Chapter 7: Serenade for Strings

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mysterious flickering lights, circuit breakers tripping, and outages were all affecting the Seasoning City metro line for weeks. The trains weren't on time and neither were the people of Seasoning City. Timely bosses who usually chided their salarymen underlings for their tardiness were huffing and puffing as they raced from the subway in a desperate attempt to make it to their desks before the clock ticked down to 8 AM.

They weren't the only ones huffing and puffing, though; Mob and Reigen had chased their target down and cornered him before he could make his way to another train line and the two were exhausted. It was nothing short of a miracle that the two of them had managed to make it to the last train of the night before the doors closed behind them.

Mob collapsed one of the train's empty seats, his damp palms pressed down atop the poly-cotton blend of his gakuran slacks. It was only by sheer miracle that they weren't soaked through. Sweat seemed to be pouring from every pore on Mob's body.

"Sorry," Mob said apologetically. "If I had been faster, we wouldn't have had to do so much running."

Comments

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

After another long moment of thinking, he finally piped up. "Maybe?" he said. "I never gave it a lot of thought."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen took a bite of the tender beef and savored it. Oh Yeah. The hondashi made it.

“You have a lot of time to figure it out….the most important thing at the end of the day is living however you choose.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob nodded, clearly taking Reigen's words to heart.

"What about you? Do you want to have kids?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

At least with this question being thrown back into his court, Reigen was somewhat braced. “I’ve thought about it, of course. It hasn’t gone beyond thinking.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"I think you'd make a good father."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

‘…Just take the compliment, Arataka.’ “Thanks. My lifestyle isn’t exactly suited to it at the moment. …Who knows?”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob looked around the apartment for a second. "You're probably right," he said, in blunt confirmation of Reigen's declaration.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“Besides, I have my hands full with you.” The next episode of Doraemon started playing and Reigen recognized which one it was immediately.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Thanks for teaching me how to cook. I'll try making it at home by myself this week." Mob took a bite of gyudon. It was really good. Mob could hardly believe that he helped to make something this tasty.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“You’re really gonna knock Teru-kun’s socks off with this. Guarantee it.” Reigen took another large bite. “What’s he like, anyway? You both must have more in common than just your powers for you to go to these lengths just to impress him.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Well, he's popular, and he has good fashion sense. And good hair," he added after a second thought. "He's really good at sports and he's a powerful psychic, too. And he makes good grades. A lot better than mine." There's no self-aggrandizing there; Mob was merely stating a fact.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

That was…quite a glowing commendation from Mob. Reigen didn’t know what to do with that outpouring.

“I see…and you both seem to get along pretty well?”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah." Mob nodded. "After we fought, anyway."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“…And he’s kind to you now?”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah. I think he might have felt insecure before."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“That’s wise of you to recognize, Mob. You can trace a lot of negativity back to things like insecurity.” Reigen reached over for a can of beer on the table - the succulent beef really did pair best with a light ale.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"I don't really understand why he would feel insecure. He has a lot of traits he should be proud of."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“Anxieties don’t follow logic. Honestly…I’d go further than that.” He took another swig from the can and sunk back further into the cushions. “Fear is a negation of reason.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"You really know a lot about this."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“I’m your master, after all.” The pleasant buzz was starting to settle in, chasing away all the unpleasant prickles under his collar. “Even I’ve had my share of anxieties.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"I guess everyone has something they're afraid of." Mob took another bite of his rice-and-meat and directed his attention to the Doraemon episode in front of him.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen stretched one arm over the back of his couch, the other holding the pleasantly cold can. The rest of the episode played quietly. It was kind of hypnotizing, watching old childhood shows like this on a full stomach and slightly buzzed. His mind drifted off and took a break from thinking, but not for too long. As he took another sip, he watched Mob out of the side of his eye.

Even if he didn’t have spiritual powers he could sense a certain…unease. It was like he was holding something back. One thing he learned about Mob were his little habits when he was chewing on something—things he did or said that didn’t make a lot of sense until he put his finger on what was troubling him. Their whole night had been like that, what with the bombardment of questions. Hell, even the request to stay over was a big break from the norm.

When the commercial break came, Reigen tapped Mob’s cheek with the can. “Penny for your thoughts?”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Well..." Reigen must have really been able to sense his feelings with his powers. Did he have mind-reading powers, too? No, maybe not mind-reading. Maybe mind-sensing. "I don't really understand why my parents think that Teru is my boyfriend. I think my mom knows that I like Tsubomi, so she knows already that I like girls." She hadn't said anything, but Mob got the feeling she knew. Even if it was because Ritsu had said something before.

Mob frowned ever-so-slightly. "I just don't understand why... if I like girls, why would she think I like boys too?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

The surprise was filtered through a buffer of booze. It worked so well that Reigen had wished he had begun drinking sooner than he did. So, he took another drink.

“Do they really think that? Or…maybe they’re trying to reassure you it’s fine if you do?”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"I don't know. It's hard to ask them any questions."