Reigen may have over packed.

Just a bit, of course, she didn't go completely overboard. She just may have not needed both the suitcase and the duffle bag. This is just a one night job after all. Still, she did need to pack for redundancy, and she had her work outfits too, and also she was not buying travel size versions of all of her product when she would only be gone for one night. Besides, travel size sucked because you could never be sure how much you needed. Like now, her skin was getting so dry out in the early spring on the calendar but still feeling like late winter weather, that she would need at least half a bottle of moisutizer to feel like anything other than a stocking which was about to split down the seam.

She packed those for redundancy too.

Or maybe she should just stop being so lazy and shave her damn legs for once. Blond was supposed to be hard to see but while she had been blessed with mom's hair color she had been cursed with dad's body hair. Well at least nobody ever had to see it, nobody that she was planning on seeing more than once or twice anyway. She even brought long pajama pants, too, instead of the gym shorts or the night gowns she usually wore. This would not be one of those 'fall asleep in her slip' nights. No. She had company tonight.

"Sorry I'm late for being early!"

Not THAT kind of company.

"Serizawa, hey. No, you're fine-" said Reigen

"I was up late because I couldn't sleep but then I did go to sleep and I slept through one of my alarms but I woke up for the second one so I left but then I couldn't remember if I gave Sho's hamsters enough food so I had to go home and check and-" said Serizawa. Last night had been way too long and way too short at the same time. There were so many things to worry about, so many things that could go wrong, and he needed to plan for all of them so that if one of those things did go wrong then he would know what to do.

Which had not left much time for sleep.

"Serizawa, breathe. You're alright, ok? You're still on time and that's what matters. Think of it this way, you were late for being but early for being late." Said Reigen

"Y-you're right. I've never looked at it like that. Thank you, Miss Reigen." Said Serizawa. She always knew just what to say to make him feel better. She never said things like 'You're being ridiculous' or 'grow up already you're freaking out over nothing.' No, she was always so patient and wise and kind and understanding…and he was staring again, wasn't he. He looked away quickly. No wait, that was worse because now she probably thought that she had done something to offend him or something. But if he looked at her again then he might end up staring and then she'd think that he was weird or-

"So…ever been on a train before?" asked Reigen before she mentally kicked herself. Of course he had been on a train before, this was Japan! Now he probably thought she was teasing him or something like that. He was so sensitive, more so than he let on, and now this entire trip was going to be so awkward-

"A-A few times. This type of train, I mean, not the Seasoning City loop line. The President didn't really like trains, he had his own private plane to get to places, but my mom and I used to take the train to Dry Goods City to visit my grandparents when I was really little." Said Serizawa. She probably thought that he was such a loser, now. He'd gone so many places…but not really. She was really well traveled. She had gone off to university on her own and moved to Seasoning City on her own and now she was taking this trip all on her own and she probably hadn't stayed up all night agonizing over what to pack or what could go wrong or-

"Well this isn't a-anything special, don't worry. We aren't going very far anyway, just a city or so over." Said Reigen. Right, he was probably really anxious about going this far from home on his own. Well he wasn't on his own, she was there, but he probably didn't see her like he saw Suzuki, which was good, but also meant that she did not put him nearly as at ease as he should have been and he was probably just a bundle of nerves right now…maybe she should have postponed this until the weekend and then just called Mob. Well she'd have to take all of them if she took Mob, she knew how bad playing favorites could go, which mean that she would be responsible for all three of them in a strange city, and she didn't much want to risk losing one of them, probably Tome if she were to be honest, so really taking Mob was not an option…

"R-Right. You're right, this won't be very much at all. I've been all over the world, this is nothing. Not that it's nothing! Really, thank you for bringing me with and putting me up and-" said Serizawa

"You don't have to thank me, Serizawa, it's just work. Also I'm not the one putting you up, the hotel is. Trust me if I was putting you up we wouldn't be going anywhere this nice. Not that I have any idea at all if this place is nice, so don't get your hopes up." Said Reigen

"I won't! Don't worry!" said Serizawa with a bow. She did that thing where she laughed from behind her hand. He didn't know why she always did that, she was so pretty when she laughed. Not that she wasn't always pretty, she was, she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen in his entire life. Or rather woman. He knew girls and pretty was not a word that he would apply to them. They were cute and adorable because they were kids, not pretty, because pretty was a word that carried with it a lot of other feelings that he knew that he had for Miss Reigen and he knew that he should not have been feeling for her.

He knew that he should not have been so excited to see her. His eyes should not have lit up when he saw her off in the distance. His heart should not have raced when he got close enough to see, actually see, her as something other than a brown coat and a blonde ponytail off in the distance. When he got close enough that he could see how rosy her cheeks were and how she had a little lipstick on her front tooth and how the light hit her and made her practically glow…

He knew that he should not have reached over to steady to her when she train came chugging in a little too fast and the wind it made was just a little too strong and her shoes were a little too tall so she swayed just a little too far to the side and he reached over a little too much and steadied her because, well, he didn't want her to go toppling over. Especially because she was holding so many bags, which made balancing a little hard for her, and that would not have helped matters at all. He also knew that he could have just caught her with his powers but, well, he had been thinking.

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver….literally. Heh. I could have just gone right over and then you'd have to exorcise me. Heh. Ok, sorry, that wasn't funny at all." Said Reigen. She knew that she should have just stopped at thanks. She knew that now he probably thought that she was weird, at best, and now things would be so awkward between them. Her and her big mouth.

She knew that she needed to learn to shut her mouth. She just could not stop talking. She talked while they boarded, found a seat, and sat down. They sat facing each other, not side by side, which would have made no sense anyway because they had no reason to sit so close. These were facing seats, the kind that sat four, and Reigen wished now that it had been a weekend so the kids could have come so then maybe someone else would have said something because now she was saying way too much and what she was saying made zero sense what so ever.

"….which is so ridiculous. I mean, of course they should let dogs on the trains even if they aren't Seeing Eye dogs. Dogs are great for reducing anxiety and a lot of people get anxious on trains. I know I did, anyway, back when I was a kid. My parents and I were taking the train over to Kyoto and they actually ended up forgetting me on the train. I was like four and since then I've had this terrible anxiety about trains, well it went away once I started university, but still a dog would have helped. I don't know, I just love dogs. Mob's more of a cat person, don't even get me started on that. You know what she asked me once? She asked if we could get an office cat and I was all 'an office dog would be better' and then I gave her this spiel about guard dog for the office but then she gave me this speech, and it was a speech, about how dogs were clearly superior to cats, which was weird because I had known her a month and this point and she'd hardly strung more than five words together at a time-" said Reigen. Serizawa tried to follow along in what she was saying. They didn't get to talk that often, not really, because they were always either working or the others were hanging out with them and they talked plenty. He and Miss Reigen texted every night, almost every night, but this was different. She had never said so much to him at once and even though it was kind of hard to keep up it was also so nice.

He loved listening to her talk.

She was telling him so much about herself and her life, things that he hadn't even known, and it was so nice that she wanted him to know so much about her. It was also nice that she was doing all of the talking. He didn't know what to say to her, and he didn't have a lot to say to her, so it was easier to listen. Over text it was easier, there was the delay in what they said which gave him time to think about what he was going to say next. Also they mostly just talked about their days and other stuff like shows they liked and games they'd play. Things like that.

Talking to her was much better than texting her, though.

Just. Stop. Talking.

"….don't ever get Mob started about cats. She seems quiet now but get her going about something she likes and you'll be sitting there all night. By the end of that little Mob speech I was just about ready to go out and get a dog just to prove her wrong but the building has this rule about pets and-" Reigen could not stop taking. Maybe because he was so quiet. He must have been bored, so bored, the most bored. She needed to at least let him get a word in edgewise. God, she was such a teenager right now. This was exactly how she was with guys, a motor mouth, back when she had been the girls' age. Well Rei's age specifically. She learned to shut up and start kissing by the time she was Mob's age which was not an option here. If she were to just learn in and kiss him then that would have ruined everything.

Not that they had anything.

Well they had something. He saved her life, that was something, and they were friends, also something. The something that they had together was not the something that she wanted. Well she wanted a lot of somethings from him but she had lived long enough to know that what she wanted, all of the things she wanted, were not things that were ever going to happen. If she were to just learn in and kiss him, tell him to skip the job and go right up to the room, well then she'd get what she wanted but she'd lose what she had. Also she wouldn't get exactly what she wanted….even if she wasn't sure if that was what she wanted.

If he didn't commit afterwards it would hurt.

If he did commit afterwards it would be terrifying.

Not that Reigen had commitment problems. No. She could commit to a lot things. Her job, the kids, ignoring mom's constant phone calls…she could commit to all kinds of things. Even him…if he wanted that. Sure the thought of having to pick one person to marry her life to, to have to take into account when she was making every single choice in her life, to have to reframe her entire life around was terrifying but…but also kind of nice. Having someone. Meaning something to someone…that was nice.

"What about you?" asked Reigen finally giving him a word in edgewise. Serizawa sat up straighter. Right. He had to…what did he have to agree with her on? Wait, no, she was not Suzuki and he did not have to just blindly agree with whatever she said…but he was also not going to disagree with her just to be contrary….but he had no idea what he was supposed to be agreeing with or disagreeing with…

"Um….I'm not sure." Said Serizawa. Honesty was the best policy he had read. He hadn't been ignoring her, he had just…gotten a little sidetracked. He heard what she was saying but he just got a little…lost…in her voice. In how her eyes lit up and her hands moved and she just looked so…happy. She was so pretty when she was happy….

"Right, yeah, I get it. Sorry, sometimes I just…talk a lot." Said Reigen

"I know. Not to be mean! I mean I like it when you talk to…with...me" said Serizawa. He could feel himself blushing just a little and he ducked his head down low so she wouldn't see. He willed himself to stay calm. He was not going to explode and put everyone on that train in danger. Not that he felt like exploding, losing control a little but not truly exploding. He wasn't anxious, just nervous, which he should have been used to by now. She had always made him feel like that, maybe even since the day they met. The day he saw her run past him with a toy gun…the he saved her life….

"Well that was more like 'at you' but still, thanks. God, I'm one of the great monologists of Japan, aren't I?" Said Reigen with a bitter laugh.

"I don't mind 'at' either, Miss Reigen. I just like it when you…talk…I guess. I don't know, you just get really excited about things and it's…nice." Said Serizawa. He shouldn't have said that. That sounded weird and now she thought that he was weird or, even worse, that he…liked…her. He did, he shouldn't have but he did, but she could never know that. It would not end well. He knew that she did not return his feelings and that she could not return his feelings. If she ever found out then that would be the end of them, the end of what they had together.

"Th-thanks….you should get excited too! I mean, this is exciting! It's our first trip…work trip. The first Spirits and Such ever work trip that you've taken. A momentous occasion if there ever was one!" said Reigen

"Right! I-I will, ma'am!" said Serizawa. He had been nervous, too nervous, but he had no reason to be. This was fine, really, more than fine. So what if he was spending more time alone with her than he ever had before, this was a work thing. Nothing was going to go wrong, everything would be fine, and nothing was going to happen. Nothing bad at all. Normal. This whole thing was going to be just fine. Normal.

"Ugh, call me anything but ma'am. I'm only twenty nine." Said Reigen with a groan

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" said Serizawa

"Hey, it's ok. You can just call me Reigen, ok? Ma'am is my mom….and I don't even call her ma'am anymore. I'm only twenty nine, Serizawa, it was a big enough shock when people started calling me 'Miss'." Said Reigen

"Sorry. Should I not call you Miss Reigen anymore?" asked Serizawa

"Miss Reigen, just Reigen, or Arat-Reigen. Really, it's all good." Said Reigen with a wave of her hand. She leaned back, attempting to look the picture of cool, calm, and laid back. Inside she was reeling. She almost let him call her by her given name. Almost no one called her by her first name, no one she intended on spending more than a long weekend at most with.

It could have been nice. Him. Calling her Arataki….but those were not the thoughts to have.

"Ok….Miss Reigen." Said Serizawa because, well, all the books said that it was most polite to address girls as Miss. Well, girls and women. He called all of the girls but Mob, and even then sometimes Mob, Miss because, well, it was polite.

"Or whatever, it's up to you." Said Reigen

"Me?" asked Serizawa

"Yes you, who else? It's up to you. I'm fine with whatever, really, so it's up to you." Said Reigen. Serizawa took in a deep breath. That was…a lot. Dizzying even. Another way in which she was nothing like Suzuki. He didn't know why he kept on comparing the two but he just could not help it.

"It's up to…me? I'm sorry, it's just…you're very nice to me, that's all. I mean back when…the President never let me-" said Serizawa. Reigen could hear it, the hitch in his voice. She reached over and put a hand on his arm. In a reassuring gesture because sometimes people needed to be reassured and it had nothing to do with anything but the fact that he needed reassurance.

"Well he can go suck a bag of….anyway, that part's over now. It's over and done with. You're not his slave anymore, and you're certainly not mine. I mean, what do I need a slave for? I'm lazy enough as it is." Said Reigen patting his arm. Her hand moved lower, there, to his wrist. She was leaned forward, too, because these seats were usually spaced apart…or maybe she was just tiny. Whatever the reason there was a legitimate reason. There really was.

"Master Reigen…thank you." Said Serizawa. Sometimes it felt like there was a gaping wound where Szuki used to be. Other times it felt like a scar, raised and red but not something that he noticed unless he ran his mind over it. She had taken this pain from wound to scar in an instant. Her hand on his arm, her leaning in so close….the smell of her perfume…the smell of her cigarettes….the way her eyes rested on his….the words she said.

There was a moment between them. One of those moments that made him think to himself 'what's next?' because it felt like there should have been something next. He had no idea what came next. He had never felt this way about a woman before. He had never even had the chance to feel this was about a woman before. He knew that if he were to ask her, to tell her how he felt, and then ask her what came next she'd probably….

If this were anime she'd slap him in the face.

But this was life and she'd probably…do what she was doing now. Reassure him. Tell him no but then reassure him that everything would be alright. She of course would tell him no. She was his boss, first of all, and second of all she could do so much better. She could find a man who didn't get anxious when he couldn't bag his groceries fast enough, who didn't have to sleep with the blinds wide opened so that he didn't end up trapped in his room, who had friends that weren't half his age, who didn't have to remind himself to shower and brush his teeth every single day, who had lived a full life, who was smart enough not to go along with something that was so transparently wrong-

She deserved much better than what he could be.

"You're welcome, Serizawa. Anyway, you're really way too down on yourself sometimes, you know? Really I'm not treating you in any way that any decent person off the street wouldn't-" said Reigen. He was so down on himself, she could see it in his eyes, and she could even feel it in his aura. He surrounded her, warm and clingy but also with a slight static shock, kind of like taking a sweater right out of the dryer. It was nice, though, being so near him. She didn't knew that she may have been too close to him, her back was certainly protesting from leaning like this, and maybe she had been touching him for a little too long but…

She didn't want to let to.

"No. I mean….nobody's ever treated me the way you treat me." Said Serizawa. She was so close and she was touching him and he knew, the part of his brain responsible for reason knew, that she didn't mean anything by it. She was just being nice, just offering comfort, that was all. She did not like him. No matter how badly he wanted her to like him she did not have those sorts of feelings for him. She couldn't.

"Well they should." Said Reigen simply because, well, it was simple. Serizawa was a good man, someone who was just so….genuine. He was genuine in everything he did and that was so…she had never met anyone like him. Any man, anyway. That was why he could never be with her. Beyond the fact that she was his boss and he was in a bad place emotionally they could never be together because she knew that she would ruin him.

And she didn't want that.