Chapter 4: Cutting Algae Part One

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Texting was a pretty neat function. It was widely adopted by every teenager except the one he, Reigen, had so generously gifted a phone to do it with. Mob was diligent to a fault about picking up his calls, but texting? Still a work in progress. Mob was getting better, though. After all, how else was Reigen supposed to give him a heads up about big jobs before the end of the school day? Excepting the occasional friendly lunch break chat.

That was of course assuming the phone was still intact. After their chat last night, Reigen wasn't so sure. It wasn't like Mob made a habit of texting him first.

Reigen squinted at the clock on his second-hand laptop he'd just replaced the shattered one with. 12:05PM. He had found a decent deal on one in a flea market but there was something off about the graphics. Parts of the screen were always slightly out of frame and most of his day had been spent trying to uselessly dink with the display options until it was righted, but instead he just ended up with a resolution that was too small.

'Ugh. New laptop, and if we're really unlucky, a new phone? I'll just garnish it...' Reigen pulled out his phone and fired off a text to his pupil. You didn't get washed away, did you? Your phone's still working, right?

Comments

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Must have been, huh...?" Reigen squinted, and then squinted some more. "And that over there..."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"That's the teahouse." Did he just become a tour guide? It kind of felt like it. "Did you want to go inside and take a look?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen whistled in a way that clearly indicated he hadn't expected that and stepped out into the courtyard towards it. "You're right! Very astute, Mob."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Actually, I only knew that because I got a--" But before Mob could get the words out, Reigen was already moving forward like a man on a mission.

Mob quickly followed behind him.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"You're clearly more studious than you give yourself credit for." Reigen stepped over every vine and rock in his way until he was at the small staircase leading up to it. "It looks surprisingly intact..."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"The negative energy I felt before... it's strongest in this area." He looked up at his Master. "You did a good job of tracking it down as quickly as you did."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

He had?

"Of course I did." Reigen took his first step onto the staircase. "This tea house...it's strange, don't you think?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah." Mob didn't know why he felt so unnerved here. Normally what other people considered unusual was usual for Mob. But there was something off here. Something more off than most places.

He followed close behind Reigen. They needed to stay close in case anything happened.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"It's not just the spiritual energy. This place..." Reigen took the door by the handle. The door felt sturdy under his grip. When he opened it, it revealed nothing less than the perfect picture of an old tea house. "...It's barely damaged at all."

There was a distant boom of thunder - a reminder of the storm rolling in from the sea to come. He didn't want them to get caught in a storm (poor Mob had been in enough) but they couldn't leave as soon as they found a so-obviously supernatural place. It was screaming and begging to be searched.

"We're going inside." As always, Reigen went first. He took one, two, three steps inside--nothing dangerous had happened yet. He glanced back at Mob, who was hovering close cautiously but he wasn't reacting to anything in particular.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"It seems I keep getting caught in storms," he said, more to himself than to Reigen. "It's good we're getting out of it."

Mob fished his flashlight out of his pocket. It was small, but it still managed to illuminate the area in front of them as they continued forward.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen's eyes followed Mob's light, and it took him a moment longer than it should have to remember he even had a flashlight of his own when he stopped short at something Mob's light flashed across in particular. Once you noticed it, it was impossible to miss. A tall structure about chest-height at the far end of the interior framed by an alcove, carved from stone -- a tomb.

Reigen was drawn to it like a magnet and he fumbled with his own flashlight to get a good look. There was text inscribed on it that was hard to make out even with the light right on it. He shined the light from every which angle, hoping that even with the age of it and the damage it's meaning would become clear. He didn't so much as murmur, his eyes narrowing in intense focus.

The rain which … when the season of … comes is the rain reminiscent of the … of the poor … sorrow

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob grabbed his phone out of his pocket and took a photo of it. It seemed important. Maybe Asa would be able to tell them more about it when they got back to the ryokan.

He was really getting better at this cell phone thing, wasn't he? Maybe it was good he was spending this much time on his phone messaging and sending photos to Teru.

As Mob closed out of his camera app just in time to see a new message notification. He fought the impulse the open his messages by shoving it deep into his pocket. They had work to worry about now and as he had told Reigen before, this place was very dangerous.

Still, nothing was happening. The light from his flashlight flickered naturally along the walls. The only sound he could really hear was the sound of the storm overhead. It was really coming down now. It sounded at least as bad as the storm he encountered with Tome and Teru.

Mob was confident that he could protect them from spirits, but he couldn't protect them from floodwaters.

"Master, should we return to the ryokan?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen didn't reply--he didn't even twitch to indicate he'd heard Mob speak. He placed a tentative finger on the cold stone of the tomb to trace the indents of the faded characters.

'What did you...?'

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Master?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Oh." Mob's voice grounded him back in place.

Reigen's vision had gone blurry. He immediately retracted his hand to wipe at his eye and found it wet.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob turned to look at Reigen. That simple, soft oh was really unlike him. It was only then that he caught sight of his master's glistening eyes. The one thing more unlike Reigen than a quiet Reigen was a crying one.

This was concerning.

"Master, are you okay?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reanimating, Reigen snapped to stand with a forced cough. "U-Ulocladium!"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob was already digging around for the pack of tissues his mom insisted he carry around after his last cold when Reigen suddenly jolted back to life. Mob nearly jumped in surprised at the exclamation.

"Huh?"

Mob didn't wait for an answer as he extended a hand to offer Reigen the newly-acquired pack of tissues.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Mildew. Really common in water-damaged places like this." Reigen groped the air for the tissue with a muttered work of thanks until his usually-clever fingers finally found it to blow his reddened nose. He coughed again, cleared his throat, and balled up the tissue and gave it a squeeze until he summoned his composure.

"Ahem. Mob."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob tried (and failed) to hide how incredulous he felt.

"Master?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"You put in a good day's work. Let's hurry back." Reigen spun and tucked his flashlight away. "The hot springs await. After that, kaiseki."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Once they were back at the ryokan, the two of them went their separate ways with plans to meet at the hot springs later. Mob made sure to dry himself off thoroughly; he knew his mom wouldn't be happy if he got sick again.

As he did, he thought thought hard about everything they went through today. Even though Reigen insisted he give it some thought, he still didn't really get the crane story at all. And Reigen was acting weird, just like Asa insisted Misaki was. It was just a hunch, but Mob was beginning to suspect that his master was under the same influence that his master was.

But Mob wasn't sure how to prove it. And he wasn't sure that Reigen knew it himself, so it was useless asking him about it.

Before he could fall too deep into contemplation, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He'd set it to silent while he was at work; he really wanted to focus. He probably should turn the sound back on, right? He didn't even feel the vibration from Teru's text earlier.

Mob flipped open his phone and opened his messages app, then started reading Teru's texts.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

There's a storm forecasted! But I'm sure you knew that. Teru had sent that before it had rolled in.

I hope you're keeping dry...except for the hot springs of course.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

We got really wet earlier Send.

But I'm all dried off now Send.

We're supposed to go to the hot springs later Send.

What did you do today? Send.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

nothing special Send.

How was the castle?!?!? Send.

Scary?? /╲/( ͡⎚ ͜U ͡⎚)/\ Send.