Work Text:
Like clockwork, every month, Reigen had his period, and every month he dealt with it. But, usually, he wasn’t taking care of a kid. This month and in future months, he was caring for Mob, the psychic kid he hired last month. Usually, he’d openly express his distaste for everything around him, of course, aside from clients and people doing their job. It wouldn’t be a good look for the Greatest Psychic of the 21st Century! But when his clients left, it was different. He would groan in pain, swear at inanimate objects for the slightest inconvenience, and relax at his desk or couch with a heating pad. It was dramatic, immature, and childish, but it helped in the same way swearing helped when you got hurt.
But since Mob was here, he couldn’t exactly do that. He needed to be the self-confident, half-professional, joke-telling, larger-than-life mentor he presented himself to be. He needed to be someone Mob could rely on through thick and thin. So, even if it cost him his sanity and maybe his intelligence, he’d put up with this.
Reigen was confident he was succeeding in his efforts. Sure, he was a bit hunched over sometimes. Maybe he was a bit too harsh or impatient, but he shrugged it off as being tired. It wasn’t exactly wrong; he had stayed up late last night tidying up his room, but he was used to this. He stayed up late many times, even for days in a row, just to finish a project. So, why wasn’t he used to cramping? He couldn’t answer that. But he could say that even he was acting out a bit too much. Usually, he would politely tell rude clients to get out of his building, but today he told them to fuck off, though he, of course, used more polite language. Can’t swear in front of the kid.
Still, he was doing a pretty good job despite that. He could get through this day without issue, right?
Well, the clock struck three, and to say that Reigen was feeling miserable would be an understatement. He sighed and rubbed his hands down his face.
“Hey, Mob?”
“Hm?” Mob looked over from the desk.
“I know that we usually get take out for a snack, but I’m pretty tired today, so how about eating here at the office?”
“That’s fine.”
“Great! Well, I bought a bento on the off-chance that you stopped by today and there’s milk in the mini fridge as well. It’s just rice, pork katsu and a couple other things I can’t remember. I’m going to be in my office, if you need anything, let me know.”
“Okay, Shishou. Thank you.” Mob walked over to the mini fridge and got his food.
“Not a problem.” Reigen smiled, walked into his office, and closed the door almost all the way. He left a crack open just to keep an eye on Mob.
He groaned, wondering why he didn’t take any pain medication before work. He then remembered he didn’t feel any pain before work, so he assumed he’d be fine for the day. He hated how sorely mistaken he was.
He took a slice of pizza out of his mini fridge and popped it in the microwave. He dug around for his pain medicine and heating pad. He found them and plugged in the heating pad. The microwave incessantly beeped, causing Reigen to roll his eyes. He grabbed the pizza and a water bottle from the fridge and took his medicine. He laid down on the couch, pizza sitting on the tiny coffee table. He hugged the heating pad to his general stomach area, allowing very quiet grumbles and groans of pain to escape his lips. Soon, the medicine would kick in, and Reigen should be able to have a pain-free day.
He grabbed the slice of pizza and began eating it. He was about halfway through eating it when the door opened, light flooding into the dark room.
“What?” Reigen harshly muttered when he realized it was Mob who was at the door. Guilt flooded him, wishing he never said anything. “Sorry. Are you doing okay? Need anything?”
“No, I’m doing fine. Are you doing okay, Shishou?”
“Of course I am! What makes you think that?”
“Well you’ve been acting weird all day. I wanted to say something, but I was too scared.”
That felt like a sucker punch to the heart. Not only had he made Mob worry about him, but he also scared Mob. To think he was doing such a good job at keeping everything under wraps! He sighed angrily, not at Mob but at himself.
“Are you okay?” Mob said, a touch more panicked.
Reigen sat upright with all the strength he could muster. He didn’t plan on this, but he couldn’t lie to the kid. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just on my period, so kind of in a lot of pain. Don’t worry, this will go away.”
Mob gasped, a look of shock plastered on his face. It was actually one of the first times Mob showed any expression of emotion, now that Reigen thought about it.
“What’s a period?! Are you dying?!”
Reigen stifled a chuckle. That almost exactly mirrored his own reaction when he got his without anyone teaching him what it was. He didn’t know why he expected Mob to know about this stuff.
Was he really going to tell Mob what a period was? Eh, fuck it, he’s done weirder shit.
“Nope, not dying! Now- um, a period is, well…” Reigen flapped a hand around, trying to think of a good way to phrase this. “A week-long period where a person with a uterus bleeds. It usually doesn’t cause harm to the person, though there are some exceptions. I’m not one of these exceptions, so I kind of have to deal with very painful cramps.”
Mob finally seemed to be calming down. Mob began asking more questions, and Reigen kept answering them as vaguely as possible. Each answer was getting more and more elaborate. It’s not that Reigen was uncomfortable with answering these questions, he was more afraid of Mrs.Kageyama. This was, of course, in case she was one of those people who deemed these questions “inappropriate for children.” As if this wasn’t the perfect time to let them know about puberty and how their bodies change and shit. Granted, periods were going to be something that Mob didn’t have to worry about, but it’s still good information to have.
“I think I understand,” Mob said after a while.
“Good, good! Well, if you have any more questions please ask your mother. She’ll have more answers than I can provide.” Reigen internally pleaded that Mob wouldn’t ask any more questions. He wanted to lay down for a bit.
After that talk, Mob used his powers more that day to help Reigen with menial tasks, such as lifting the occasional heavy box or even getting papers from across the room. Reigen still felt pretty guilty; an eleven-year-old shouldn’t have to do this. He was twenty-four. He’s been through this routine for the past twelve years; he should have this handled. He never let this guilt show, however, as he could handle this.
The day passed on slowly, as expected for a Tuesday. When the clock struck five, he began the typical closing tasks. Usually, he’d work past closing to catch up on paperwork or to schedule clients, but today he had nothing to catch up on, and he was also still in a shit-ton of pain even after the pain medication, so stop working at closing it was. Mob continued to help with the closing tasks, and Reigen made a mental note to treat the kid to ramen soon.
“Oi, Mob, you finished turning off the lights?” Reigen asked after a while, shrugging on his coat.
“Yes, Shishou,” Mob muttered under his scarf.
“Alright, let’s get going.” Reigen gestured down the stairs. “Do you want to get some ramen or do you have plans with your family?”
Mob shook his head as he hopped down the stairs, “Mom is cooking my favorite dinner tonight. After that, mom and dad said they’d take me and Ritsu on a walk through the park.”
“Huh, that sounds like fun,” Reigen muttered as he walked Mob home.
Mob always insisted on walking home by himself, and he had the means of protecting himself should something happen, but it was always night when Spirits and Such closed up. He didn’t want anything to happen to him, and he wanted Mob to stay safe. Someday he’d let Mob walk home by himself, but that day was not today.
After a few minutes, they reached the Kageyama house. Reigen smiled and ruffled Mob’s hair, chuckling when Mob shook his head in annoyance. Mob knocked on the door and was let in by his younger brother. Ritsu, was it? He glanced behind Mob towards Reigen and glared at him in seething hatred. Reigen rolled his eyes and shrugged. He didn’t know what he did to have Ritsu hate him, but at the end of the day, he didn’t care.
Reigen began walking home. It was a quiet night; insects buzzed around him. The sky was clear, the moon glowing brightly overhead. If he squinted, he could even make out a couple of the brightest stars amongst the light pollution.
He really hadn’t meant to make Mob worry today. He tried his best to control his emotions, his reactions to things, and his reaction to pain. But even his best wasn’t enough. Tears threatened to fall, but he wiped them away carelessly. He couldn’t cry right now, at least not in public. He briefly debated taking a detour to the bar to get drunk and forget his pain for a night, but he had work the next day. Having a hangover and having Mob worry about that was the last thing on his to-do list.
He arrived in front of his apartment door. He dug his keys out of his coat pocket, unlocked his door, walked in, and toed off his shoes. He walked to his bed at the end of the hallway and put his coat and suit jacket away on a coat hanger. He slipped off his binder and threw it in the clothes pile by his bed. He'd wash it later. He then tossed his keys on the small coffee table, and grabbed a cup of instant ramen. As he waited for the water to boil, he grabbed a cigarette from one pocket and a match from the other. He lit the cigarette with shaking fingers. He brought the cigarette up to his lips, pursed his lips around the cigarette, and inhaled. He held the smoke in for a bit as he turned his head away from the stove. He exhaled, a large plume of smoke leaving his lips and floating into the air around him. He idly thought that his walls were starting to get a bit yellow and sighed as he made a mental note to clean them this weekend. Maybe he should stop smoking to ease his mental and physical pain. He shook his head to clear the thought and continued smoking the rest of his cigarette.
After another cigarette, the roaring of bubbling water could be heard, and Reigen continued making his ramen. A couple minutes later, he was eating the bland cup of ramen. Mid-bite, he finally realized the gravity of the situation.
Shit. It seemed like a non-issue back when he decided to discuss this with Mob. It only just sank into his mind that Mob would tell his mom that he learned what periods were, his mom would question why, and Mob would tell his mom why. He shouldn’t be worried, shouldn’t be anxious. For fuck’s sake, he told Mob to ask her any questions he needed or wanted to ask! But, there was the possibility that he wouldn’t see Mob again, and it was terrifying. Sure, they didn’t know each other for very long, and Mob would probably get over it pretty quickly, and so too would Reigen. But that wasn’t the point, and it was still going to hurt.
He tried to convince himself that it was going to be okay. That him being who he is wasn’t going to be an issue. That everything would end up being the same. But it was also a lot easier to imagine things going south. It was a lot easier to imagine Mob never seeing him again, even resenting him for one reason or another. But damn if it didn’t hurt.
He took a deep breath. He needed a distraction. This was a big deal, a massive error on his part, but it could wait for tomorrow. That was when he could deal with this. He started thinking through his usual ways that he distracted himself, mentally crossing them off the list.
In the end, Reigen ended up going to bed early. It was the only thing he could think of and the only thing that would work. So, after smoking another cigarette, he got into bed and tried to sleep.
Keyword: Tried.
Over the course of ten hours, Reigen managed to sleep through three. His mind kept spiraling out of his control no matter how hard he tried. It hadn’t been this bad in years. It was about four in the morning when he decided to take some sleeping medicine to knock himself out. He slept through the rest of the night.
His alarm shouted at him to wake up at seven in the morning. With a half-hearted groan, he prepared for the long day ahead. He went through his daily morning routine, though today, he paid a bit more attention to his appearances. He combed gel through his hair, made sure his suit was wrinkle-free, and generally tried to maintain a professional appearance. He mentally went through a checklist of what might happen and how he would react. He was prepared in case Mr. and Mrs.Kageyama came in and asked for a talk. He was prepared for Mob to never walk through the doors of Spirits and Such again. He didn’t know how he’d react in case nothing bad happened, but he’d cross that bridge when he got to it.
He ate a piece of toast and took some pain medicine. Better to be prepared than not.
Reigen walked into the office at eight-thirty sharp and began going through the tedious opening tasks. Getting the desk and shelving dusted, picking up any trash he neglected the previous night and getting the place in order. After all that was done, he sat at his desk waiting for his first client. They wouldn’t show up for another thirty minutes, so he had quite a lot of time to pass.
So, he decided to pass the time playing a random online game on his computer. When the client showed up, he went through his whole spiel and found out the client only needed a massage to solve their problems. So, he gave them the massage and bid them on their way. All and all, a reasonably calm job.
In fact, all of his jobs were like that. His day went smoothly, all things considered. A bit too smoothly if you were to ask Reigen. Surely at some point, a client would yell at him or place a curse on him, but nothing. Maybe the universe was giving him a break in case Mob came into the office today. Maybe it knew that something bad was going to happen and wanted to make this day not entirely suck. Well, if that was the case, then he supposed he could be the least bit grateful for it.
The whole “day being good” thing didn’t at all ease his nerves when two o’clock rolled around, and Mob came into the office. He came in carrying a small basket, his parents noticeably absent. Was this a way to politely break the news that he’d no longer be able to see Reigen again? Even if it was, he couldn’t be rude.
“Hey, Mob!”
“Good afternoon, Shishou,” Mob said, voice a bit muffled from being behind the gift basket.
“What’cha got there?”
“A gift basket.” Mob placed the basket on Reigen’s desk. “Mom got it for you while I was at school.”
“I see, thank you.” Reigen arched an eyebrow as he looked at the contents of the gift basket. To his surprise, it contained a few things to help with periods, and it included a note from Mrs.Kageyama. He let a genuine smile cross his face, making a mental note not only to read the note later but to also thank Mrs.Kageyama in person.
Mob nodded and muttered a “you’re welcome” as he went to sit in the chair by the small table.
“I asked my mom more questions about periods, just like you told me to. She asked why and I told her. She was happy and answered my questions. She tried dragging Ritsu into it but he left whining about it being weird and gross.” Mob chuckled at the memory.
Reigen rolled his eyes and chuckled as well. Despite Mob’s stories about Ritsu being thoughtful and polite, he wasn’t exactly surprised Ritsu did this.
“Mom also discussed different gender identities. I think that’s what they’re called. It’s pretty cool and she gave me a book on it.”
Reigen felt tears rolling down his face. Sure, this really wasn’t the most ideal situation. Far from it, in fact. But at the same time, this sort of casual acception by people he doesn’t even know that well brings tears to his eyes. Reigen got up from his desk, walked over to Mob, and ruffled his hair. Mob groaned in what Reigen could tell was mock annoyance.
“Shishou, are you okay?”
“Fine, never better!” Reigen said quickly. “Well, I’m a bit overwhelmed, but I really am okay.”
Mob nodded again. “Do you need any more help today?”
“Nah, I’ve got it today, but thank you Mob. We do have an exorcism lined up for tonight. It sounds like a low-level spirit, so, it shouldn’t keep you out past five or six. If it does, then I’ll get takoyaki and ramen for dinner tonight. When you get home tonight, do you think you could ask your mom if she has any time in the week to meet up?”
Mob appeared to be filing away the information for later as he paused for a moment. “Yeah, I can do that. I’ll ask my mom after dinner.”
“Sounds good to me!” Reigen flailed his right hand around.
Their next client came in soon after, with this one going as smoothly as the first. Actually, each client after that, including the exorcism, was pretty easy. In fact, the spirit was so weak that Reigen could’ve banished it with salt, but he didn’t realize it until after Mob got rid of the spirit in under three minutes.
Reigen sighed as he locked up shop for the day, with Mob right by his side. As usual, he walked Mob home again, just listening to Mob talk about his day at school. While this was a usual occurrence, Reigen felt lighter than before. As if a weight was lifted off his chest.
When they arrived in front of the Kageyama household, Reigen ruffled Mob’s hair as usual and met Mrs. Kageyama’s gaze as she opened the door for Mob. She held Reigen’s gaze, her face filled with warm, motherly love. She mouthed a “thank you” before going inside and shutting the door.
It was only after Reigen got home, after he changed into his night clothes and had a bowl of instant ramen, that he understood what that feeling was. Acceptance. A feeling he’d only ever gotten from his sister and strangers.
He smiled and looked down at the bowl of ramen. Acceptance. That was something he could get used to.