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]

"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."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Delicate. The word kept repeating in Reigen’s head. His fingers picked at a loose thread on the back of the couch as he processed Mob’s words.

“Well…liking girls isn’t necessarily at odds with liking boys.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob blinked. "What do you mean?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“You can like both, you know? Plenty of people do.” He swished his can—it was running low and he had to fight the temptation to immediately grab a new one. “I know from experience.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"You like boys and girls?" It never occurred to Mob that liking both was even an option.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Shit.

“Well! I wasn’t actually referring to me—you know, I knew a lot of people in college. I got pretty acquainted with the nightlife. You can imagine—well, okay, maybe you can’t but take my word for it.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Hmmm..."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen gesticulated wildly with the can. “What are you looking at me like that for? C’mon, do you wanna see my college pictures or something? I’m serious! You can’t label these things so easily. Think of it like a spectrum.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob's gaze remained as steady as ever. "Where are you on the spectrum?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen had stumbled headfirst into that one. He was going to damn his decision to drink all the way to his fridge to have another.

“So you accept there’s a spectrum.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Well, it's not like I know a lot about it... but if you say it exists, it has to."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

There were times that Mob’s absolute trust in him frightened him and it just had to be when he was telling the truth.

‘I’m the worst kind of person.’

“W-well…you know….I’ve found it can change as time goes on…some people figure out things at different paces…”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob considered this. He was doing a lot of thinking tonight. He hadn't done a lot of thinking about this before, but now Reigen had really opened up a new world of knowledge to him. And it was a lot easier talking to him than it was his parents.

"Has it changed for you?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“I suppose…in a manner of speaking…” Reigen set his can down and gave Mob a firm pat on the back. “So! It’s fine to not be sure.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Is there a reason why you're evading the question?"