After all these years Reigen would have thought that she wouldn't have been afraid of ghosts anymore.

"What was that?!" gasped Reigen as she turned and shone her flashlight in the direction of the mysterious moaning and scratching that had been plaguing this old house. This should have been a simple job. Go in with Serizawa, find and exorcise the spirit, and then collect their money and get something to eat.

Nothing could ever be simple, could it?

"The same sound that we've been chasing all afternoon Arataki-uh, Reigen." Said Serizawa as he put his arm around her…was that ok? He could feel Mob's aura on him. There were rules to this, to being professional while still being together, that he didn't need to be told were important…but it would have been nice to have been told where the lines were. He didn't want to do anything that he shouldn't have, especially in front of the kids, but Arataki was so scared…

And maybe he was a little scared too.

"No, it sounds different…more sad." Said Mob as she felt around with her aura. It didn't feel like any kind of spirit that she had ever felt, or any kind of spirit at all, but she knew that there were all kinds of things in this world that she had never seen before….also she didn't think that anything human could have made a sound like that.

But she wasn't scared, not for herself anyway, no matter what happened she knew that she'd have been fine.

"Well whatever it is it sounds pissed off….maybe it's coming for us!" said Tome as she held her flashlight under her chin. Reigen practically jumped into Serizawa's arms. This was too easy. She couldn't believe that Rei had bailed on this to hang out with the kid who stuffed chopsticks up his nose.

"No, the sound doesn't sound like it's getting closer but if it was then you don't need to worry. I'll protect us." Said Mob

"How? You said that this thing didn't feel like a spirit." Said Tome

"No, that was Serizawa. I mean he's right but he's the one who said it, not me." said Mob

"No, no, I said that I didn't think that it was a spirit but I could be wrong. There are all kinds of spirits out in the world, kinds that I've never even seen before." Said Serizawa. Arataki shrugged his arm off and cleared her throat.

"Well then-" said Reigen

"If it is a spirit and I can't feel it do you think that I might not be able to exorcise it? I mean I don't know what I'd do to a spirit I couldn't exorcise." Said Mob

"Well you could always be polite and ask it to keep the noise level down." Said Tome sarcastically…though of course that sarcasm was lost on Mob.

"Do you think that would really work?" asked Mob

"We won't know until we find out. We meaning you, of course." Said Tome

"Being polite works with people. Like the other day Hatori kept on deleting my save files for fun-" said Serizawa

"Let's make that 'plan b' shall we? First thing's first, we have to see the thing before we can figure out what to do with it so come on. Let's go towards the…the mysterious wailing….right now…" said Reigen as she shone her flashlight down the hallway. The darkness seemed to eat the light…but she was the Master here, these were the students, and she had to lead the way. If the darkness was going to eat anyone it was going to be her.

Though if Katsuya wanted to step ahead of her then she wasn't going to complain. She had been line leader two weeks running in kindergarten, she'd had her fill od that.

"I'll go first, it's alright." Said Serizawa. She was shaking and so was he but he was bigger and stronger and had powers so he had to be the one to go first…well, Mob was the strongest out of all of them, but it felt wrong to let a kid go first. If whatever this was ate him at least he had lived a full life. Mob and Tome were just kids and Arataki had so much ahead of her…and maybe, selfishly, he didn't think that he could live in a world without her.

But he wasn't going to tell her that last part if she asked.

"If you really want to then go ahead." Said Reigen trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Tome gave her a look. Alright, she had sounded more chalant than she had planned…but if there was any situation to sound chalant in then this was it!

"Maybe we should all split up, this is a pretty big house after all. It could be in any of these rooms." Said Mob. It made sense to her…but maybe it had been one of those things that only made sense in her mind. Master Reigen was giving her a look for some reason.

"Mob, that's what people in horror movies say before the knife wielding maniac picks them off one by one." Said Reigen

"And then the next thing you know you're hanging from a meat hook in someone's torture room and your face is nailed to the wall across from you and-" said Tome

"Please! No more!" said Serizawa as he covered his ears. There was a reason he had always excused himself from movie nights back when he had been with the Ultimate Five. Sho always picked scary horror movies, the kind that gave even the President nightmares, though Serizawa had been sworn to secrecy about that last part.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. We're scaring Katsu-we're freaking Serizawa out." Said Reigen

"Also we don't know if there's a knife wielding maniac in there. It could be a maniac with a different kind of weapon, or no weapon at all. Teru and I watched this one scary movie where the maniac attacked people in their dreams and-" said Mob

"Mob, you should have stopped at 'maybe there's no maniac at all'." said Reigen, regretting what she had started. Still, though, this was exactly like the beginning of every single horror movie ever made. The darkness, the mysterious sounds, the group of people who really had no business being here…

In times like these Reigen almost missed selling watercoolers.

"Oh, ok. Sorry." Said Mob

"Reigen's got a point." Said Tome

"Thank you-" said Reigen

"Not every horror movie is about maniacs. It could be aliens. I mean most aliens come to us in the spirit of peaceful exploration and scientific advancement but there's this theory that some of them go rouge and use humans for bizarre experiments-" said Tome

"Um…uh….um…" said Serizawa. He knew what to do about spirits but not what to do about aliens. If they were even real. He didn't want to find out. He wanted to-to-to-

He knew he wanted to leave but he also knew he had to stay. For Arataki. They needed the money.

"Ok, ok, you know what? It doesn't matter what's down that hallway. We'll brave the unknown together, all of us combining our strengths and compensating for each other's weaknesses, and through the power of teamwork and friendship we'll beat whatever that thing is! Now who's with me?" said Reigen, stepping to the front. She reached backwards and squeezed Katsuya's hand. He squeezed hers back.

"I'm with you." whispered Serizawa, leaning in close. Maybe too close, he could feel Mob and Tome's eyes on him and in Mob's case her aura, but he didn't let go of Arataki's hand. She was working really hard to get them fired up, which meant that

"We're with you too…up here, way up here." Said Tome as she grabbed Mob's hand and started walking down the dark hallway with her. She knew when people wanted to be alone and those two wanted, no, needed to be alone. Maybe Reigen would even remember this and cover for Tome next time she needed someone to cover for her. Her parents were getting too smart for their own good. They started calling Mob and Rei's parents to make sure that she was actually sleeping over with them.

And of course their moms weren't as cool as Reigen.

Well, Reigen was mostly cool. Sometimes she did that thing where she 'acted in their best interest' and 'didn't want to be responsible for anything happening' and 'worried about Tome growing up too fast' and all of those other adult things. Reigen could be so weird sometimes. She was worried about Tome ruining her life with Inukawa but being here in a probably haunted, maybe maniac filled, possibly alien engorged house on the edge of town where nobody could hear them scream or discover their bodies was perfectly fine.

Reigen was cool but she really needed to get her priorities in order.

"Tome, slow down. It's dark." Said Mob as she nearly tripped over something long and metal on the ground. She wasn't that scared. Whatever it was she could protect them from…but Master Reigen had a point when she said that splitting up was kind of dangerous. Serizawa could protect her but she was strong enough to protect all of them. She didn't know if she could have lived with herself if she had let anything happen to Master Reigen, or any of her friends for that matter.

"Mob, come on." Said Tome as she grabbed Mob by the wrist and pulled her close. Mob stumbled but caught up. This would have been easier with Rei, she would have known what this was and where it was, but Rei was busy with that pyromaniac guy. Too busy for them….hmm…Tome was going to have to give Rei the 'sisters before misters' talk.

After, though, she and Mob had a long talk about how beneficial a happy Reigen was to them.

"Why are we hurrying? Didn't you say that it was dangerous to split up? Because of spirits and maniacs and aliens? I don't know what I would do if anything happened to Master Reigen and Serizawa." Said Mob

"Mob, Mob, Mob, some things are more important than outsmarting whatever horror movie we're in right now." said Tome with a wave of her hand.

"Like friendship and making sure that we all get out of this so we can keep on being friends?" asked Mob hopefully.

"No, well, yes, but come on. You've definitely noticed how Reigen and Serizawa have been lately." Said Tome

"Sweaty and kind of freaked out?" asked Mob

"No, in love! And when Reigen's in love that means she's in a good mood and if she's in a good mood then maybe she'll cover for us. Or at least me, your parents trust you." said Tome

"No, not really, Ritsu covers for me…but I don't think that Master Reigen would lie for us even if she has been in a good mood lately." Said Mob. Master Reigen was in love and nothing could have been better. She knew how Tome felt, mostly, but there were some things more important than you yourself being in love…though then again she could be alone with Teru whenever she wanted.

She needed to make more of an effort to think of others, and not in the 'ordering things for them from Wish' way.

"We'll never know unless we try and we're going to need to try. Or at least I will. I don't have a little brother to cover for me." said Tome

"Maybe you could spend time with Inukawa if we were all together. Sometimes I go to Teru's house when Ritsu tells Mom that we're all going…but then he goes somewhere with Sho and…and I don't like to think about the rest." Said Mob

"Teru doesn't have parents for your parents to call. The only way that would work is if we had another adult to vouch for us…God, this was so much easier back in middle school. All of those 'club trips' and, of course, our class trip." Said Tome with a sigh. Those were the days. It was true what they said, you never knew what you had until it was gone. Even Mob got it. She had stopped walking and her hair was doing that floaty thing it did when she was deep in thought…or happy…or freaked out…and sometimes when she slept, too.

So maybe Mob's hair wasn't the best indicator of how she was feeling.

"What if we all went on a trip? With our boyfriends?" asked Mob. She didn't know which sounded better, taking a trip with her best friends or taking a trip with Teru. It was a good idea, she thought, or maybe it wasn't because there were so many things that could go wrong. Like Master Reigen could say no or her parents could say no or everyone else's parents could say no and then she would have gotten everyone's hopes up for nothing and then everyone would have been disappointed and then they would have been too sad to leave their houses and they'd stop being friends and then they'd all end up like Serizawa and she'd have no friends and then she'd be alone like she was before she had ever met Master Reigen.

"Mob…that idea might just be crazy enough…" said Tome

"I know, I know, it probably won't-" said Mob

"To work! Oh Mob, I could kiss you if I weren't in a committed monogamous relationship!" said Tome

"And also if we weren't both girls." Said Mob

"Eh, you can't let a thing like that stop you." said Tome

"What?" asked Mob. She hadn't known that about Tome and now she did know and…and that was alright. She just hoped that she was never in a position where she would have to reject her. She didn't know if she could have rejected her one of her best friends like that.

"What's going on up there?" asked Reigen as she sped up. Katsuya trailed behind her…she slowed down. She didn't know what she would have done if she…if she fell! Yeah, that was it. There was all kinds of junk on the floor here and her being worried had nothing to do with the increasingly loud scratching that she could hear echoing through the house. She couldn't show fear, not now, not after she had just given that big speech.

"Nothing. We were just talking about-" said Mob

"About?" asked Reigen as Tome shoved her hand over Mob's mouth and leaned against a door. The wood groaned against her body weight. Reigen prayed that this building didn't have structural damage in addition to spiritual infestation.

"How freaky this place is. I mean, come on. Look around, could this be any more cliché. I bet that, uh, through this door there's going to be a cat or something that's going to jump out and then we'll be all 'it was nothing' but then the knife wielding maniac will come out of the shadows and chop us all up and since none of us are virgins there won't be any survivors." Said Tome as she covered Mob's mouth.

"Tome!" said Mob as Tome took her hand away. That was NOT the thing that they needed to be discussing right then! Not with Master Reigen around and certainly not around Serizawa! He was a BOY!

"I highly doubt that there's a cat behind this door or a knife wielding maniac." Said Reigen as she reached for the doorknob. She could hear Serizawa catching up to her. Maybe it would have been better if he…no, no, she could do this. She hadn't given that huge speech just to act like a hypocrite. No, no, no. She could do this…

As soon as her hand stopped shaking.

"Arataki! I mean Reigen, wait for me, maybe I should-" said Serizawa as he caught up to them. Arataki was so brave, that was one of the things he loved about her, she had stood up to the President after all…and nearly died. What he loved about her was also what he…well, not hated, but disliked. He didn't like how she acted like her life didn't matter sometimes. How she just ran into danger like this…like she was invincible.

No one was invincible but he was a lot closer to it than she was.

"Oh my God!" shouted Reigen as she opened the door to-to-to-

"Arataki!"

-the most amazing sight she had ever seen in her life.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" shouted Reigen as she was lifted into the air through the sheer force of her own excitement…or maybe that was just Katsuya.

"Master Reigen!" shouted Mob as she put a barrier around them. She should have been there! Or, well, she had been there but maybe she should have been paying more attention or-or-or-maybe she just needed to worry more about knife wielding maniacs!

"Out of my way!" shouted Tome as she kicked her way into the room. If it was a maniac then she was going to kick his ass! If it was a spirit then she would let Mob handle it. If it was aliens then…well, they usually came to Earth in the spirit of exploration and intergalactic sisterhood…but yeah, if they were assholes then she was going to kick their asses! She was prepared for anything!

Almost anything.

"Oh my God! This is the greatest day of my life!" shouted Reigen. Katsuya gave her a confused look and lowered her down to the ground. Mob, too, looked puzzled…which being Mob was saying something. Though Reigen had no idea what was so confusing about this!

"It…is?" asked Mob. She could hear scratching and yelping coming from behind Master Reigen. She stepped to the side and saw….OH MY GOD!

"Tome! Serizawa! Master Reigen! Look, dogs! Puppies!" shouted Mob. She couldn't help it. She shouted and, well, maybe she lost control a little bit…and then the room shook and the dogs started to maybe get a little bit afraid…

"Oh no!" said Serizawa as he picked them up with his powers. The room had started to shake and the puppies had started to get scared and whimper, it sounded kind like how babies sounded when they were afraid, so he held them in the air with his powers and rocked them like babies.

It worked.

"Wow, that's a lot of dogs…can we maybe, keep them?" asked Tome as she reached out and petted a puppy as it rocked past. She wasn't allowed to have any pets, and she was more of a cat person, but these were just so damn cute!

And also there were other reasons to keep the dogs…lots of reasons that she would get to later.

"Can we, Master Reigen? Can we?" begged Mob. She knew that she wasn't allowed to have any pets but she didn't care about the rules. She would think about the rules later. Right now she needed a puppy! Even if she was, maybe, not the best when it came to taking care of living things….

"Oh yes! Yes! Yes!" said Reigen as she was surrounded by floating puppies. She would worry about where she was going to keep all of these dogs later. Right now all she could think about was the amazing amount of-of-of cuteness surrounding her!

"Uh…what are we keeping exactly?" asked Serizawa. He didn't know how to take care of one puppy let alone all of these! He had just now learned how to take care of himself and he wasn't even the best at that! He wanted to say something but Arataki was so happy and…and there was no way he could ruin this moment for her.

"Master Reigen says that we can keep them!" shouted Mob. She made sure, tried to make sure, that she kept her powers under control that time. She wasn't going to lose control and scare them. They were so little…she loved them so much. Everyone loved them so much. Rei would have loved them, too, if she had been around. Mob took a picture and sent it to her. She was going to be so happy when she saw this!

"Wait, I said what now?" asked Reigen she came to her senses. She had meant her and Serizawa, not everyone, and also…also this was a lot of dogs. This was, at best, going to be a…a challenge…a really big challenge.

A puppy yapped at her.

She looked into it's eyes. She was Reigen Arataki, she wasn't afraid of a challenge, even if it involved more pets than she thought her lease allowed at once.