There was no keeping anything from teenage girls.
"Is she glowing? I think she's glowing but that might just be her highlighter." Said Rei. She thought that she was whispering, it seemed, but Reigen heard her loud and clear. She was over in the sitting area with Tome surrounded by scraps of colorful paper and glue sticks. Rei was hard at work at…something….something that Reigen assumed Rei would want to put up when she was done making whatever it was.
Reigen would let her. She was feeling gracious that day.
She made eye contact with Serizawa. He blushed and looked back down at his phone. Apparently Sho had some kind of animal related crisis going on.
"What the hell is highlighter?" asked Tome. She was lounged on the couch with her feet up and her DS in her hands. She had shown a remarkable amount of restraint. Maybe it was the lack of Mob. Tome showed off when Mob was around, Reigen thought, so the lack of Mob meant a more chill Tome.
Mob had said that she was busy that day. Rare for her, especially since all of her friends were there….hopefully she was fine. Reigen knew that she had been worried and jealous, before, when Serizawa started working there. The girls had been right about the whole 'shipping' them thing…maybe Mob was feeling threatened? Reigen would talk to her the next time she saw her.
"It's kind of like this powder that attracts light. It's good for contouring." Said Rei. Reigen shook her head from behind her computer screen. Highlighter? Contouring? Things were so much easier when she was in middle school. A little eyeliner, lip gloss, and eye shadow was all it took back then. She caught sight of herself reflected in the screen. A little highlighter, though, with some shimmer to it…
"What the hell is contouring?" asked Tome
"Seriously?" asked Rei
"Seriously." Said Tome
"You're messing with me. You know what contouring is…right?" said Rei
"That Instagram stuff you do that takes an hour and half each day?" asked Tome
"….it doesn't take that long anymore. Not since I got the hang out it." Said Rei. Reigen did not tell her that, no, she didn't fully have the hang of it. If Rei felt good about herself then Reigen wouldn't say a word. Even though her foundation didn't exactly match…
"You look nice the way you are." Said Serizawa. Reigen smiled. He was good at that, building people up, really good at that. He was just so sweet, sweet as blood red jam, not literally of course. He probably tasted like every other human being tasted…not in a cannibalistic sort of way. Ick. More of a they had yet to kiss sort of way…
Great. Now she sounded like Mob.
"Thanks! You too, Serizawa." said Rei. Then her eyes darted over to Reigen. Tome nudged her with her foot. Reigen watched them out of the corner of her eye. Subtle those two were not. What, were they expecting her to get jealous? First of all Reigen did not do jealousy and second of all Rei was thirteen years old. If Reigen had reason to be jealous then she would not have been dating a man who made her have to be jealous of a thirteen year old girl.
"I meant that you look normal! You always look nice! Right…Reigen?" asked Rei. Reigen rolled her eyes before she looked up. Fishing for signs, huh? The girls were being much more reserved than Reigen had thought they would be. Darn. And she had even emptied out the swear jar, too.
"You look nice, Serizawa." said Reigen simply. He blushed and stammered a bit. Rei giggled and went back to her crafting. Reigen wondered how long those two would be able to restrain themselves for. If Mob were there she would have just come out and asked. Reigen would tell the truth if Mob or one of the others asked, of course, because she had nothing to hide. She and Serizawa were in a relationship now. Really. They were in a real relationship together right at that moment…
It was nice.
He really was as sweet as blood red jam. Contrary to what the girls probably thought happened nothing had happened. Well confessions happened but that was it. They even slept in separate beds. They had held hands and he held her for a little bit but that was it. They ordered dinner, watched a movie, and at some point she passed out. She woke up tucked into her own bed with him passed out in the bed beside her. He hadn't even brought up the possibility, then, of the two of them doing anything…
Not that she was about to go bringing it up either.
She was not going to push him too fast. He'd never had a girlfriend before, he had said, and she assumed that he was a total virgin in every sense of the word. She didn't imagine that he would have had much time to meet women being Suzuki's body guard after all. Plus he was just so adorably, endearingly, flustered around her…like now.
God. He was so perfect.
She had no idea what would come next. She had been worried about it, obsessed with it, but now…now she was…excited? He wasn't the sort of man that would have her collect her clothes in the morning and go about her merry way. She had been with those sorts of men and she had her fun, a lot of it, but now she was ready for something…more. Not that she was booking the wedding band anytime soon. No…she didn't even know if she wanted to go that far with anyone. It didn't what mom harped on about every single time she called.
Arataki, why don't you have a boyfriend?
Arataki, why aren't you out getting a boyfriend right now?
Arataki, so and so from my office's daughter just got married?
Arataki, whatever happened to that man you were seeing back in university?
Arataki, the boy down the street just got divorced and he's always been very handsome…
And so on and so forth until she was ready to throw her phone out the window. Honestly. If mom wanted her to get married so badly then maybe mom and dad should have modeled what successful adult relationships looked like back in her formative years. Not that Reigen would be so contrary as to not get married just to spite her mother. Not that she would obey her mother's wishes and run out and get married, either.
She didn't know what she wanted in that department.
It was too damn early to even begin to think about that! They had just started their relationship! She needed to get off of this. She was not opening that conversation up any time soon. That would most certainly scare him away. They hadn't even kissed yet…not that she was going to agonize over it like Mob had. Not that she was even comparing Mob's relationship to hers. Mob was in middle school, it was totally different for her, Reigen was a grown woman and it didn't matter when she and Serizawa kissed or anything. They were adults, free of the peer pressure of middle school, and they would set their own timetable.
"Um…do you want some more tea?" asked Serizawa. Reigen looked up from what she was doing, a whole lot of nothing, and shrugged.
"If you feel like making more. I was thinking that we'd call it a day soon, actually. I've got nothing scheduled and I doubt that we'll get a walk-in this late." Said Reigen. It took her a moment to find her voice. It kept on trying to go high, instinctive for her, when she was with someone she was attracted to. Someone she was trying to be with.
Not like that.
Not that she was planning on asking him to be with her in that way anytime soon.
"I-I won't then. Um….what did you have planned for…for when we were done?" asked Serizawa. Reigen looked past him. Rei and Tome were watching them with baited breath. Rei was crossing her fingers and Tome looked like she was trying not to say something.
"I was thinking we could all head over to MobRonald's or something, I don't know." Said Reigen
"What the hell kind of place is that!?" asked Tome. Well at least now Reigen knew the limits of her restraint.
"It's a fast food chain that originated in the States back in the 1960's. They sell burgers, fries, ice cream, and deep fried pies." Said Reigen. Tome jumped to her feet and trampled all of Rei's handiwork. Rei looked like she was about to either cry or pop Tome one, maybe both.
"T-They also have salads…and milk shakes…" said Serizawa
"Yes, thank you. They also have salads and milkshakes." Said Reigen
"You can't cheap out on this, Reigen, that's no way to keep him!" said Tome. Serizawa blushed and looked down. Rei shook her head and tried to get Tome to sit back down.
"I don't think that Serizawa cares where they go. They have a good relationship like that. A strong relationship is built on mutual attraction, trust, and understanding. As long as you have those three things then your partner will always be there for you. I read that in a book I found in my parents' room…." Said Rei, her voice trailing off at the end.
"Not that we know anything for sure! I mean, it's none of our business…" said Rei
"Yes it is." Said Tome
"It's not. I mean, we don't think that anything….I mean we have no idea if you guys are…" said Rei playing with the hem of her school shirt.
"What's your future vision say?" asked Tome
"Um…I don't like to use it to look into people's relationships because sometimes I see things that I shouldn't…" said Rei. Serizawa looked like he wanted to die. Tome looked like she wanted to kill Rei. Reigen decided to end this before someone ended up dead.
"You can both stop, ok? Serizawa and I are a couple now….hold your questions!" said Reigen as they both began to talk at once. She wished Mob was there. Mob, at least, would have been quiet…or rather quieter…she did ship them too. She shipped them and her questions, while fewer, tended to be much more personal and much more direct.
"I-I'm going to make tea!" said Serizawa getting up suddenly. Reigen didn't blame him. She stepped to the side and let him pass as he carried the electric kettle over to be filled up.
"How long do we have to hold our questions for?" asked Rei
"That depends on what you're going to ask me. I reserve the right to refuse to answer any questions which I feel to be too personal or none of your business." Said Reigen
"Are you in love? Are you getting married? Are you pregnant? Did he kiss you? Did you kiss him? Did you-" said Rei going a mile a minute. Reigen held her hand up and shook her head.
"Did you guys…." Said Tome taking the moment of silence as the chance to ask her own question. She finished it off with a gesture that could only be called 'obscene' and Reigen was glad that Serizawa decided to take his sweet time filling up that electric kettle. His poor heart could not have taken that.
"First of all we just got together, ok Rei? It hasn't been long enough for any of that. Second of all, Tome, that is none of your business. How about we have a strict 'don't ask, don't tell' policy on…all of that? Sound fair?" asked Reigen
"I am in no way ashamed of what I do and would gladly share every single detail with everyone in this room." Said Tome with her arms crossed.
"I don't want any details but if you insist on giving them-" said Rei
"No! No details. I'm not saying that you should be ashamed, it's nothing to be ashamed of, but I am saying that I do not and will not ever want to know. Ok? You just…you be you…and be safe! Always be safe, remember that, but I don't want to know and I am not giving either of you, or Mob too, the details of…all of that. You're in middle school, it would be…not good…" Said Reigen
"So there is something to know?" asked Tome
"Not telling you, now stop being nosy." Said Reigen. She wondered if she was that nosy at their age. Maybe. That had always been a topic of obsession, who was doing what with who, and she was thankful that she had grown out of it. Of course they'd be curious about her…she was the only adult they knew besides their parents and teachers, and it was nice that they were comfortable enough to ask her but, well, it was not their business at all.
"….not being nosy you-" said Tome
"Swear jar!" said Reigen preemptively stopping what she knew was going to be a peak into Tome's very 'colorful' vocabulary.
"I wasn't going to say anything…" muttered Tome
"We all know just what you were about to say." Said Reigen
"I don't." said Rei
"Well then you're just going to have to live the rest of your life not knowing. Now tell me, the both of you, do you want to come with or not?" asked Reigen. Rei and Tome exchanged a look. A sort of silent conversation passed between them.
"We can't, we're busy….helping Mob! With the things!" said Tome
"Yeah. The things." Said Rei
"Right, sure, 'the things', well have fun doing whatever it is that you'll be doing and I'll see you two later." Said Reigen
"Bye Reigen…and don't look under your desk!" said Rei as Tome dragged her out the door. Reigen looked behind her to her desk and just stared. She wondered if she even wanted to know what that was about. She was debating this with herself, morbid curiosity was winning over common sense, when she heard footsteps coming closer.
She closed her eyes and just felt him. There was a sort of energy that he carried with him, sort of like a warm blanket but one made of wool or some other material that collected static electricity, and it was rapidly becoming one of her favorite feelings.
"Um…Miss Reigen?" asked Serizawa. Reigen almost jumped. Right. There would be time for pining later.
"What's up?" asked Reigen
"Are…are we closing for the night?" asked Serizawa
"Yeah, I think it's about time we call it a day." Said Reigen. They stood in front of each other for a long, silent, second. His fingers drummed on the elective kettle. Oh!
"You don't have to make tea! I mean you can if you want to but I think that it'll be stale by tomorrow…not that you can't make some tea if you want to! You can do whatever you want, your life is your own." Said Reigen nervously. He put the kettle down and they had another one of their moments of awkward silence. But it didn't need to be awkward. They were together now. Why was it like this?
Because that question hung in the air.
What next?
Before what next was terrifying. Next could have meant anything, literally anything, and it still could…it still could be literally anything. She knew what she wanted…she sort of knew what she wanted…and she knew that she couldn't ask him for what she wanted…a lot of what she wanted.
"What's underneath your desk? I mean I heard Miss Kurosaki, not that I was eavesdropping! I just heard her say-" said Serizawa wringing his hands.
"Oh! I haven't even checked…and I'm afraid to….just a little bit. Who knows with those three." Said Reigen with a shrug. She turned around kicked her computer chair out of the way before getting down and digging around underneath her desk. She could feel Serizawa's eyes on her. She stayed under maybe a little longer than necessary.
She'd let him enjoy the view a little while longer.
She didn't mind it, when he checked her out, and she was ready to admit to herself that he checked her out. The man may have been pure as the driven snow but he was still a man plain and simple. Reigen didn't mind. She knew she was young and attractive. Besides, her eyes also tended to wander around on occasional. His shoulders. His back. The way he was so tall and broad and-
Oh.
New shoes.
And a note.
She crawled out from under her desk with the note in her hand. She could feel him looking at her, again, or maybe he just hadn't stopped. Reigen's eyes scanned the note. Written in Mob's blocky, microscopic, handwriting.
"Dear Master Reigen, we are so very sorry…sorry is written in red…that we….someone crossed out we and wrote Tome….broke those shoes that you left under your desk because you said that they were terrible….we tried to glue them back together but it didn't work and I tried with my powers but they were still uneven….well they were like that when I bought them….so here are new shoes. We are sorry." Read Reigen. Huh. Well then. That was…considerate of them.
They were good kids.
"I'm sorry…about your shoes I mean. I mean I know how much you care about how you dress and you always dress so nicely…I mean not that I look at you! I mean sometimes I do but…is that ok? I mean you're my girlfriend but you're also-" said Serizawa. Reigen smiled, put the letter down, and then reached over for his hand.
She hesitated a moment before she took it.
He hesitated a moment before he held her hand back.
"Serizawa, I take it as a compliment, really. I'm your girlfriend, if you can't check your girlfriend out than who can you check out?" asked Reigen with shrug. Well she had set out to calm him down but that put him even more on edge. Was it the whole 'girlfriend' thing? Reigen stops her mind before it can go down a path she knows to stay away from. Serizawa is nothing like that. Hell, he's the one who wanted to start this thing in the first place. Not that she didn't want to, too.
"I-I'm sorry, I've never done this before and I don't want to mess up and in anime girls, I mean women, don't like-" said Serizawa. Reigen gave his hand a squeeze.
"Serizawa, you have no reason to worry. I like you and I want you to think I'm attractive. Honestly I'd be a little offended if you didn't think that I was at least kind of cute-" said Reigen
"I think you're beautiful!" said Serizawa before he covered his mouth quickly, as if that would make a difference in what he just said. It wouldn't, he couldn't un-say it. Reigen didn't want him to un-say it. She wanted him to say it again and again and again and again….
Now it was her turn to blush.
She felt it from the tips of her ears down to the tips of her toes. Now she was the nervous one. Why? She had been called so many things before….maybe because it was him. Maybe because she knew that he was speaking from the heart. Maybe because he was a person without any sort of pretext and she knew deep down at the core of her being that he was someone who she could trust completely….
"….I'm sorry it just came out! I mean I think that you're beautiful and pretty and-and-and a lot of other things but I'm not just with you because of that! I also think that you're-" said Serizawa. If she was nervous then he was working himself up to a heart attacked. She wanted to hear what he had to say, to hear every single wonderful thing that he could possibly say to her, but he was redder than she must have been and she didn't much feel like carrying him to the hospital when he passed out.
"Hungry. I'm hungry….you?" asked Reigen softly
"I-I could be…" said Serizawa
"So….dinner?" asked Reigen. Their first date. It didn't count, before, but now it would. Well it didn't have to be a date, it could have just been dinner. It could have been whatever they wanted. Whatever he wanted. She didn't want to push him into doing anything that he didn't want to do but she did want…a lot of things…with him…things that he may or may not have been ready to say yes to…
But he at least said yes to dinner. That was a start.