Reigen was ready to admit to herself that she was something of a packrat.
When the old office burnt down she promised herself that she would not fall back into old habits. Old habits being, well, using the office as a storage unit. That was what happened before. Reigen tended to ship her feelings away, or when she was in the black, or when she saw something she really could not live without…and there was the free section on Craigslist….well all of that crap had burnt down and now she was free to start anew.
Without falling into old habits.
She promised herself.
But she had never been good at keeping promises, not even to herself.
So the storage room slowly filled up with various boxes and plastic bins of junk. First came the Christmas decorations because, well, there was no point to carting the whole box back home when she'd have to decorate the office again next year. Then came the box of assorted New Year's decorations again because she didn't see the point in carting them home to just to bring them back next year. Then came a box full of books on spiritualism that she had read before but may need to reference again. After that came a plastic bin full of long skirts, bodices, scarves, and fake jewelry because, well, her clients didn't want to see her in the exact same costume every single time they came in to have their stars and minds and futures and pasts and presents read. That was the same reason she had brought over a box of work clothes that she didn't really care for anymore, styles changed so fast, as did waistlines, and also she had some shoes she only wore around the office and nowhere else…
And that was what brought Reigen to her current predicament.
Somewhere behind all of this crap was the printer paper.
Where in God's name could it be? It came in a big box that said printer paper! Though she did use those boxes to store things….like the one she was standing on. For some reason it was full of Spirits and Such flyers….from two years ago. She remembered why she had taken these home…she had been planning to take Mob around and put up fliers but…oh yeah, Mob had to go up to the country to see her grandparents…
And then they had gotten sidetracked.
That happened sometimes. Like how Reigen had gotten into this predicament. She had been meaning to order more paper for a while now but she had gotten sidetracked, as usual, and now she was in this predicament. She could always order another box but that took two whole business days to ship…
The box on the shelf above her came tumbling to the ground with a crash….a concerning crash….and now there were crystal shards everywhere.
Just great.
"Miss Reigen! I heard a…loud sound…" said Serizawa. Reigen patted her hair down in some attempt at giving it some semblance of order. She must have been a sight standing on the box covered in dust, her stocking ripped, and her slip probably showing….and also her hair, too, while she was appraised her looks.
Not that she knew why she was. Well she did know why she was, she was attractive and she knew it, but why she was doing it now…it was just him. Just Serizawa….and it was just him. It was after closing and the girls had gone home to their families and their lives…so it was just her and Serizawa…
And he was looking at her.
Reigen could feel his aura resting on her. That happened, sometimes, when he looked at her. Really looked at her. Not checked her out, not really, because she could not see Serizawa doing anything like that, the man was pure as the driven snow, but he had this way of just…looking at her.
Really looking at her.
It was nice.
Not that she would read into it. Maybe he was just grateful that she had given him a place to go after the whole debacle with Claw. Maybe he was just pulling a Mob, she stared a lot sometimes because she didn't know what to say, or hell….maybe he just stared because the only grown woman he spent a significant amount of time with besides her were his therapist and his mother.
"…hey…um…yeah….a box fell." Said Reigen. Right. Words. Come on, Arataki, you know how to talk. Talking is about the only thing in this world that you're good at.
"Oh!" said Serizawa. Reigen risked a glance behind her. He had jumped back, apparently just now noticing that the floor was covered in crystal shards.
"Don't move! It-it's dangerous!" said Serizawa. She smiled at how flustered he was. He kept on glancing down at the broken crystals and then up at her. She wanted to tell him that she was fine, that she wouldn't get hurt, that she didn't need to be babied like this, that she was capable of getting the broom and dustpan out herself and cleaning up her own messes…
But sometimes it was nice to have some help.
The room was covered in his aura. Reigen closed her eyes and just felt. She felt him all around him. She mired herself in him, she let him wash over her, drown her….and it was such a nice way to drown. To drown in him. To drown in the feel of him. She just stood there and let herself be mired in his aura as he, from what it sounded like, cleaned up the mess she made.
She opened her eyes.
No mess.
Nothing broken.
And a very sheepish looking Serizawa.
"I…Miss Kageyama, Mob, taught me how to do that. Not that specifically, I mean, I just…she says that broken things like to be put back….together." said Serizawa
"Well thank you, you saved me a trip to the new age store let me tell you…" said Reigen with a laugh that sounded in no way, shape, or form natural. She'd heard Rei make a sound similar to that when Mob's little brother and the red haired kid came to visit. God. She turned into such a teenager sometimes.
He laughed too.
His laugh was just as strained as hers.
Then a silence thick as his aura laid over them. Reigen stood awkwardly on top of that box. She was still in a sort of half turn towards him. He was facing her. It looked like he was trying to say something. Sometimes it was like he was getting better and sometimes it was just as he was when he first came to her. All stutters and stammers.
Both suited him.
There was just something so…endearing….about him when he stuttered and stammered. When he shook as he served her a cup of something that could be classified as tea. Weak and pale green. Either ice cold or burning hot. The way he could barely even get out her name sometimes. Miss Reigen, stuttered out in twice as many syllables when they were all alone. Away from the prying eyes and overactive imaginations of the girls. Always Miss Reigen, even when they were alone. Endearing, cute even…
He did not need that.
He did not need that from her right now, or maybe even ever.
He was just now getting used to the outside world. He had spent most of his life locked away and after that he spent so long following that madman around…now he had something that could be called stability and she did not need to shake that. So he was tall, dark, and handsome. So he looked at her like she was the only woman in the entire world. So he was the only man that she could really talk to, well in text. So he was the only man who she ever let see this part of herself, the messy part, the unguarded part. So he could make her laugh with a simple string of emojis at midnight on a weekday when she knew that she had to get to bed but she just couldn't put her phone down even though she knew that she had to be responsible but then the little dots appeared next to his name….
She was such a teenager sometimes.
"Do you….do you need help?" asked Serizawa. Reigen was about to ask him what he meant when she remembered what she had set out to do.
"Yeah, the box up there. I just can't seem to reach it." Said Reigen. She expected him to pull it down with telekinesis or, better yet, come right over and take the box down himself…because he did look strong…and he was tall…
But he didn't do either of those things.
Reigen felt herself rising into the air. She felt a warmth around her waist, like she was being held and picked up…and she was. He was picking her up…and she didn't mind. He was picking her up and…and this was so….him. So very him…
She almost forgot to take the box down. Almost. But she did. She reached up and pulled it down. He placed her, gently, on the ground.
"I-I'm sorry…I didn't think! I just-" said Serizawa
"I-I don't mind. Really, thank you." Said Reigen. She held the box in her hands. She could not meet his eyes. She looked down, lower, at his tie. Blue. A nice sort of blue.
"I-I shouldn't have just picked you up like that, though. I should have asked. That would have been more polite. I probably scared you and-" said Serizawa
"Hey, no. There are very few things in this world that can scare me and you are not one of them. But, yeah, maybe don't make it habit. Picking women up." Said Reigen
"That was the first time…I mean I've never tried picking up any woman besides you." said Serizawa
"Well you were great." Said Reigen. She laughed, again, in that weird way and then so did he. She couldn't move from that spot. Her arms were acting and she had a layer of dust on her face and she was pretty sure that the rip in her stocking had gotten worse but she could not move…
And neither did he.
They just sort of stood there, the question of 'what next' hovered between them. Was there a next? Was there a now? What was it that they were waiting for? What was it that she was waiting for? Was she even waiting for anything? Reigen Arataki did not wait. She saw what she wanted and she went for it. But there was no going for it, not here, not now, not at any time or any place. He did not need it. He did not need her trying to…to do whatever it was that she was trying to do….
What was she trying to do?
She knew what she…she had no idea what she wanted. She knew what wanted with him in the immediate but if she were to ever have that….if she were to get what she wanted then she would lose what she had. She would lose these awkwardly adorable moments. She would lose warm cups of tea like liquid served with shaky hands. She would lose late night text conversations. She would lose it all. She would end up throwing away happiness with both hands for what, exactly? Twenty minutes in bed with him? Her picking her clothes up off of his bedroom floor in the wee hours of the morning? Taking the train home with her hair a mess and her makeup ruined? The stares and judgment of strangers….her trying to ignore it…trying to ignore everything….trying to ignore the feelings that would threaten to grow within her….she could not put herself through that. Not with him.
Because she never stuck around afterwards.
"That's looks heavy, here, let me carry it!" said Serizawa as he took the box from her arms. So polite. So cute. So….him.
She'd stick around, afterwards.
But would he?
It didn't matter. She'd never put him, her, them in that position.