Reigen's full time, three hundred yen an hour, secret weapon and tea fetcher?
"Yeah, you're awesome." Said Sho as he began to mark off what he wanted. It was her treat, after all. He had money, well dad's money that he had hidden, but he knew he had to save it because there wouldn't be any more coming in until he got a job. This was nice of her. She was nice enough, for the most powerful being on Earth anyway. Not that Sho was still weary of her. She was a nice person and she was Ritsu's big sis so he had to play nice.
"Thank you. I thought that you guys might like this place. You can pick as much of what you want from the menu, only that side though." Said Mob as she handed Ritsu a menu. Sho was already hard at work. She wondered if he was eating alright. She knew that the only person who took care of him was Ritsu and Ritsu was still being taken care of by mom and dad.
"I won't ask for too much, sister. I know Reigen barely pays you." Said Ritsu. He checked a few things off as his older sister's aura flared. It always did when he put Reigen down. Well, he had to help her see him for the shady user that he was.
"I have half the business." Said Mob after a moment. No. She did not come here to get into it with Ritsu. Besides, her finances were her own business. Not that she handled the finances. Maybe she should, now that she was an adult and Arataka's….girlfriend.
"So still three hundred yen?" asked Ritsu as some tea was served to them. She had so much potential and she wasted it all on Reigen. Why? What was it about him that made his sister into such an idiot?
"More than that." Said Mob. Before expenses together they made two million yen a year. It was less when rent, food, utilities, salaries, supplies, and stuff was factored in. They had been in the black for years, that was what mattered. They made a lot with what Arataka called their passive income streams. People still bought the book they wrote, they sold Spirits and Such merchandise online, and with Serizawa's help they handled a lot more jobs than they could have before. Plus people still watched them on Youtube and they ran ads on their channel so that was even more money right there.
"Probably more than I make a year." Said Sho as he downed his tea. He hated it when Ritsu got into it with his big sis. First off all it was practically suicidal to piss her off. Secondly Reigen wasn't really a bad guy. He was kind of shady and could be sort of obnoxious sometimes but he wasn't a bad person. Thirdly the whole bad mouth Reigen Arataka thing got old fast, and Sho did not do boredom.
"You have a job?" asked Mob. That was great! Then Sho could worry about money less.
"No, that's why you're doing better than me." Said Sho with a shrug. Ritsu was looking at him now. He raised an eyebrow.
"You can always come and work with us. We could always use more people." Said Mob. Then they could take even more jobs but also then maybe Ritsu would come and hang out and he could see how good a person that Arataka was.
"Sho doesn't want to." Said Ritsu as the first of the food was placed in front of them. Was that what she had called him over to say? That Reigen had found another way to dig himself into her?
"Sho can speak for Sho's self." Said Sho through a mouthful of what must have been the cheapest sushi in the city. This was the American style stuff and sometimes it could be good, Americans sure did love to deep fry, but this was just ok. Kind of like the stuff at the Family Mart.
"Oh. Do you want to, Sho?" asked Mob as she began to eat. Sho shook his head and swallowed.
"No thanks. I'm still studying for entrance exams. I kind of bombed the last try. I guess that's what happens when you've never been to a real school." Said Sho before doing his best hamster imitation and stuffing his mouth with as much as he possibly could.
"You didn't bomb. You couldn't have, we studied all night." Said Ritsu as he ate like a normal person, not someone who had been starved half to death. He dipped his in soy sauce. This was alright. American style. Shigeko probably liked this because she had been hanging out with Reigen for four interrupted years. That was where his family was from, after all, or one of the English speaking countries.
"If that's what you want to call it." Said Sho nudging him. Ritsu tipped the soy sauce over in surprise. Not now. Not in front of his sister. She didn't need to know about that. As far as she was concerned all coupled people did was hold hands and cuddle. He chose to ignore that time he walked in on her and Teru. He must have been hallucinating or misunderstanding or something. Shigeko didn't do stuff like that. She was Shigeko!
"How badly did you do?" asked Mob. She hadn't done well, either, even with tutoring. It was the math that had killed it. Math was hard for her and Master Reigen so their tutoring had just been the blind leading the blind.
"Not well enough. Not as well as Mr. Brainiac over there. I'd kill for hyper-cognition." Said Sho. That's what he figured it was. Ritsu hardly ever studied and was one of the smartest people in the country. Sho worked his ass off and barely made it to the middle of the bell curve.
"I don't have hyper-cognition." Said Ritsu. Shigeko didn't have it so he must not have had it. She had powers that he didn't have, not the other way around. That was the universe's way of being fair. Ritsu was good at school and socializing, Shigeko was good pretty much a living Goddess when she merged with that…thing…that lived under her skin.
"You do too, Ritsu. You're really smart, you're the smartest person I know. I'm so proud of you." Said Mob as dirty plates were taken away and fresh ones were put in front of them. More food came out. Thank goodness. She still had news to break. It was nice just talking to her brother, though. They hadn't done much of that since she moved out.
"Hey, I'm sitting right here. You calling me a moron?" Said Sho through a mouthful of food. Mob wondered if he had ever choked. Master Reigen, Arataka, had choked a few times doing that.
"No, not at all. I just think that Ritsu is the smartest person that I've ever met. That doesn't make you dumb." Said Mob fearing that she had offended Sho. Under the table Ritsu kicked him. Sho should have known by now that Shigeko had trouble reading tones.
"You're smart too, sister. You're smart enough that you don't need to languish with Reigen in that stupid office." Said Ritsu. She could get a job anywhere. She could start her own office if that was what she wanted to do with her life. She could go to university with Tome and study parapsychology if she still wanted a career in the super natural. Hell, she could probably even just support herself exorcising spirits on YouTube if that was what she wanted to do with her life. She didn't have to wrap her entire life in with Reigen's. She was an adult now and it was time to outgrow him like she had outgrown the family home.
"Arataka and I are not languishing. We're very happy together." Said Mob. Ritsu choked on his own shock. Given name? Given name?! She had always called him Master Reigen. What did he go and grant her his given name for?! Couldn't' she see that he was just manipulating her?!
"You know it works better if you chew, right?" Said Sho handing him a cup of tea. Well then. Reigen's given name. Ha! He knew it! Guys always had a sixth sense for when other guys were into people and from the day they met, actually met and exchanged actual words, he knew that Reigen Arataka had it bad for Ritsu's big sis. Not that Sho understood what Ritsu was so upset about. Reigen wasn't a bad guy and who cared who his big sis slept with? That was one hundred percent none of anybody's business.
"Why are you calling him Arataka now?!" said Ritsu loudly enough that people were looking over in their direction. Well then there went the whole 'pray Ritsu doesn't get upset and make a scene' thing.
"He said I could." Said Mob simply. Why else would she be calling him something so intimate? She wasn't the sort of person who would just take it upon herself to call him by his first name.
"But why did he ask you to?" asked Ritsu taking care to keep his voice low. Right. They were in public and Shigeko didn't like to have attention drawn to her like that. Maybe there was no reason. Maybe Reigen just wanted to feel like he had an actual friend.
"Are you guys going out?" asked Sho. Ritsu turned and stared at him like he wanted to reach over and start strangling Sho until the life left his eyes. How could he even think something like that?! That was gross! That was wrong! That was inconceivable! Disturbing! Impossible!
"Ritsu, breathe. You need air to live." Said Mob. Sho was pinned back towards the wall. Well then, pissed off Ritsu was back. Sho hadn't seen pissed off Ritsu since the time someone had posted that picture of his big sis and Reigen all cuddled up on a train together a few years back. Sho held the table down with his powers. No need to ruin a perfectly good lunch.
"I know that's not true, sister. I know that it can't be true…." Said Ritsu though gritted teeth. Sho put a comforting hand on his arm. Wow he was tense. Seriously? Sho could understand being protective but this was a little much.
"Pretty sure you need to breathe to live, man." Said Sho enjoying the drama unfolding in front of him.
"It is. Both the thing about needing air to live and about me being Arataka's girlfriend." Said Mob simply. This seemed like as good a time as any to break the news. Ritsu looked like he was about to explode anyway so she might as well rip this Band-Aid off really quick.
"….what….?" said Ritsu softly. He stared at his sister. He was insane or she was insane or someone was insane. That was the only logical explanation.
"Arataka and I are a couple now. I just thought you ought to know." Said Mob simply. She tried to say it as calmly as she could. She was worried about Ritsu. He looked like he was ready to do something like make a scene in front of everyone.
"No." said Ritsu simply.
"Uh….I don't think you get a say in this." Said Sho. He didn't have any siblings but he was pretty sure that little brothers didn't get to dictate the love lives of big sisters. Maybe big brothers and little sisters but not the other way around.
"Ritsu, Sho's right. You don't get a say in this. I just told you in person because I knew that you would be upset if I just posted this to Friendbook and let you find out like that." Said Mob reaching over for her little brother's hand. He pulled it away.
"No. No, no, no! A thousand times, no!" said Ritsu standing up and slamming both hands down on the table. Mob took a deep breath. She had to keep it together.
"Ritsu, sit down! You're going to get us kicked out!" said Sho using his powers to try and sit Ritsu back down. Ritsu wasn't having it. He couldn't remember being this angry in years. How dare Reigen. How dare Reigen manipulate his sister into…this?! Now he had gone too far!
"I don't care! Sister you can't be in a relationship with Reigen! Just no!" said Ritsu. Now everyone was staring. Someone was recording.
"I can have whoever I want as my boyfriend, Ritsu!" said Mob. This was totally unfair. She had never once said a word against Sho and he had done much worse than tell a few lies over the years.
"Not Reigen Arataka!" said Ritsu. Now the teapot in front of them shattered. Ritsu would have done worse but Sho was holding him back. He tried to calm down. Right. Sho had always checked Ritsu's worst impulses and Ritsu checked Sho's. It was just so hard to calm down! Shigeko had called Reigen, that old fraud she worked for, her boyfriend.
"Yes Reigen Arataka!" said Mob. She tried to hold her power back as best as she could. The other Shigeko, the part of her that exploded, wanted to throw Ritsu over the moon to knock some sense into him. They needed Reigen Arataka and he was finally theirs. There was nothing that would make them give him up.
"He's just using you! He's always been using you! Except now it's for sex!" said Ritsu loudly. Everyone was staring, now. A mother covered her child's ears. An old person was asking the young person beside him, presumably his son, what Ritsu had just said.
And that was how they got kicked out of the cheapest all you can eat American style sushi buffet in Seasoning City.
Mob decided that she didn't want to get into it with Ritsu. That was why she decided to walk right to work after paying the bill. She had informed Ritsu of the new situation, like she had planned to, and now she could get back to her normal life. The only trouble was that Ritsu was following her. Well, Ritsu and Sho were following her but it was more like Sho was following Ritsu.
"….that's how guys are! He's just been waiting until you were old enough…." That was Ritsu's latest line of thought. He had this crazy idea what Master Reigen had been planning this since she was little. As if. She was the one who asked him to be with her. She had practically dragged him into this relationship kicking and screaming.
"I don't think she's listening. Come on, let's go do something. You know what happens when she gets pissed off enough." Said Sho. He could see the cracks of white underneath her skin, the way her aura was churning. He wasn't a moron, he knew that even as powerful as he was he stood no chance against Ritsu's big sis.
"Ritsu, I love you but you don't get a say in this. I'm going back to work now. If you're going to be like this please stop following me." Said Mob as the office came into view. She loved her brother and didn't want to explode at him. She didn't want to explode at all, but she was suppressing again. She didn't want to say what she wanted to say. She didn't want to tell Ritsu to mind his own business. She didn't want to tell him that he was her little brother, not her keeper. She didn't want to tell him that he had no right to tell her how to live her life. She didn't want to yell or scream or use curse words at him.
"Sister! Shigeko! Please…don't go up there." Said Ritsu. She just couldn't see that Reigen was still using her and would always use her. He had her well and truly tricked. Now she was literally giving him everything, including herself. Why? Why did this guy make her so stupid?!
"I will. I'm going back to work now. Thank you for coming to lunch with me, and you too, Sho." Said Mob. She really had enjoyed seeing Ritsu again but now she needed to give him time to calm down. He'd see it her way, eventually, just like she had seen it his way when it came to Sho.
"Shigeko! Please…." Said Ritsu. She was going right back up to Reigen. Always to Reigen. She had left him all alone, four years ago, to go to Reigen. She was going to leave him forever just to be with Reigen. Why? Why did she have to be like this?
"Ritsu, please stop. I love Arataka and he loves me. Why can't you see that?" asked Mob. Ritsu stared at her. Love? Reigen had tricked her. Reigen didn't love her, Reigen just wanted to keep her around forever so he could use her. It was the same way it had always been except now he was using her for sex, too. Sex.
Ritsu wanted to throw up.
"He's using you. He's always been using you." Said Ritsu trying to keep it together. Next to him the sidewalk began to crack. He could feel and see two other auras. One weak and custard yellow, the other a bright purple. Reigen and Serizawa were there.
"Ritsu, he's not using me and he's never used me. I love you, you're my little brother and I will always love you, but right now you're upsetting me and I want you to go and calm down. We can talk later when you're calm." Said Mob she stepped away from him and ascended the stairs quickly. She could still feel him. He was still down there. She walked through the door as calmly as possible and sat down at her desk. Master Reigen was in the massage/exorcism/yoga/meditation room with a client. Serizawa was in the process of lifting a curse. It looked like the electric kettle was full. She looked around. She needed something to do. Anything. Anything to distract from the way she felt, from the way that Ritsu had reacted.
She busied herself but rearranging the ceramic cats on her desk. She just needed a minute, just a minute. Unfortunately based on the footsteps coming up the stairs, she wasn't going to get her minute. She debated using her powers to reinforce the door but that wouldn't be fair to the clients. Well, client. Serizawa was writing out a receipt for a curse removal. Mob stared at the wall as the door was thrown opened.
"Ritsu, go home, please." Said Mob not even looking at her brother. She didn't have to. His aura was lashing out like crazy.
"What's going on?" asked Serizawa. All he knew was that Shigeko had gone off to have lunch with her brother. Apparently that had gone very wrong. Oh, Sho was there. Were they under attack again?!
"Ritsu, stop it. Look, you're going to make Serizawa explode." Said Mob. The client scuttled out of the office like a frightened crab. Serizawa was getting a little upset, he was charging the air with energy. She used her powers to pass him his umbrella.
"Where the fuck is Reigen?!" said Ritsu. Sho shook his head and then flopped down on the office couch. Fine, if he was so hell bent on making a moron out of himself then Sho wasn't going to stop him.
"Mast-Reigen is with a client right now. Maybe I can help." Said Serizawa. He knew the younger Kageyama. He was prone to…moods. Bad ones. Maybe this was just a bad mood. Sho seemed pretty relaxed and Master Kageyama…Mob…seemed pretty ok too.
"Yeah, you want to help? You really want to help?" asked Ritsu running a hand through his hair. He could feel it sticking up. He wanted to beat Reigen to a bloody pulp for daring to play with his sister's heart like that. He wanted to stuff him full of salt and then burn him like an incense stick. He wanted to dance on his mother's grave! Wait, no, too far. His mother hadn't done anything wrong except give birth to him but she had no either that he would grow up to me a manipulative, womanizing, lecherous, filthy, lying conman.
"Ritsu, calm down." Said Mob. She knew that she wasn't supposed to use her powers against another person but she knew that someone needed to diffuse the situation. Ritsu could explode, too. His explosions were him getting very, very, angry and then losing control. Hers were feeding the other Shigeko too many big emotions. Right now she needed to stop feeling big emotions before the other Shigeko got overfed and tried to come out.
"Ritsu's big sis, he's not calming down until he gets this out of his system. Trust me." Said Sho. He knew what to expect when Ritsu got like this. It wouldn't be fun or pretty but afterwards he'd be all apologies and kowtowing.
"Serizawa, if you really want to help then date my sister." Said Ritsu. Everyone stared at him. Sho was laughing a little. Serizawa had been into her, and maybe still was. This was going to be hilarious! Mob stared at him in shock. First of all she could date whoever she wanted to, second of all she didn't have feelings for Serizawa, and third of all Serizawa didn't have feelings for her.
"What….?" Asked Serizawa. Had Reigen told? He promised not to! Serizawa opened his umbrella and stood under it. He needed to feel small and safe right then. He risked a glance at Mob. She was looking at him with…what was she looking at him with? She didn't like him like that. There was no hope. Then why wasn't she saying anything? How had this even come up?!
"Ritsu you're being ridiculous." Said Mob after a while. She didn't understand the logic there. Why should she date someone she had no feelings for and who didn't have feelings for her? That was ridiculous!
"Yeah, Serizawa's even older than Reigen. Wrong direction, man, wrong direction." Said Sho. That was mean to Serizawa, too. The guy had probably never been with a girl before or even had a crush on one. It was obvious from the way Sho had caught him looking at her. The little dreamy looks. Like she was an angel or something.
"You like her. It's obvious that you like her, so you date her so she stops dating Reigen. You want to be with someone super old, well Sho's right Serizawa is really, super, incredibly old." Said Ritsu. Not that he knew how old Serizawa was, exactly. At some point everyone just sort of blended into the category of adults.
"I don't want to date Serizawa!" said Mob. Her and Serizawa? Why? She didn't think about him like that. He was more like a friend, or a little brother. Well, not her little brother. Her ridiculously, annoyingly, nosy little brother.
"Why not?! He's older, and I guess you like that, he's not bad looking, he's got powers he can't control that well either, you both like Evangelion and Meow Meow Japanese History and stuff like that, and he won't use you for sex like Reigen is!" said Ritsu. Practically screaming. Sho began to laugh out loud. Angry about to explode Ritsu had no filter at all. Well, was about to explode Ritsu. It looked like big sis was syphoning off some of the excess energy.
"Stop saying sex!" said Mob. Her little brother was not allowed to speculate about her sex life or even say the word. She never asked what he and Sho got up to, even though she was curious as to what two boys did, and she would have appreciated if Ritsu stayed just as far out of that part of her life. Besides, it was mean, too, what he was accusing Arataka of. That had been the most amazing night of her life. Arataka was not using her at all.
"Why not! That's why he's with you! Why else would he be!?" asked Ritsu. He knew how guys could be, especially with girls as naive as his sister. He probably just fed her lies about being in love with her and then took her right to bed. Was that why she had broken up with Teru? Because of Reigen?
"I don't think that this is something that we should be talking about, especially at work." Said Serizawa. He was beet red, he could feel it. It hurt, a little, too. He didn't want to think about her and Reigen like that. Not that he had thought about her like that all that often. He had tried not to. Now he knew and he couldn't un-know and the room was so small and he just-
"What in the hell is going on out here!?" asked Reigen. The noise was disturbing the client. He had turned the soothing music up until it was in no way soothing anymore in an attempt to drown out whatever the hell was going on out there. Judging by the maelstrom of emotions he was trying to shrug off and just how angry Ritsu looked he guessed that he wasn't taking the news well.
"I don't want to date Serizawa, Arataka. I want to date you." Said Mob simply. Ritsu could only stare. Literally. Sho was holding him back with his powers. Serizawa had his eyes closed as he tried to keep it together. Reigen gathered as many calm emotions as he could and patted Serizawa on the back. He got a big dose of embarrassment, shame, hurt, and romantic rejection. What in the hell was going on?!
"Why? Why would you want to date him?! Date Serizawa! You have more in common and he won't use you!" said Ritsu. She wanted someone way too old for her? There was someone way too old for her. He was a much nicer guy, too.
"You date Serizawa if you like him so much then!" said Mob. One of her ceramic cats shattered. That one was called cookie dough. She had gotten him last year at the hundred yen shop.
"I'm already dating someone! Someone my own age who doesn't use me! If you want to date someone who's a hundred years old then date Serizawa!" said Ritsu. Serizawa looked down at his desk.
"I'm only thirty-four…." Muttered Serizawa. Sho made a cuckoo-cuckoo motion with his hand and pointed to Ritsu. This was angry, losing touch with reality Ritsu. It was taking all of his strength to hold him back.
"Guys…I have a client…." Said Reigen through clenched teeth. He had given Mob all the time off that she needed specifically so that she didn't end up bringing this circus back to work. Honestly, they were trying to run a business.
"Arataka is not using me! Not for sex and not for anything else!" said Mob. The entire building shook. Serizawa was slumped over his desk now. Sho was laughing out loud. Ritsu looked like he was about to have a heart attack.
"Please stop talking about sex…." Muttered Serizawa. He didn't want to think about her and Reigen having sex. He didn't want to think about sex at all when he was at work. It was really none of his business anyway.
"Yeah, knock it off. I'm trying to run a business here. Come back later when you're not about to piss yourself out of rage." Said Reigen. He wasn't afraid, not at all. Mob and Serizawa had his back. He was hiding in Mob's feelings, now, actually. A vague sort of annoyance with a generous slathering of frustration. It beat the unbridled rage he was getting from Ritsu and the torrent of embarrassment from Serizawa.
"You! You used my sister! You took advantage of her!" said Ritsu trying to break free of Sho's hold on him. A barrier formed as he began to move. Sho's? No, Shigeko's.
"Ritsu will you just forget that already? Please? Nobody took advantage of me. It was my idea, ok?" said Mob trying to calm down. There was a client in there and they needed to not be terrifying the client right then and there. They still had rent to pay and stuff.
"But why? Why would you believe his lies? Not now but for all of these years?" asked Ritsu, his voice breaking. Reigen wondered if he could brute force Ritsu out the door. The kid was as big as he was, bigger even, maybe.
"Because he's telling the truth. He loves me and I love him and now we're a couple. I don't know why you can't just be happy for me." Said Mob softly. She just wanted the people around her to be happy. She knew that Ritsu would be upset but not this upset.
"Because he's using you. He just said all of that so that he could sleep with you. He's a guy, Shigeko, he's only after one thing." Said Ritsu. She was too naïve and always had been. Reigen would have walked right up to Ritsu and hit him in the face if Mob hadn't put a barrier up. So that was the Reigen Arataka that existed in Ritsu's mind. How? How had Ritsu come to view him like that? Well, besides the whole dating a former student thing.
"So then you're just using Sho? I know you guys sleep together, I'm not dumb. Well, I don't know exactly how it works but I know you guys have sex. Does that mean that you don't love Sho? You're just using him for sex?" asked Mob simply. Serizawa groaned. This was not at all socially acceptable conversation. Reigen shared his sentiments and wondered, prayed, that the client couldn't hear this bizarre conversation. He wanted to kick everyone out but it honestly didn't look like Ritsu was going anywhere until whatever this was got settled.
"You don't know how it works?" asked Sho incredulously. Not that he wanted his boyfriend's big sister to be thinking about him like that. It was just amazing that someone in this day and age where anything you could imagine was a Google search away still didn't know. Mob shook her head.
"Don't tell her!" said Ritsu. No. That was not something that he was discussing with his big sister. If she didn't know then she could Google it or buy some of those manga they sold at the adult only shop.
"I don't want to know! What you guys do is none of my business just like what I do is none of your business." Said Mob. She was still absorbing energy from Ritsu, enough to keep him from tearing the building down.
"You and Reigen shouldn't be doing anything!" said Ritsu physically sick at the thought of it. Reigen Arataka and his sister…he wanted to kill him.
"You are not the boss of me, Ritsu. I'll do whatever I want with whoever I want whenever I want!" said Mob. Honestly. This was not even in the same prefecture as his business. She never once said not to do…whatever…with Sho even though it had taken her a while to like Sho. Even back in middle school she had never said a thing about whatever he and Rei were doing…or not doing as Rei often complained about.
"But why him?! There are so many other great guys out there!" said Ritsu
"I don't want lots of great guys, I want Reigen Arataka! He's amazing, Ritsu! He's the most amazing person I've ever met. He's always been there for me. He saved me so many times and in so many different ways. No matter what, there's been a lot of what over the years, we've always come back to each other. That's what love is, Ritsu. Love is being there for someone no matter what. Love is knowing that whatever happens that person will always be there for you. Love is sharing and caring and trust and devotion and that's what Arataka and I have. I know that you don't believe me but that's the truth." Said Mob. Everyone stared at her. That had been the most words she had said at once in a while.
"Can you guys please take this somewhere else? I'm trying to keep the lights on, here. Besides, you're freaking Serizawa out." Said Reigen. The kid didn't look like he was five seconds away from going supernova, so out he went. Time for the circus to pack it up and move on!
"I don't know why you don't like him, or some other guy. Teru might take you back, if you ask. You liked him." said Ritsu. Anyone but Reigen Arataka. Any other guy in the entire world.
"I don't want to date Serizawa or Teru. I want to date Arataka, we love each other. Nobody is lying to anyone, nobody is using anyone. Ok? I'm telling the truth. I don't tell lies, Ritsu." Said Mob balling her fists up in her dress. Honestly. How many times did she have to say it before the message sunk in?
"You date him then, kid, since you seem so hell bent on it." Said Reigen. Honestly. Enough was enough. So the kid was angry, that was fine. So the kid needed to blow off a little steam, that was fine too. However, coming into Reigen's place of business, disturbing the peace, and making everyone feel like crap was not fine! Serizawa had been doing so well that morning, too. He didn't need his crush on Mob rubbed in his face like this.
"Why did you tell?" asked Serizawa quietly. All eyes were on him now. Reigen wanted to find the heaviest thing on his desk, tape it to the second heaviest, and start bashing himself over the head with it.
"I didn't say a word, Serizawa. I would never do that to you." Said Reigen. How oblivious had he been? Those two over there seemed to have figured it out on their own. Why else suggest Serizawa so many times? The guy was older than Reigen was!
"We figured it out on our own. I mean, you were pretty obvious." Said Sho. He was like a middle schooler with a crush, honestly, those first few weeks. The only person blind enough not to see it was Ritsu's socially inept big sis.
"I don't get it. What was obvious? asked Mob genuinely not getting it. They were talking like Serizawa had feelings for her. That was crazy. Serizawa was like a friend, or a little brother, to her. Besides, what could he have seen in her? He was even older than Master Reigen and Master Reigen, no, Arataka, had taken so much convincing to get to this point.
"Nothing, Mob, nothing at all. Listen, I know that you guys have a lot to work through but this is a place of business. Everyone in this room is entitled to their own feelings, no matter what they may be. What you are not entitled to do is to come in here and start screaming and scaring away the clients. I don't go to where you work or have school and start screaming now do I? We're a room full of adults. Some of us might not get along all the time but we have to act like adults here. Ok? We aren't children anymore. If you guys want to keep arguing about this then take it somewhere else because I am trying to work. Understood?" asked Reigen in his best authority like voice, the same voice that got him mistaken for the boss of Claw all those years ago. He scanned the room. Sho was nodded. Mob was blank. Ritsu was balling up his fists but didn't look like he was ready to start killing anyone anymore. Serizawa was still beet red. The client was hopefully enjoying the music that was practically blasting out of the massage/exorcism/yoga/nap room.
"Do whatever you want, Shigeko. Do whatever the hell you want." Said Ritsu before he turned and left. Mob hesitated for a moment before getting up and following him. Reigen poured Serizawa a cup of lukewarm tea and went back to work. Well, that had been a real cluster fuck now hadn't it?
"Brother, wait!" said Mob as she ran down the stairs. Ritsu turned to face her.
"What? I told you that I don't give a damn anymore." Said Ritsu. Fine. She had won. Mom was right, she could be so damned stubborn sometimes. Sho decided to take a few steps away. He was tired of watching them fight.
"Here, this is yours." Said Mob. She threw the energy she had collected back at him. In doing so she shared herself with him just like she had shared herself with Serizawa all of those years ago. Back then she had been focusing on her feelings of friendship and what had happened to form that idea. Now she was focusing on love. Ritsu went rigid and gasped.
He's eleven. He hurt his little brother. Mom and dad say that he's a monster. They say it behind closed doors when they think he can't hear. He can, even if he pulls his nightgown up over his head he can still hear. He meets a man named Reigen Arataka, the only human being on Earth who isn't afraid of him.
He's still eleven. He got started and broke something. Master Reigen isn't mad. "I bet you could even lift me if you wanted to." He lifts Master Reigen too fast and he hits the ceiling. He drops Master Reigen too suddenly and he ends up sprawled out on the floor. "Hey, don't be like that. As if YOU could ever hurt ME. Come on, let's get some ramen. Tomorrow we'll work on your finesse."
He's fourteen and he's all alone in the world. Little brother yelled at him. Little brother hurt him. Mom yelled at him. She told him that she was done. He can't go anywhere. He stays with Teru for a night but then Master Reigen calls and says that they have to live together. It's the happiest moment of his life so far. Master Reigen really does love him.
He's still fourteen and little brother has been kidnapped. The world is wrong. He can't see. It all returns to nothing. He just keeps letting him down, letting him down, letting him down….but then Master Reigen is there. Master Reigen takes him out of that horrible room and now he can SEE again.
Master Reigen almost died for him. Master Reigen held his power in his hands and used it. Master Reigen is truly amazing.
Sex is disappointing. He knew hee wasn't ready but what's done is done. Master Reigen is there to listen. He assures him that he'll have instrumentality with someone someday. He thought that having sex with Teru would be instrumentality. He was inside of him after all. There are different kinds of instrumentality. Master Reigen lets her inside of his aura. Usually it's the other way around. This is also instrumentality.
The world is small. The world is cruel. He is powerless. Every single day he's hurt. Today they tripped him down the stairs. Yesterday they took his shoes and threw them in the river. The day before that they pulled up his skirt in front of the whole class. The day before that he doesn't have a napkin, bleeds into his school skirt, and that awful girl points it out to everyone, the day before that the awful girl cuts a chunk of his hair out, the day before that the awful girl pours milk over his head and he slips in it. It's ok because he can go home and dream of the man with the light hair and blue eyes who can always make him smile. He doesn't know who this stranger is but he's always there for him. He would protect him, had he been real.
Death is near. He knows that he is going to die. Sho-SHO OH MY GOD SHO-is on the ground. He's bleeding. His arm has extra corners. A few of his teeth are on the ground. His eye is swollen shut. This is what this man is willing to do to his own son. No. They have to talk him down, to change him. He's hitting them. They've got to hold back or they will kill him. They've got to let go or they will be killed. Master Reigen is there. He's got a gun. He's going to kill for them. No. He's going to die for them. THEY CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN.
He has no idea who he is. He's in a white dress he's never seen before. Oh. His clothes got ruined. The other him stole this. The shoes were to be matchy-matchy. There's a weapon in his hand. It's a yo-yo. It cuts like razor wire. The city is floating. Who is he now? He's holding those buildings up. He's…he's trying to keep the others safe. He's not Mob anymore. He's not Shigeko anymore. He's their wrath. He's their mercy. He's a conversation, an understanding. He needs to fight. There's no running away from this. He needs to fight like the heroes in his stories. He IS a magical girl. He IS and EVA pilot. He IS an angel. LIKE AN ANGEL WITH CRUEL AND MERCILESS INTENT GO FORTH YOUNG BOY AND YOU'LL BECOME A LEGEND!
Master Reigen is looking up at them. At him. He's enjoying this. His yo-yo cuts through the building like butter. The Unit-1 he made tries to cut through Toichiro's AT field. He can warp reality itself if he wants to. He should not be having fun. This isn't fiction. This is real life. He needs to keep Master Reigen safe. He isn't a magical girl. He isn't an EVA pilot. He isn't an angel. He's Mob. He's Mob and he needs to end this.
The light is too much. He needs to take it all in. He needs to take it in so that Toichiro can apologize to those he wronged. This is something that needs to happen. He needs to take in this light and he needs to live. He needs to live so that he can confess to Master Reigen. It's too much. It hurts. It burns. He can take it. He needs to take it. He uses this power as a tool. It's a knife and knives are tools. He focuses on building. When he comes back to the world he's buried until a giant broccoli tree. Master Reigen is digging him out. "Will you still love me when I'm a gown up?" "Mob I love you right now."
There she is. The evil girl. The terrible girl. Asagiri Minori. Is this real? What is real? He can't see. He can't think. He's pulling off his clothes. He doesn't care who sees. No scars. The wound from where she stabbed him is gone. His fingers and toes aren't crooked from being broken. There's no burn on his arm from when they spilled acid on him in science class. There's no scar on his calve from when they shoved him into the chain link fence in gym class. He has no scars. But what if this is another trick. Where is Mogami? WHERE IS MOGAMI?! He doesn't want to exist in this world anymore. He switches places. The other him is strength. The other him will find Mogami. He doesn't know what happened. He doesn't know where he is. He doesn't know who he is. He's in a tornado. Master Reigen is there. Master Reigen is hurt! "Mob….come back to me. I'm here, Mob. I will always be here. Shigeko…I'm here for you too. For you two. The both of you. I love you both and I accept you both. Please, please come back to me." The city is in ruins but they can fix it. Reigen Arataka is with them and when he's there they can do anything.
He's eighteen years old and he's been waiting for this moment for almost an eternity. Reigen is dancing around the question. All he needs is a yes or a no. He can't live like this any longer. It's a yes. It's the most beautiful word that he's ever heard in his life. They kiss. It's amazing. They make love for the first time. He had no idea that it could be this good. He tells Arataka about the life he wants. He wants a life filled with friends and love. He wants perpetuity. Arataka will share perpetuity with them. He wants friends and a family and a son named Shigeo who the two of them will love more than anything else in the world. He wants his perfect happy ending. He's getting it.
"Do you understand now, brother?" asked Mob as Ritsu came back to her. Ritsu stared at her. That had been…intense. When Serizawa had described it to him Ritsu had assumed that it would feel like watching a movie, maybe. He had lived her life, those parts of it, anyway….he had lived her life and now he knew.
"I understand, sister…and I'm sorry." Said Ritsu. She pulled him into a hug. He hugged her back. They were both so happy. They didn't have to be empaths to get caught in that positive feedback loop. Mob was crying a little, and so was Ritsu. Mob cried because Ritsu finally understood and Ritsu was crying both for being such a major asshole and for what his sister had gone through over the years. Mob wiped her tears and his.
"I forgive you. You didn't understand but now you do." Said Mob. That had eventually gone well. Hopefully telling her parents would be easier.