Kusuo blinks at the empty dusty space, head tilting from left to right as if he can't see everything everywhere all the time. "Why am I here, again?"
"It's important to learn what exactly Spirits and Such does, Kusuo-chan. Even if you don't work here like how Mob used to, it would help to know what it is your master's master does as training!" Arataka wisely says with a few of his slick hand movements before gesturing at large in the direction of the open, abandoned building's floor.
The both of them as well as Serizawa are on another job- a client claiming there is an evil spirit haunting the building and flashing lights in the middle of the night which people nearby found irritating.
"Like how the amazing Reigen Aratake melts evil spirits, as such!" He shoves his hand into an inner pocket of his suit and throws salt out to the direction of the empty space with a fancy twirl. He finishes with a click of his shoe on the dirty floor and blinks at the nothing in front of him. Kusuo stares blankly but expectantly with him.
It's something that they both share, the inability to see spirits- except for Ekubo, that is. It makes Arataka feel the slightest bit more connected to his student's student, who is twice as blunt and a hundred times as powerful as Mob. "We are nothing alike, you and I, so don't make these stupid comparisons." Kusuo directly projects into his head. Arataka rubs his nose with the back of his finger as he chuckles. Yes, very much similar.
"Uhm, Reigen-san…" Serizawa speaks up from behind them for the first time since entering the building. "The spirit is on the top floor."
Arataka clicks his tongue with the flick of his wrist as he rubs his other, salt covered hand on his slacks to clean it. "I know that, obviously. I was merely demonstrating to Kusuo-chan here." He receives twin doubtful gazes for that.
"Okay, well. This spirit is actually kind of strong." He drops his hands from the nervous hold they had on each other and directs his attention fully on the other pair as certainty floods his voice. "I think it's best if you both evacuate the building while I deal with it."
One look at the young boy beside him and Arataka can tell that he is as displeased with this progression as he himself is. He purses his lips. "I guess it can't be helped." He shrugs, trying for nonchalance. "Good luck."
Serizawa gives them both an apologetic smile before grabbing the sunglasses he had hung on his shirt's collar. And in a single movement he transforms from a sweaty office man to a swag ladykiller. Accessories really are everything, Arataka muses. "I'll see you later." And then Serizawa's off to the other side of the room in a quick jog, pushing the stairwell door open and disappearing behind it.
After the thunk of the door closing with the momentum, the room dissolves into quietness. Though for Kusuo it must not be as quiet, what with all of the mind reading and whatnot.
Clearing his throat, Arataka looks around the empty ground floor they're in. The windows are slightly damaged at some places while the rest of it is covered in dirt that had accumulated after years of abandonment. It makes it so no one can see in or out of the building, but light can still travel through, so he can imagine how strong, flickering lights must have disturbed anyone nearby.
The ground is mostly empty except for some rubble in the corners, dust and the salt he threw earlier. "Welp, kid. You heard him-" He turns to address the boy but instead finds him eerily standing still and staring straight up. "Uhm,"
"Shut up," Kusuo butts in, as rude as ever.
Arataka chances a glance in the same direction and frowns when he spots nothing but the dirty ceiling. "Whatcha doing there, buddy?"
There's a lull in the room and Kusuo presumably considers the pros and cons of even sharing his own thoughts to the other, "I want to see Serizawa-san fight the spirit."
He raises a brow. "So it's okay if it's him, but if I'm the one dealing with it then you want to leave?"
That same brow twitches when the other doesn't bother responding. After a short moment, Kusuo lowers his head with a frustrated sounding sigh. Nothing out of the usual.
"Is he losing?" Arataka asks, momentarily hoping that his worry isn't evident in his voice before he remembers that it doesn't matter anyway since Kusuo can tell when he's being dishonest.
"No. I mean, I don't know. My X-ray can't see far enough." Despite his earlier disappointment, Kusuo seems quite content with that fact, as there is a small grin on his face as he looks back at Arataka. "But that just means my powers aren't so bothersome quite yet."
Tisking, Arataka places his fist on his hips as he shakes his head with a sigh of his own. "Kusuo-chan, Kusuo-chan… What do we keep telling you?" His hand comes to life on its own in the form of swift movements through the air, "No matter how strong your powers are, they are a part of you, so you should open yourself to the possibility that one day you might- H-hey, where are you going?" he squeaks, one eye peeking open to witness his student walking through the same door Serizawa hurried through earlier.
"I'm going to see Serizawa-san fight the spirit." The door thumps shut and Arataka only hovers in place with confusion for a second before he's zipping straight after him.
"H-Hey hold on!" When the door bangs against the wall with the force of a grown man tackling it, Kusuo is barely a few steps up the stairs but he doesn't slow down any. He most likely heard or saw or sensed or- whatever- that Arataka would obviously chase after him, and isn't surprised. "Didn't you hear what he said?! We're supposed to be leaving the building, not going deeper in!" He doesn't waste time before scurrying up the stairs one tiny quick step at a time, trying to keep up with Kusuo's above average speed. Thankfully he isn't full sprinting just yet, so Arataka has a resemblance of a chance of catching up.
"I can handle it," Kusuo stubbornly retaliates, really showcasing his five year old nature. It's easy to forget when he acts like a tired god half of the time.
"Kusuo-chan! Just because you are strong, doesn't mean you are invincible," He huffs at the effort, nearly slipping when he switches to two steps at a time- He's not even halfway through the second set of stairs! Maybe Mob was onto something with that club of his- "Everyone has their weaknesses and that's okay!" Huff, he's getting closer! "Just because a lot of the people we know can exorcise spirits doesn't make you any lesser-" Kusuo must be taking the piss out of him because Arataka is quickly made aware of the fact that they're not moving as fast as he thought he was.
What happened to all the muscle he gained before Mob's last explosion?!
Oh, right. Arataka had told himself "Good job" when he collapsed into bed after that day and was convinced he deserved a treat. Which was to stop working out.
Or maybe Kusuo just put some sort of barrier on him to slow him down. He could probably do that, too.
Doesn't matter, though, because he is clearly taking some mercy on the older man, as now Arataka is close enough to reach his hand up and grab Kusuo's shoulder-
-and grab the railing on a lonely balcony overlooking the stormy sea on a dark and cold night.
Arataka recoils, hand flying back and somewhere above him. "What the hell?!" Before he can remind himself that some five year olds simply have the skin structure of an untouched religious statue, Kusuo pops out of existence, air rushing in towards where now nothing fills the space of where a young boy used to be. "Kusuo-chan!"
By some miracle, Arataka doesn't fall down the stairs. When he manages to steady himself against the creaky railing, he huffs before rushing up at an even higher pace, now seriously worried about the sly brat.
Does he seriously not understand how dangerous evil spirits can be?! Sure Kusuo's strong, but he doesn't have the ability to see or sense spirits, let alone get rid of them! Besides, he's way too young to be getting into things like this! Arataka thought this was going to be some pathetic little spirit that was messing around with a light-switch. But if Serizawa told them it's more serious than that- well, Arataka doesn't know how much danger the young esper is in. He switches from two stept to three.
When he passes a floor with its door missing he nearly crashes into the next set of stairs as he does a double take. From here he can hear the faint noises of whatever Serizawa is doing however many stories above them, but through the open doorway, Arataka spots Kusuo standing in the middle of the open space, similarly to the ground level except with even extra junk and rubble littered around unevenly.
Ah, so Kusuo did know what he was doing. Arataka heaves a sigh, hand on his chest. Nearly gave me a heart attack, he thinks hard so the boy can hear him, and because he's too busy panting to speak normally.
He walks inside and shortly notices that Kusuo is once again standing extra still and lifeless, except this time his gaze is aimed at open air, some invisible point on the messy floor in the poorly lit room. "There you are, brat." he grumbles, "It's not like I like lecturing you, you know!" He steps beside the esper and looks down at him disapprovingly.
When Kusuo doesn't so much as blink, Arataka starts to worry. Again. He bites his lip nervously, sweaty hands finding themselves in his pockets. "Kusuo-chan?"
In a voice he doesn't hear, Kusuo starts to stutter. And now that doesn't do anything for his steadily increasing heart failure. Arataka has to lean down to hear the other now that he is actually using his mouth to communicate, and who is starting to tremble so minuscule but so violently, as if his insides are being electrocuted. "C-c-co-co…" a tiny voice wheezes.
Furrowing his brow, the man peeks in the direction Kusuo is facing.
It takes a moment for his eyes to spot anything in the mildly dark and messy room. But when there's a disturbing twitchy scurrying between the decaying wall and a pile of debris, Arataka all but leaps backwards, palms on his mouth in horror. "COCKROACH!" he says in a very manly manner that sounds nothing like a little girl's screech.
He goes on his tippy toes and bounces between them as if that will give him some semblance of distance from the little hellspawn. Oh God, just look at it! All gross and buggy and twitchy and frighteningly quick and- ughh! "What are you doing?!" he yells, taking one of his hands off his face despite the albeit irrational fear of the ugly bug getting anywhere near it, and places it on Kusuo's shoulder, ignoring the way it feels as if he's being supported by a literal stone wall, "K-kill it, Kusuo-chan!" Of course, Arataka could himself but this is just a great learning exercise- he adds in his mind quickly just to make sure Kusuo doesn't get the wrong idea.
The tiny monster suddenly approaches them in ungodly spotty speed and Arataka would have dashed towards the other direction and launched himself out the window if it wasn't for the fact that Kusuo was collapsing right back at him!
With a step and quick instincts, Arataka manages to place his other hand on the boy's other shoulder and catch him, blabbering shrilly nonsense bursting out of his mouth all the while- no matter how much the both of them are panicking and how differently they are doing so, or how much Kusuo could withstand the world collapsing in on itself, Arataka cannot in good conscious let a literal child drop into the gross ground like that.
Shocked, he stares deeply at glassy purple eyes. Kusuo's face emits absolute terror, mouth pressed in a tight, wobbly line. "I-I can't…" he murmurs weakly into Arataka's brain, "Mob-niisan said I shouldn't use my powers if I'm distressed and can help it." His eyes momentarily flicker towards where the cockroach was last spotted, Arataka quickly mimicking him and noting with relief that the small fiend has not moved any further. He looks back when a hoarse voice wobbles back into his head. "And I just teleported a second ago, s-so we have to wait for a few minutes."
Kusuo must be going back on what he had said about his powers not being quite developed yet.
Arataka gulps. Oh, God. Oh, God.
He's the adult in this situation. He has to deal with this.
His eyes trail to the critter as his hands slowly lower and loop around Kusuo's chest. When Arataka lifts the kid up, he thankfully doesn't weigh like a pile of gold, and just stays limp in his hold- the man not taking his eyes off the cockroach for even a single second. This is the first time he has picked up Kusuo, his mind unhelpfully supplies. Kusuo doesn't react though, so it's okay for now.
"L-Let's just…" Arataka begins to inch backwards and towards the stairway, head moving back and forth as to keep track of the beast but to also check his path and that he isn't about to trip and drop a preschooler.
He is making good progress, padding at the speed of a snail towards the exit and is about halfway there when there's a sudden large jolt in the whole building, a thump that jolts the walls and leaves lingering rattling in the structure. There's a flash of light that pours in through the cracks of the ceiling but blinds the room nonetheless and echoes on the other sides of the windows surrounding them, and then another, and then it's over, leaving Arataka dizzy.
When he comes to, blinking up from where he hid his face in pink hair and out of his flash headache, the room brightens from the darkness of his pupils shrinking suddenly and back to almost normal brightness. He wavers, looks down. The cockroach is scattering, circling alarmingly and then, for some reason, travels towards them-
Oh yes, of course. It's because cockroaches are a product made by the devil himself, designed to drag them into doom. Nothing in life is a coincidence- this bug is absolutely aiming to kill them.
With a yelp, Arataka books it to the exit. Body tilting dangerously with the added weight of a stiff boy in his arms and guttural noises emitting from his throat that sound more broken and less human than whatever is happening above them. The slightly cooler air of the stairwell is like godsend and he dashes quickly but carefully down and down until he's dizzy and there's no way the damn cockroach is reaching them now but Kusuo clenches at his lapels and curls in his hands and so Arataka is going down down.
With a gasp, he hops down the last step and sprints to the other side of the cursed room where the double doors stand like a finish line, kicking them open. Sharp clean air graces them like confetti and the sun's natural light is like a cheer of victory. Arataka stops. He bends down slightly, holding Kusuo close to his chest as he pants for the second time in the last ten minutes.
He straightens when he recovers and looks down at the boy in his arms. Kusuo's right hand is clutching at Arataka's left shoulder and his left cheek is smooshed against his right, big bleary eyes blinking slowly at the change of scenery.
Breathe in, breathe out. Arataka gulps, throat dry.
Kusuo adjusts himself in the man's hold before his body loosens. He doesn't feel so much like marble, Arataka muses.
The boy sighs. "Spirit business is scary."
Exhale, breathe in. "It sure is."