spirits_and_such_offices | Chapter 1: Seasonal Sickness

Chapter 1: Seasonal Sickness

'For the site of such a big job, it's surprisingly accessible.' That was what Reigen Arataka thought as he reviewed the map at the train station and he couldn't help but thank his good fortune. It was just a half hour away by bullet train with a straightforward 15 minutes walk through the woods. The more infamous places were usually at least an hour or two away even by train; the mysterious abandoned cabin deep in the forest, the cursed shrine up on the mountain, or what have you.

What was this job? Why, it was big of course--that's what he'd tell anyone who asked. The Shichi-mi Hotel. Of course everyone had heard of it. Hell, even his disciple who was pathologically out of touch knew the name... even he had only heard of it through the grapevine of his occult-obsessed classmates. Mysterious disappearances. Bodies never found. Yep. This one had everything. It still came up as a topic on the supernatural-focused image boards...and all the other completely valid insider's metrics for assessing these things.

His clients were a pair of high schoolers. Girls in their 12th year. They were pretty and well-to-do so it was that much more of a shock when they practically shambled into his office. They'd lost a bet to some of their classmates and that's how they ended up taking the last train to the abandoned Shichi-mi Hotel to stay the night. 'Christ, high schoolers are ruthless,' was Reigen's first thought. Usually this kind of hazing was reserved for your first year of college--girls needing to offload the stress of entrance exams, maybe? Whatever the case was he could tell right away they were sincere in their fear over whatever they went through.

And what was that? What did the stipulations of a high-school bet demand? That was the money-maker.

A single cursed elevator that takes you to another world.

So, that was his job today. Investigate the elevator and purge whatever horror it bore.

Well. His and his disciple's--his disciple who was taking his sweet time getting there.

Reigen pulled out his phone and his quick fingers went to well-worn speed dial button automatically. A few rings and he was patched through. "Hey, Mob, we're about to miss the train. Are you almost here?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mob planned on staying close to Reigen before he even said anything. Not because he was afraid, but because he wanted to make sure to be the best backup he could be. Plus, no matter how strong you were, there was always a chance you could be taken off-guard. It was better if they had each other's backs, just in case... even if he was sure Master Reigen would be more than able to carry his own.

Mob's nose twitched again as he followed closely behind Reigen. The dust was getting to be too much... He probably should have expected this, but he never had problems like this before when he and Master Reigen traversed the old abandoned places they were frequently charged with exorcising of spirits. Why was he more susceptible today?

Reigen tugged at his own collar with a slight grimace. They further they went, the thicker the air got. Had a pipe burst somewhere? That wouldn't have surprised him, but at least he cleared the rubble and could back on track with the job--

"EIYAA!"

The shrill scream that echoed through the darkness was none other than his own. One moment he was upright and the next the floor had turned into empty air and he falling forward. He flailed wildly, he prayed, and he was rewarded with his hands catching the other end of the hole he just stumbled upon. Oh god, oh shit. He was like a cat with its back arched over a drop that he couldn't see the bottom of.

"Master!"

Mob reached out and snatched the back of Reigen's jacket, clutching with all of his might. He pulled back with all of his weight, hoping that all of his training with the Body Improvement Club might save his master from almost certain danger.

He somehow managed to do it, though he fell over backwards from the effort, Reigen landing on top of him. The dust that littered the area was disturbed, suddenly clouding up the air around them. Mob opened his mouth as the dust hit his nose and --

AAA-CHOO!

Reigen grunted in pain as he thrust his forearm out to avoid slamming his full weight onto his pupil and nearly whited out from the impact of the cold floor on his funny bone. Small droplets of Mob's mucus hit his face and then--

CRACK

Something flashed and shattered, spraying debris everywhere and Reigen summoned core strength he was sure he didn't possess to block their heads with his other arm. Then, it was dark.

'Was that...'

"Mob, are you okay?" Reigen swallowed his pain and carefully rolled off of Mob. "You didn't hit your head, did you?"

"I'm fine," Mob assured him, rubbing the back of his head. He felt another sneeze coming on and tried his best to suppress it, but --

AAA-CHOO!

"You just, ah, grappled me there, kid..." That was almost harder to process than their flashlight spontaneously exploding but he had no time to so much as laugh to diffuse the tension when the ground started rumbling beneath them.

Shit, he hadn't miscalculated this badly, had he? No one mentioned anything about the first floor crumbling out from beneath them! And Mob--what was going on? The kid had been a little off all afternoon but he was seriously off now. It's like all his natural psychic defenses were completely offline. All these factors flashed through his head but there was no time to waste--Reigen set about to righting themselves but it was no use. The pool of debris beneath them shifted and rumbled like an angry wave and they were along for the ride.

"Mob, hang on--" Reigen got a facefull of dust and he coughed but didn't let go of his pupil's arm--and his instinct to protect their heads with whatever limbs he had free paid off when they were rolling into a sudden hard stop.

Sometimes, the best thing to do when you weren't sure what to do was nothing. Reigen laid still with Mob under a fine layer of debris until he was certain the floor would stop shifting before feeling in his pocket for a spare keychain flashlight--yep, too small to die. Great. He lit up the space between them and inspected Mob. "Hey, talk to me."

Mob snapped his mouth shut as his powers propelled them around, as if afraid if he opened it, he might inadvertently sneeze again and cause any further destruction.

It wasn't the first time recently that Mob's powers had gone out of control and though they were lucky enough to be in a place that was already in a state of decay, shame was beginning to overcome him.

What was all this training for if it only put others around him in danger? What was it worth if he destroyed the things around him?

Progress to Mob's Explosion: 18%.

He needed to try harder. He swallowed back the surge of emotions as best as he can and forced himself to unclench his mouth long enough to respond to his Master. He didn't want Reigen worrying any more than he was already. And judging from the edge in his voice, he was very worried.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "I'm really sorry about this."

"Mob."

Mob swallowed. "Master?"

Reigen sat up fully with an easy-going sigh and positioned the small light between them so they could get a decent view of each other. He brushed his suit off and stretched his neck like he had just woken up from a nap and not that he had just taken a beating from an old building.

"A little tumble like that? Hurting me? Come on. I meditate under freezing waterfalls before breakfast. Strengthens the mind and the body." Waterfalls...cold showers when the hot water ran out...same thing. Reigen brushed his student's bangs away and touched the back of his index fingers to his forehead. "More importantly, you've got a fever."

Edited 2023-08-17 06:18 (UTC)

"A fever?"

Sure, he hadn't felt great this morning when he woke up, but he chalked that up to looking for Dimple after that big fight yesterday. And he always napped during the school day, even though his teacher always got mad when he caught him. And he always was really exhausted during and after Body Improvement Club.

So he hadn't really considered this possibility at all. At least, until now.

"I guess I haven't really been feeling well today," he conceded.

Sighing, Reigen ignored the urge to rub a massive bruise forming on his arm. "Is that really all that's going on?"

"Um," Mob said. "Well, Dimple's gone."

"Ah. I see." Reigen paused. "Well, I've got a little bit of vertigo right now, so...jog my memory."

Oh no. Had Master Reigen been hurt more than he thought? Mob tried to swallow back his worry and answer honestly.

"The spirit from that religious cult. I asked you whether or not I should exorcise him. Do you remember?"

Reigen affected a curious look. He barely remembered Mob asking, but he did remember the boy tangling with a cult. There was milk involved...or something. He mostly remembered it being way too hot that day and trying to find the best way to stack coupons for fans.

His keychain light flickered and he gave it a little shake to keep it going.

"And you didn't exorcise him in the end...so, what happened?"

"Well," Mob started. It felt like something was lodged in his throat. Was that because he wasn't feeling well, or...? "There was this kid at another school who exorcised him."

'Another ESPer?' Was there going around in the water during the generation of Mob's parents? "So...it was during that."

Yeah, that. The case of the middle school that miraculously shred apart and rebuilt itself. They hadn't talked about it yet, but Reigen shouldn't have been shocked it involved Mob in the end.

"Yeah."

A number of things became apparent to Reigen in that moment, but before he could open his mouth again the elevator suddenly rumbled and moaned around them.

Shit. Looks like the damage to the floor was more than this thing could take. He pointed his small keychain light and pointed it at the doors to see--

Triple shit.

"Hey...Mob. Lay down for me. On your back."

Mob shot Reigen a questioning look, but still did what his Master asked.

"Close your eyes for me, too. I'm going to perform a ritual and it's a little too intense for someone with a compromised aura to take in fully. Just listen to my voice, okay?"

When Reigen was sure his student was complying, he carefully moved to dig his briefcase out of the rubble (thank God that got dragged in with them.) Out of everything he packed, only one thing was needed--a long object wrapped in white cloth. He unwrapped it hastily as the elevator rumbled and shifted again.

"Om tare tuttare ture soha..." He sand in a low and melodic voice as he carefully rose to confront his foe--a set of elevator doors now slammed shut. In his weapon was the holiest of all items at his disposal--a simple crowbar.

Reigen didn't stop his low chanting, even when his voice cracked a little from the effort of prying the doors open. Sure, that was something you were told never to do as a member of civil society, but he was on Plan C and it was a lot better than Plan D which was letting the thing fall and hoping for the best, okay!? Luckily, the doors gave and he shoved the bar at his feet between them, giving him just enough space to squeeze out.

"Alright," he said with a wheeze he managed to mask into a sigh, wiping sweat from his brow, "you're gonna need to be in contact with me to cross the barrier, but keep your eyes closed and your body still..." With that, he picked his student up and carefully gathered him onto his back.

The elevator was still trembling and groaning and every inch he passed through the open doors felt like it took an eternity and the pressure was all the more heightened with Mob holding onto him with a koala-like grip. Blessedly, luck was on their side and the moment his feet were back on solid ground he set his mind to leaving the death trap in the dark behind them--not stopping until he could spot their first trace of light coming through the windows of the hall they'd originally entered.

"All...right...you can open your eyes."

Mob opened his eyes, peering out at the faint light streaming from the windows from over Reigen's shoulder.

"Wow, so we really crossed the barrier." Mob wasn't sure what Master Reigen had done (he hadn't been able to sense it at all), but whatever it was, it had to be impressive.

"What do we do now? I still can't sense anything, but that might be because my powers aren't working so well today." Now that he acknowledged he wasn't feeling great, he also had to acknowledge that his powers weren't working perfectly.

Mob sniffed audibly.

Reigen sighed dramatically and swayed for effect to mask the faint trembling in his arms. It may have been from the adrenaline or fact he had hoofed it through the dark going up carrying his weight and Mob's...or both. He carried on at a more reasonable pace back to the outside world with his pupil in tow.

"I am taking us back to the station and you will be going home to rest." 'Wait...did I leave my wallet in the briefcase back there!?' Reigen gulped in panic and shimmied his legs--feeling the weight of it still in his pocket. 'Thank God.' "Of course, I'll have to tell our clients we couldn't complete the site visit..."

Oh, no. He wasn't disappointing them, was he?

"I can do it tomorrow," Mob said quickly before Reigen could finish his line. "I'll stay home and get lots of rest so we can complete the job."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject