Sometimes there was nothing better than a quiet night at home.
A nice, hot shower, Korean drama on the TV, cold beer in hand, and a new face mask that promised three different kinds of moisturizing or your money back….life was good. So good. It had been a big day, another one without any of the kids, but Serizawa had been there so he was a big help. Work, walking home, a kiss that was somehow sweeter than anything else in the entire world…good times. It was a good time to be Reigen Arataki.
"This is the life." Said Reigen to herself as she laid down on her couch and just took in the night. Her hair was still kind of wet but she had the hater going so it was fine. She was so warm, so very warm. Warm fuzzy dog socks, warm bathrobe, warm night shirt, just so…warm. Like being in a cocoon of warmth. She pulled the couch blanket over herself for extra warmth.
Yes. This was good.
The only thing that would have made it better would have been if she had someone to share this warmth with. Well she did have someone…but he was busy. He had to go home and build some model that he had ordered a while ago. He offered to let her see it when it was assembled and painted. He probably meant that he was going to show her a picture or something. Yes, that was it, though her heart had skipped a beat when he said that…the thought of being invited over…
It was nice.
But maybe too soon.
She still didn't want to rush him. It was one thing to have romantic fantasies of kissing the guy under a storm of cherry blossoms or whatever, it was quite another to imagine him picking her up and sitting her on her desk before he-yeah. No. Kissing was one thing, and a lot, but all of the stuff that came afterwards was…more than a lot. God, she sounded like one of the kids. She had no reason to be so nervous, she knew what she was doing, and she knew that being in a relationship meant voicing her needs and all of that but…but if he wasn't ready and he was only going along with what she wanted-
He could decide for himself what he wanted.
And maybe he wanted to, too. Well of course he did, she knew what he was thinking about when he looked at her in that way, but wanting something and being ready for something were two different things. He might have thought that she wasn't ready. He had thought that she hadn't been ready to kiss, before, and they had waited for weeks and weeks in pure and utter agony. Maybe this was the same thing. Maybe they were just two adults too awkward to admit that they wanted to do what adults in a committed relationship did.
Maybe they were just a couple of awkward, horny, weirdos.
Speaking of awkward and horny weirdos her phone was ringing…and she knew that ringtone. Rei had gotten a hold of her phone one day and assigned everyone a ringtone based on their personality, interests, blood type, and star signs. Right now the Nyan Cat song was playing, something that Reigen was amazed that Rei even knew. Not Rei's ringtone of course, she was the theme to some show Reigen had never heard of. No, that was Mob's theme.
She tried to reach but couldn't. In the end she just got up and used her legs like a normal person. If she ever got psychic powers she hoped that it was telekinesis. Then she wouldn't ever have had to leave the warmth and perfection that had been her couch.
But, alas, she did not have telekinesis and Mob was calling and Mob almost never called so this must have been important.
"Don't hang up, I'm coming!" said Reigen as she fumbled to pick up her phone. She managed to get a hold of it just as the thirty seconds of ringing that the good people at Samsung allotted her ended. She sighed and called back.
It rang.
And it rang.
And then it went to voicemail.
Reigen waited for about a minute before she tried again. Mob almost never called her. It could have been nothing, she could have just gotten her hair tangled in her comb again, or it could have been another world ending catastrophe. Hopefully Mob just folded her comb up in her hair to see what would happen again. Or maybe she just needed someone to take care of her secret closet cats. Or maybe Tome had gotten stuck in or on top of something again. Or maybe some new supervillain was trying to take over the world and-
That was not going to happen again.
And she'd slap the shit out of anyone who thought that they could pull that crap, anyway, because she was not going through that again. None of them were. Especially not Mob. Not after what happened. Not after what Reigen had let happen. No, she needed to stop beating herself up over this. She had beaten herself up left, right, and center over what she had let happen…and it was not going happen again…and Mob was fine.
So she called again.
And again.
And again until she swore that she could hear Mob's ringtone…right outside her door…which was just plain weird. Mob knew where she lived but she had never just dropped in like this. This was probably something really bad…or maybe not. Maybe it was just nothing at all. Maybe Mob was just lonely or Reigen was just imagining things or-
A knock at the door.
"Master? Are you home? It's important…" Mob's voice, followed by a lot of pounding and kicking at the door. Reigen didn't think. She just rushed over and threw open her door, a million and one nightmarish scenarios rushing through her mind before her hand even touched the knob, and none of those scenarios could have prepared her for what she saw.
Mob, Rei, and Tome standing in front of her door in the middle of the night in their pajamas wreaking of…drink? Had they been drinking? Had MOB of all people been drinking?...judging by the way she was swaying and the rosiness of her face the answer was yes.
"Master….I'm going to throw up." Said Mob as Master Reigen opened the door. She was having a hard time standing. This had been a terrible idea. Why did she have to just….just go and do whatever everyone else was doing even though she knew that it was a bad idea? She knew that stealing from Rei's sister was wrong, she knew that drinking was wrong, and she knew that leaving the house in her pajamas and bothering Master Reigen in the middle of the night was wrong too. She was terrible! The worst! She was…she was making herself sick….
"She really is, I can tell." Said Rei as she braced herself against the doorway for support. This wasn't so bad. She knew that they would make it to Reigen's house and she knew that Reigen would let them in and take care of them. She knew that everything was going to be fine…well Riko would beat her up when she found out that her liquor was gone but that was what she got for being such a jerk and deleting all of Rei's shows from the DVR. Really it was all Riko's fault and she did not deserve the big sister beat down that was coming in….thirty eight hours, about.
"Y-You don't have to have future vision to see that. Mob…Mob you just gotta do it. It's like if you ever g-g-get abducted by aliens…just throw up on yourself and get it over with…then they won't dissect you…" said Tome. She sat down, she needed to sit down, the world was moving too much. She could feel it spinning. It had been hell getting to Reigen's house. Everything had been moving too much. It was like being aboard an alien ship, the centrifugal force was very disorienting to beings who were not used to it.
"Ok, Tome…" said Mob. She doubled over and was about to, it sounded like a good idea, when she felt herself being pulled. Hard. Oh, right, this was Master Reigen's house. She probably didn't want vomit all over everywhere….and she probably wanted Mob to take her shoes off in the genkan, too, because wearing shoes in the house was gross.
"Mob, just hurry up! I'd rather have shoe prints on my rug than vomit!" said Reigen as she led Mob to the bathroom. Mob was polite to a fault and that included taking off her shoes before vomiting all over the formerly white, now a pale shade of grey, rug. Reigen didn't mind the out of the blue company, or the fact that she was going to have to babysit said company because they were drink off their asses for possibly the first time, but she would mind having to scrub vomit out of the carpet in the middle of the night…or at ANY TIME!
She and Mob barely made it to the bathroom in time. Reigen held Mob's hair back, un braided and even curled in some places, as she was sicker than she had probably ever been in her life. Reigen didn't much mind, this was a right sight better than the nightmare scenarios that had been rushing through her mind before, and really this was normal for people their age.
It was touching, too, how they felt safe enough with her to come to her in their hour of need.
Mom, her mom, hadn't been someone Reigen could have gone to for the time of day let alone when she was drunk and sick for the first time. God, what a shit show that had been. She had been Mob's, no, Rei's age the first time she had gotten drunk. She stole a bottle of wine, drank it, and the next clear memory she had was being sick all over this guy she had been kissing but for the life of her could not remember the name of. Something with a 'T' sound at the beginning, it didn't matter now, what mattered was that she was going to be there to keep them from making stupid…STUPIDER….choices. Like making out with guys they barely knew…or guys they did know.
An upbeat pop sound filled the bathroom. Something about chocolate fondant being good…which it was certainly not. Not that Reigen was there to critique Mob's choices of songs of snacks. The bathroom began to shake, Mob's doing, and Reigen reached into her hoodie pocket…a hoodie that smelled of cologne for some reason…and pulled out her phone before she took the roof down over their heads.
"That's Te-RU!" said Mob as she threw up again. This was so gross! She almost missed that time and then if she had Master Reigen would have been so mad at her because there would have been throw up all over her bathroom rug and toilet cover and extra toilet paper and an almost new box of tampons, too, that she kept near her toilet and those were super expensive and Master Reigen would have been mad at her like Teru was probably mad at her for not picking up and-
"Hey, Mob, breathe. You're going to be ok. You can always call him back later, ok? If it's important you know he'll just leave a text or a voicemail, ok?" asked Reigen as she traced soothing circles on Mob's back. She thinks, for a moment, that she won't be able to handle this. Mob's control wasn't the best when she was sober…who knew what it would be like when she was drunk? But, no, she could handle this. No need to call Serizawa up in the middle of the night to help her babysit the kids. They'd be fine. Everything would be fine.
"He's going to be mad at me, I just know it." Said Mob after throwing up some clear stuff that tasted as bad as it smelled. There went dinner and desert and snacks…she was so wasteful! She shouldn't have agreed to this or she should have stopped her friends from doing this in the first place! She was a terrible friend! She was a terrible person! She was-
"Shh….shh….he won't be mad. It'll be ok, ok? Haystack…he likes you a lot and he won't be mad just because you didn't pick up the phone, ok? If a guy lo-likes you a lot then he understands that you aren't always going to be available." Said Reigen as Mob, hopefully, finished throwing up.
"He likes me a lot…he said so…but he barely even kisses me…and he never tries to touch me…and I don't know why….because I suck! I'm a terrible friend and girlfriend and I suck and-" said Mob
"Shhhh, no you don't. You don't suck at all, ok? You're a good friend and girlfriend and everything else. Ok? You're a good person, Mob." Said Reigen. Ok, Mob was a depressed drunk…that was something. Good to know for future reference. She wasn't about to go into Mob's relationship troubles, in Reigen's opinion they were too young for whatever it was, she had a good idea of what it was, that was on Mob's mind.
"I didn't….I didn't pick up the phone and…and I didn't stop Rei and Tome…and I bothered you in the middle of the night….and I left my shoes on in your house…and-" said Mob as she pulled her head out of the toilet and sat down on the bathroom rug. It tickled the backs of her thighs. Her nightgown was all ridden up. She should have fixed it. She shouldn't have been walking around in just her pajamas and Teru's hoodie to begin with…and she should have taken off her shoes.
"Here, let me get those unlaced for you. Just say still and let your stomach settle, ok? And stop worrying. It wasn't your job to stop them…ok? Everyone gets a little too drunk when they're drinking for the first time…and everyone, well most everyone, drinks for the first time when they're around your age. Ok? I'm not mad at you." Said Reigen as she unlaced Mob's shoes and pulled them off. She heard what sounded like someone moving furniture in the other room….and she would deal with that in a minute. Right now she needed to get Mob settled in. It seemed like she had the worst of it as she was the only one throwing up….
Yet.
Reigen hoped to God that Rei and Tome weren't reenacting that one scene from the Exorcist movie in her living room. It didn't sound like it, the scraping sound was gone and now she just heard some loud talking. It was hard to make out through the bathroom door. Something about alien abductions and people being replaced….that was Tome. Well it seemed that Tome was a talkative drunk. Something else that she hadn't known before.
"Master….don't leave me all alone…I don't want to be alone…I want to be friends with you." Said Mob as she clung to Master Reigen's bathrobe so hard it came opened. She had never seen Master Reigen in pajamas before…and she didn't know why seeing Master Reigen in pajamas made her think of Master Reigen leaving her forever…maybe because Master Reigen had her own life and she could leave at any time and they could go their separate ways like before and-
"We are friends, Mob, even if you are drunk off your ass in my bathroom right now. In fact, consider this a friendship level up. Remember, only a true friend will hold your hair back when you're drunk and get sick." Said Reigen. She knew that the responsible thing to do would have been to set Mob and the rest of them straight and tell their parents…but Reigen didn't much feel like being a hypocrite. Everybody got one…or in Tome's case, two, and that was how it was going to be. They didn't need to be preached to about the fact that they should not have been drinking underage and all of that, no, what they were going through right now and the hangovers they would have tomorrow would be punishment enough.
Well, for them at least. Reigen had taken all of that as a personal challenge when she had been their age.
"Friends forever?" asked Mob as she rested her head on Master Reigen's chest. She felt a hand in her hair moving up and down. It was nice even if it was messing up the curls that Rei had worked so hard to put in her hair.
"Yup. Friends forever, ok? I'm not going anywhere. Actually I can't, this is my apartment and I am not leaving a bunch of drunk middle schoolers all alone in it. I need to get that security deposit back." Said Reigen as she stood up and pulled Mob to her feet. She needed to be there to watch all of them, especially since now she was hearing loud talking that bordered on yelling…from Tome and Rei. She hoped that she wouldn't have to upgrade Tome from talkative drunk to angry drunk.
She didn't.
Tome was just doing some preaching of her own, loudly, and on Reigen's couch…which was halfway across the room for some reason. The tiny table had been propped up against the wall and the TV was on some muted gameshow with subtitles in...Chinese? Probably. Rei's work, most likely. Tome was more likely to build a fort than anything else. Rei…where was Rei?
Reigen heard someone talking, loudly, through her bedroom door.
"Which is, like, how can someone be so sure that they're all alone in the universe? If humans really are so special then why wouldn't aliens visit us? Like….think about it? I mean the universe is so big and we're so small…like then you have to really sit and think about it…and really think about the stuff that happens in our world that we can't even explain? Like the Star Child skull? Or the pyramids? Or-" said Tome. Reigen sat Mob down on the couch as best she could and dug around for the remote. She found it tangled up with her phone in the couch blanket. She sat Mob and Tome close together and put the blanket around them.
"It's warm." Said Mob softly as she closed her eyes and leaned down onto Tome. She was so warm and comfortable and safe…Master Reigen was there and they were not going to go their separate ways again and that…that was that. That was this and this was that and that was good so this was good.
"It feels like being in the womb…that's what they do…they s-s-simulate womb-like conditions to lull you into a false sense of security….that's what The Greys do….they do that to people…that's why some people think that memories of abductions are actually memoires of birth and pre life…but they're wrong. Backwards…it's all…" said Tome as she reached for the remote on the floor. Reigen picked up and went to one of her streaming things. She knew a show that Tome would like…and hopefully it would have Japanese subtitles since she had no idea how good Tome's English was.
It wasn't good.
But there were subtitles.
"Here, Ancient Aliens. You may thank me later." Said Reigen as Tome's eyes got a glazed over look. Mob's were closed. Reigen decided to upgrade her from depressed drunk to sleepy drunk. She wondered how much they'd even had to drink for Mob to be nodding off this early…or was it late? She had no idea how long they stayed up for at their sleepovers, and this had obviously been a sleepover gone wrong. Or right, depending on how one looked at it.
"Master…stay…no more separate ways…" said Mob as she laid there with her eyes closed and listen to a TV show narrating something in a language she barely understood. She didn't want to open her eyes. The world spun when her eyes were opened.
"Mob, you know that we're never going our separate ways again, ok? So come off it and try to get some rest, you're going to need it." Said Reigen
"Why?" asked Mob
"Because you're in for the worst hangover of your life tomorrow." Said Reigen with a smile. Mob smiled too, her own smile, since her eyes were still closed.
"But it's the only hangover of my life….I've never been drunk before." Said Mob
"The first is always the worst." Said Reigen running her fingers through Mob's hair. She heard heavy footsteps and loud talking coming from her room…she really ought to look into that. Rei was…she was either talking to someone or going mad…and most likely going through Reigen's stuff…and she kept her private stuff in there….but she was loathe to leave Mob, too. She was having the roughest go of it out of all of them. She was still a little nauseated, it seemed, and she was being really clingy too.
"Yeah…first times always suck." Said Tome with a yawn. She was only half listening, she had to remember how to read…and it was hard. Words went by so fast…maybe she should have worked harder in English class. This was really neat…the most neat…Reigen was so cool. Not that Tome would ever tell her that…but she was so cool…
"Do you think that's why-why Teru only wants to kiss me? Because he thinks that oth-other stuff would suck?" asked Mob as she got more comfortable laying down on Tome's side. She needed answers and wasn't afraid to find them. She knew that she should have been embarrassed but it was like the little Mob that was in her head and told her what was and was not ok to say had gone for a tea break…not that the little Mob in her head had always done the best job before all of this. She wondered if she could get a new little person in her head to tell her what was and was not ok to say and do. That would have been great…then she maybe could have been a little less clueless.
"Mob, don't-" said Reigen. She wanted to tell Mob not to get ahead of herself. This was one area where she was alright being just a little hypocritical. She wasn't going to tell Mob that what she wanted to do was wrong or anything like that but she was going to tell Mob to wait. She was too damned young for all of that. She wasn't an eleven year old in pigtails or anything but she was really damned young.
"He's just weird…really weird. Guys can be so weird and immature…maybe he's a pod person? Maybe they've replaced him and you're next." Said Tome
"No…no he's Teru…and he says that he likes me but he never tries to do anything more than kiss me…and I like to kiss him but I just get worried…worried like he doesn't really want to be with-with me because I'm not like the girls he's been with before and-" said Mob
"You're fine the way you are, Mob, ok? He cares about you and you care about him, I can tell, and caring about someone means that you…you take their feelings into account. You're fourteen, slow down on all of that until you're BOTH ready." Said Reigen. Sadly, there was no dispensing wisdom to the drunk and it seemed that what she said went in one ear and out the other.
"I look like I'm in elementary school….I still wear an undershirt." Said Mob, her eyes still closed. Maybe Teru had called her to break up with her and she would be alone for the rest of her life and nobody else would ever like her and she had been crazy to think that anyone would like her like that and-
"You have psychic powers, Mob, psychic powers are much better than big boobs." Said Tome shaking her head. She shook her head too hard and started to tip over. Thankfully something soft and fuzzy appeared under her head.
"Mob, come off it. You look fine. You look like you're fourteen, ok?" said Reigen as she quickly put her favorite couch pillow, the Dalmatian one, under Tome's head.
"Rei looks older than me." Said Mob
"Rei…Rei is her own person, ok? Just like you're your own person. Your life is your own and you live it the way you want to, not according to how other people live theirs…and that includes times like these." Said Reigen
"Like these?" asked Mob with a yawn and a stretch. She was tired, so tired, how could she have been this tired? She hadn't been this tired since the time she used up all of her energy saving the world.
"I know you, Mob, and I know that it was not your idea to get drunk off of…what were you guys even drinking?" asked Reigen. They didn't smell like beer, she knew what beer smelled like, they smelled like proper spirits. No wonder they had gotten so messed up. She wondered how irresponsible it would be of her to teach them to drink responsibly so that they wouldn't end up in these predicaments.
"Cans of highball." Said Mob softly. Reigen shook her head.
"How many?" asked Reigen
"I had two, Rei and Tome had one." said Mob
"Why did you have two?" asked Reigen
"They tasted good." Said Mob
"What…? You…you like the taste of highball?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.
"I like the way it tastes and the way it makes me feel before I start to throw up." Said Mob
"Fair enough, I guess, but next time….not that I'm condoning a next time…stick to beer. Low alcohol content beer. You're going to end up less sick and less hung over…but don't go too hard on beer either. Not that I'm condoning any repeats of this." said Reigen
"Everybody gets one." said Tome
"Yeah, everybody gets one. Ok?" said Reigen
"But I get two." Said Tome. Reigen sighed.
"Fine, everybody gets two." Said Reigen
"Ok…I won't drink highballs again…but that's all Rei's sister had." Said Mob
"Rei's sister? What's she doing getting a bunch of middle schoolers drunk? A woman her age…I swear…" said Reigen wracking her brain trying to remember how many sisters Rei had and what, exactly, their ages were.
"That'll be ten yen!" shouted Tome before devolving into a laughing fit. Reigen rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I 'swore'. Go on, get it out of your system you little drunk." Said Reigen
"Rei's sister…well the sister that Rei stole the highballs from, is in high school. I think that she's sixteen now…and I feel bad that we stole. Well Rei stole. I didn't know that Rei was going to steal. One minute Rei was curling my hair and then her sister came in and said some mean things to her so Rei went to her room and stole a bag of highballs from under her bed and she said that we wouldn't get in trouble if we drank them and Tome said that it was a good idea-" said Mob
"And it was!" said Tome
"Tome still thinks that it was. I'm not sure. All I know is that stealing is wrong and drinking is wrong even though it makes you feel good-" said Mob
"Like all good things!" said Tome
"Yes, like all good things, and now I feel sick and I wish we hadn't even done this and I didn't want to but everyone else was so I had to. Like the time we smoked one of your cigarettes…and I'm very sorry about that too, Master, that was also wrong of us…we just keep on doing bad things. Maybe we're turning into bad people." Said Mob
"You're not bad people, you're just young and dumb, that's all." Said Reigen
"Hey! I resent that!" said Tome
"Well it's the truth. You're all young and dumb and that's why you did something this dumb, ok? Mob, just because everyone else is doing something, even if they're your friends, that doesn't mean that you have to do it too. It's alright to run away." Said Reigen
"I don't want to run away from my friends." Said Mob
"Fine, then it's alright to say that something isn't such a good idea." Said Reigen
"Nobody likes a killjoy." Said Tome sagely. Reigen sure did give just the worst advice sometimes. Thank God that Mob had someone like her to steer her right.
"Hey." Said Reigen. Tome had a point…by the laws of middle school it was true, nobody like a killjoy, but by the laws of responsible adulthood she had to set Mob straight before she ended up repeating some of Reigen's teenage foibles.
"That's true…Tome's right." Said Mob
"Mob…what if everyone else jumped off a cliff?" asked Reigen. Great, she was starting to sound like her mother. Well maybe mom had a point…oh God, it was a sign of the end times.
"Then I'd see why they did it. Maybe it's fun. Maybe the water at the bottom is deep enough so you won't get hurt." Said Mob
"….Mob, the point is that if something doesn't feel right to you then don't do it, ok? Be it drinking or cliff diving just…just don't be a lemming." Said Reigen
"What's a lemming?" asked Mob
"A stupid animal that jumps off a cliff for no reason." Said Tome
"Oh….but I didn't do this for no reason, I wanted to have fun with you guys and I didn't want to ruin the sleepover. That's a good reason, I think." Said Mob
"No just…Mob, think before you act, ok? Just because Rei and Tome think that something's a good idea, no offense, that doesn't automatically make it a good idea…ok?" said Reigen
"Ok." Said Mob as she laid fully down and put her feet up on Master Reigen. Her legs were cold. She wondered if there were any more blankets. The one she had used last time when she and Master Reigen had a sleepover had been nice.
"Yeah…Rei's full of bad ideas. For someone who can see the future she can be really dumb sometimes." Said Tome as Mob rested her head and body on her. Did she look like a pillow? If she hadn't been so very comfortable she would have given Mob a piece of her mind. This couch was so small…but this was pretty damn warm and comfortable…yes, she would allow this.
"Hey, be nice." Said Reigen. Middle school girls could be truly savage. How had Reigen forgotten this simple, immutable, law of the world? The sky was blue, water was wet, dogs were the greatest creatures known to mankind, and middle school girls killed their own.
"I'm telling the truth. She has bad ideas. Like right now." Said Tome
"What's she doing right now?" asked Reigen casting a fearful glance towards her now silent bedroom. She hoped, she really hoped, that the worst thing Rei had done was move some furniture around and get into her more expensive cosmetics. There were things in that room that were not for middle schooler's eyes. Things that, if seen, could not be unseen.
"She's in there confessing to Mob's little brother even though he's not into her at all." Said Tome
"Ritsu's…he's too little…and he doesn't even like girls…." said Mob
"No, I think he's just not into her. I mean, come on. She made the first move, the second move, the third move. At this point he's not even playing the game." Said Tome
"Lo-love isn't a-a game…" said Mob
"Well looks like I've got a fire to put out." Muttered Reigen as she got up. Time to save Rei from unparalleled embarrassment. Not that Reigen was going to tell Rei why, exactly, Mob's little brother was not into her. No, that had been told to her in confidence and it was not her business to go around telling people anyway.
"Don't go…" said Mob as she felt the warmth of Master Reigen disappearing. Reigen patted her leg as she stood up. She had been so warm and comfortable…but she needed to save Rei from herself. There was time to be warm and comfortable later. Right now she was needed.
"I'll be right back, ok?" said Reigen as she got up. She crossed the room and opened her bedroom door slowly as not to startle Rei. Drunk teenagers were unpredictable teenagers…but more so than usual.
"I knew you would come in…uh-huh…that's Reigen, we're at her house now, but I told you that already." Said Rei as she laid down on Reigen's bed. How had she not been to Reigen's house before!? She had so much cool stuff! Especially the nighty she had borrowed. Mom would have never let her wearing anything sheer and low cut like this. Well, she wasn't wearing it properly, she was wearing it over her clothes…she looked into the future. Nope. Mom would still say no…and there was no way that Reigen would ever let her borrow this…but maybe she could change her fate…
Like right now.
She was going to change her fate. Fate said, the future said, that she and Ritsu were not going to end up getting together. Well she was not a slave to the future! She made her own future! Her life was her own, like Reigen was always saying, and she was going to be the protagonist of her own life and she was going to…to turn her life into a shoujo manga and get the guy of her dreams!
"Rei, how about you get off the phone and come back to the sleepover, huh? Come on, everyone's watching TV. You like TV, right?" asked Reigen holding out her hand. Rei had been in her closet and dresser drawers, she was too young to be wearing that nighty…and Reigen had even forgotten that she had that tacky old thing…..and she had gotten into Reigen's makeup, too, and had gone to town…but at least her bedside drawers were still closed. God only knew how this lot would react to the horrors that could be found within.
"In a minute…uh huh….that was Reigen…I'll go in a minute…I'd rather talk to you…because I like you, dummy, like I said…" said Rei. Reigen shook her head and attempted to snatch the phone out of Rei's hands before she did any more damage. Rei, by virtue of being the best clairvoyant ever, dodged out of the way before Reigen even made contact. There was no stopping her now. She was going to challenge fate and she was going to finally make Ritsu hers! She would not be stopped! Not when she wanted to be with him this badly! And not just because she really wanted to kiss him and stuff, no, because he was smart and awesome and saved her life and also he smelled really good, too. She wondered if she could borrow more of his clothes…of course she could! She was his girlfriend, well she would be his girlfriend, and girlfriends could borrow their boyfriend's clothes whenever they wanted! No more stealing, borrowing without asking, she could just ask and she could wear all of his hoodies and shirts and pants and socks and shoes and-
"Rei, maybe this isn't the best time to be talking about all of this." said Reigen. She could not just come out and tell Rei that she was drunk, very drunk, and that being drunk wasn't the best time to be making heartfelt love confessions. Mob's little brother was on the other side of that call and Reigen had no idea if he was good at keeping things to himself and Mob would have never forgiven her if she told her mother on her…like a responsible adult was supposed to…and it wouldn't have been fair, anyway, for her to tell a kid that young to keep a secret this big.
"In a minute…yeah, that's still Reigen…no you dummy, I want to talk to you….because I like you…no, I mean I like-like you…hang on." Said Rei as she sat up and glared at Reigen.
"Excuse me! I am in the middle of a very important, life changing, phone call and I would appreciate not being interrupted." Said Rei glaring as best as she could. Reigen put her hands up in the universal gesture of 'you win'.
"First of all this is my room, second of all this is my house, and third of all I am trying to save you from embarrassing yourself….but if this is the way you want to be then fine." Said Reigen. She'd tried, that was what mattered. Rei was apparently the angry drunk out of the three of them. Who would have guessed? Well then. Rei would just have to learn from her drunken mistakes the same way that everyone else did.
"Good. Ok, I'm back. No, I mean I like-like you like I want to be your girlfriend…yeah, like that….because I like you a lot…because you're smart and brave and cute and stuff…because I just do…because I really wanna make out with you..." said Rei. Reigen shook her head. Was this what it felt like to watch the Hindenberg go down?
Oh the humanity.
Rei's face was falling fast. Reigen had no idea what was happening on the other end of that call but she could make a few educated guesses based on what she knew.
"Oh. Ok. I'm sorry to have disturbed you and I hope that you have a wonderful evening….goodbye….no, I won't be coming over for help with my homework on Monday….you're a really good teacher!" said Rei before she tossed her phone across the room. Reigen caught it and ended the call. The last thing she heard were some frantic apologies from Mob's little brother. Reigen sighed as Rei began to roll around on her bed, kick, and scream.
"He has a boyfriend! He has a BOYFRIEND! How does he have a boyfriend!? Why!? Why is this happening to me!? Me!? What did I do that was so wrong!?" said Rei as she kicked so hard the bed started to squeak. She felt a hand on her head and stopped kicking for a moment.
"You know I have to sleep there, right? Do I go over to your house and break your bed?" asked Reigen as she reassured Rei with one hand and texted her whereabouts to her no doubt worried mother with the other. She went to the home screen…which was a surreptitiously taken picture of Mob's little brother…and then clicked Rei's phone off.
"I don't care! Leave me to my pain and suffering! Just leave me alone! Leave me alone to die!" said Rei
"You're seriously getting this worked up over a guy?" asked Reigen. She had forgotten how dramatic things were when you were thirteen. Reigen had been rejected so many times it hardly even phased her…though she rarely went after guys she truly cared about…and she was over twice Rei's age. Of course Rei was worked up, this was probably the first time that she had ever been this into someone.
Poor kid.
"Yes I am! He was…he was so perfect! He was smart and cute and he cared about me! He cared about me enough to save my life, twice! The first time was when we got kidnaped and the second time was when we fought that crazy guy…and he hadn't been scared even for one minute…and he kept me safe…and-" said Rei
"Ok, you and I remember both of those times very differently." Said Reigen
"What do you mean? I remember exactly what happened! Ritsu saved me-" said Rei
"You all saved each other, ok? And if you want to talk about the second time you guys risked your lives, against my advice by the way, you're the one who used your powers to lead us out of the city while Mob and that Suzuki guy were fighting like it was the end of the world." Said Reigen
"But he still-" said Rei
"Rei, I know you cared about him a lot…and I know that you and him went through some messed up stuff together….but that's no reason to…ok, not dismissing. Not dismissing at all." Said Reigen. Once again she had been sounding just like her mother. That was what mom had always done when she got her heart broken, just told her to suck it up and provided her with a helpful list of all the reasons why she was wrong to feel the way she felt.
Reigen knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of that.
"What?" asked Rei
"You…it hurts. You're going through something hard, very hard, for the first time and it hurts." Said Reigen softly. She scooted closer to Rei. Rei made some room and sat up straighter…well she had for a moment before she decided to grab a pillow and hold it close. At least this soft pillow would never hurt her.
"I feels like my heart got ripped out." Said Rei as she buried her face in this pillow that looked like a dog and smelled like a bottle of perfume had a baby with a pack of cigarettes….Reigen really needed to smoke less or she'd be dead and then another person would have ripped Rei's heart out. That was what this felt like, like someone died, even though she knew that nobody had. Her stomach hurt and her heart hurt and she just wanted to be put in the ground already.
"Yeah…it'll feel like that for a while. It hurts and it's going to hurt but you're going to be ok. I know that it doesn't feel like it now but one day this will all be memory. A pretty hazy one, too, judging by how drunk you all are." Said Reigen
"No, I'm going to remember this. I can see the future, I know that I'm going to remember this. I'm going to listen to the future from now on. I tried to change my fate and all that got me was…this." said Rei
"You'll be ok, trust me on this. Right now it feels like he's the only guy in the world, am I right?" asked Reigen
"Yeah…" said Rei. She wondered if Reigen could secretly read minds…it would have made sense. More sense than anything else that was happening right then.
"And you feel like you're less than dirt right now and you wonder if anyone'll ever want to be with you." Said Reigen
"I do….I feel like that…" said Rei
"And it's ok to feel like that. It's normal. Rejection hurts, embarrassment sucks, and it's all taken up to eleven when you're drunk but remember…this is going to pass, ok? It's going to pass." Said Reigen
"When? It feels like it's going to last forever! I mean, how could I not know that he had a boyfriend? That he liked boys, not girls? I mean I should have…not that I've ever met anyone before who-" said Rei
"You probably have and just don't know it. It's not exactly the kind of thing that you can just go around asking about, ok? And it's not the kind of information that most people go around volunteering, either. You couldn't have known this about Mob's little brother unless you had asked and I know that you're not so clueless that you would go around asking people personal questions like that out of the blue." Said Reigen
"I still feel like I should have been able to put two and two together I mean…he never tried to kiss me or hold my hand or anything….and he never tried to look down my shirt like guys always do-" said Rei
"Which they should not be doing." Said Reigen
"I know that they shouldn't do that but sometimes…I like to feel like…like people like me-" said Rei
"Rei, no, just because a guy looks down your shirt it doesn't mean that he likes you. He just likes what he sees, that's all, and you…you shouldn't get the two confused. Believe me, it sucks when you get the two confused." Said Reigen
"I mean I know that guys who look at me like that aren't in love with me or anything but…I guess it's nice to be looked at…I guess…and he never looked at me anyway…and now I know why." said Rei
"You're going to be ok-" said Reigen praying that Rei wasn't about to break down in tears. Well if she did then Reigen would be there for her like she would have been there for Tome or Mob….she hoped that Tome and Mob weren't going to start having these problems, too.
"I mean I should have figured it out. I mean he always hangs out with Sho, and he always talks about Sho, and Mob said that Sho practically moved into their house…" said Rei
"Sho? I had no idea." Said Reigen trying to sound as convincing as possible. Thank God that drunk thirteen year olds didn't have the best lie detector skills. She did not want to get into the fact that she had known about this for some time now. She stood by the fact that it was not her business to go telling around town about. It hadn't been Serizawa's, either, but that was neither here nor there. It was what it was and what it was wasn't anybody's business but Mob's little brother's and his boyfriend's.
"I didn't either…and I can't believe that I humiliated myself like that…" said Rei. She was never, ever, ever drinking again. They were right a school, drinking did kill brain cells and make you do the stupidest things. So did love. So being in love and drunk at the same time had made her the stupidest person on the entire planet…and she had acted the part.
"Well I did try to warn you-" said Reigen. This earned her a pillow tossed in her face, which was totally fair, though she stood by what she had said. She had done her part in trying to warn Rei. She'd done her best and her best was all that she could do.
"You should have tried harder!" said Rei
"Ok, you're right. Next time you get drunk and I catch you doing something ill-advised I'll kick the phone out of your hand. How about that?" asked Reigen. Rei smiled, just a little, but that was enough to know that they had passed the worst of it…for now. The formula was that for however long she was into him that would be how long it would take to get over him.
So Reigen was in for a few months of this at least.
"Whatever it takes. I never want to do anything that dumb again." said Rei. She felt…better. Reigen really was good at helping people…and that was good. When Rei grew up she wanted to be just like Reigen…minus the smoking, of course.
"Don't worry, I won't let you, now come on and watch some TV with the others." Said Reigen. Rei got up and Reigen pulled the blanket off the couch to cover all of them. The couch blanket wasn't big enough for everyone. The couch its self was barely big enough for everyone.
But they all fit.
Including Reigen. Mob wouldn't let her get away so the only thing to do was sit down and watch bad TV with everyone else. It was warm, nice and warm, and she was comfortable. This was the life. Warm fuzzy dog socks, warm bathrobe, warm night shirt, just so…warm. Like being in a cocoon of warmth. The only thing that could have made this better would have been if she'd had someone to share this with.
She did.
And it just didn't get any better than that.