spirits_and_such_offices | Chapter 4: Cutting Algae Part One

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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

mp_strikinglyblessed

"You got fast at texting all of a sudden," Reigen commented, thoroughly nonplussed. He was over halfway through his own bento at this point. "Talking to a girl?"

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"No, just a friend." Mob didn't think he was that fast at texting. Maybe he was getting better?

From:

mp_strikinglyblessed

"Someone from your club?" That alien-obsessed kid still counted as a girl, surely.

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"No, he's a friend from another school."

From:

mp_strikinglyblessed

"That's new." That was new, right? Mob never even talked to anyone his own age from his own school until he started the year several weeks prior. "How'd that one happen?"

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"He was the one I fought a few weeks ago." Mob said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

From:

mp_strikinglyblessed

“During that incident?”

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"Yeah."

From:

mp_strikinglyblessed

“You seem easy-going about it.” Even if Reigen was electing to merely state an observation there was a flicker of concern beneath it. “Did he at least apologize for the trouble?”

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"Yeah, he did. He even tried to make it up to me, even when I told him it wasn't necessary."

From:

mp_strikinglyblessed

Reigen's lips twitched. Here Mob was making friends with and merrily texting his former enemies like it was nothing but the mere thought of saying one word to the girl he liked completely staggered him.

Well. It was good that Mob was really feeling better about the whole thing. This outcome was the best any of them could have hoped for.

"'Friendship is constant in all other things. Save in the office and affairs of love.'" Reigen finished off his bento and wiped at his mouth with the complimentary fox-printed napkin that came with it. "As long as he doesn't become competition for Tsubomi-chan, I'm sure you both will get along fine."

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"He actually was trying to help me get with the girl I like. He just misunderstood and thought it was Kurata-san."

From:

mp_strikinglyblessed

"Is that right." 'I really do not pity anyone who takes on THAT as their project.'

...

"...Wait."

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"What's wrong?"

From:

mp_strikinglyblessed

"That's what you were getting up to when you missed work?"

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"Yeah." Mob finished the last bite of his meal, then closed his bento box.

From:

mp_strikinglyblessed

"Incredible..." Reigen murmured to himself. Mob was incredible because he could say that with a straight face. He felt like he was getting five different stories from the kid but he knew Mob would never outright lie to him.

Well. It didn't feel worth it to pursue questioning this further. It obviously wasn't Mob's idea and it hadn't gone anywhere. Of course it wouldn't. Mob's mysterious new friend could have been the most adept wingman-boy on earth but he wasn't chipping away at his protege's impossibly thick barrier of social anxiety anytime soon.

"Anyway, now that we've eaten, let's discuss our plan of attack."

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

Never a boy of many words, Mob responded with a simple, "Sure."

From:

mp_strikinglyblessed

The plan was straightforward: they would be staying two nights under the auspices of the Sumitada Ryokan while they investigated the curse of the Kona-Zanshō Castle. The ones who contracted them were none other than the Sumitada family themselves. The curse, they believed, was behind the severe rains plaguing the town. This was hurting their business and their town's mainstay: the algae harvests.

What stood out to Reigen was that the family didn't only feel it was a matter of convenience for them to stay at their ryokan; they firmly believed it was important for he and Mob to be fully immersed in the history and customs of the town. This was the only way to understand the curse, after all. It was an earnest logic that Reigen could appreciate. Of course, he treated all of his customer's concerns with profound respect, but this was the first time he had been entrusted by an entire family...and such a traditional one at that. So, of course, they were going to be fully immersed. He made sure Mob was aware of that.

The rest of the train ride was easy-going and light on further commentary from Reigen. After they had finished eating he had preoccupied himself with reading. He had visited Kanimeshi once before and had taken home some of their local literature that he had spent time with; honestly, it was kind of fun. He felt like he was in college again. The parts where he was out of the classroom and hitting the pavement for his research assignments were the best parts.

The sun was high in the sky when they arrived. From the train station they only had a short walk into town and along a pier to find the Sumitada Ryokan; and Reigen couldn't help but drop his business-like composure to admire it once again. The tiled roof and wooden facades welcomed them with an understated elegance. It was framed by a meticulously landscaped garden; a testament to the town's centuries-old bonsai tradition. A stone path that led off to the side invited guests into the gardens. He took a deep breath to enjoy the scent of camellia from somewhere close by.

"Ever stayed at a place like this before, Mob?"

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"No not really," he said. "It's pretty, though." Mob couldn't help but feel grateful to be in such a beautiful place, even if it was for work.

From:

mp_strikinglyblessed

Reigen led the way through to the entrance and at once they were enveloped in the scent of polished wood. The interior was as meticulously kept as the exterior.

"Reigen-sama! Welcome!" At once they were greeted by a middle-aged woman who was as meticulously kept as the inn. She stepped forward and bowed deeply to them both before setting her friendly gaze on Mob in particular. "And you must be Shigeo-sama. Welcome to the Sumitada Ryokan. I'm Emika Sumitada. I'll be your humble host."

Despite Mob's age, it was clear she held him in considerable regard as Reigen's assistant. Reigen, ever the ingratiator, matched Emika's tone perfectly. He matched her tone perfectly when he exchanged his leather lined loafers for the slippers she offered and when she prompted them to follow her to the lounge he followed in perfect step.

The hall towards the ryokan's lobby didn't need any other lighting at that hour; the windows that displayed the gardens in full imbued the hall with full natural light. Reigen entertained a brief fantasy of having a garden of his own even half as lush before they were in the ryokan's lounge.

The lounge was bathed in a softer light, filtered by the shoji screens. It was...in one word...serene. Low and lacquered tables were adorned with fresh flower arrangements, surely taken from those gardens. They were the only three in the room, even at that hour.

"Please, have a seat," Emika offered, gesturing towards a cushioned nook offering a distant view of the coast. "My husband and my eldest daughter will be in shortly to greet you both. We've prepared a welcome drink for you; would you like green tea? Or, perhaps, a refreshing spring beverage?"

"Green tea would be lovely, thank you," Reigen said as he took his seat on one of the tatami mats to one side of the table.

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"Green tea for me too." Mob followed right in line with Reigen, Mob following Reigen's every movement a few seconds behind.

By the time they both fully settled, Emika had fully disappeared.

"She called you '-sama'," Mob observed.

From:

mp_strikinglyblessed

"She called you that too. Comes with the territory, Mob. Don't let it go to your head." Despite his statement on the matter, Reigen seemed quite pleased.