Chapter Text
“I’m just saying,” says Reigen, in a tone that suggests that he is prepared to argue for hours. Crumbs litter his mouth as he speaks, one hand waving about sporadically, the other gripping some kind of deep-fried street food, “If the ghost couch is really such a powerful spirit, how come it looks so ratty?”
Teruki blinks up at him with wide, innocent eyes, finishing the last bite of his ice cream cone. “Maybe it matches the environment it’s in?” he offers, shooting him an angelic smile.
Reigen looks away and nods thoughtfully, letting the words sink in. “You think so? Hmmm...” he says, bringing a hand up to stroke his chin. There’s a substantial period of silence, during which the contemplative look on his face slowly wilts into something blank, and then further into something sour. “Hey…” he says, as if something is slowly dawning on him, “Hey- wait, wait a minute, hey- ”
Unable to keep the innocent act up any longer, Teruki’s held breath sputters out of him in a snort, and then in a full-fledged cackle. He easily dodges a halfhearted swipe Reigen aims his way and falls into step behind him with Mob and Ritsu, a wide, self-satisfied grin climbing up his face.
Mob hides his smile behind cotton candy. Teruki, without breaking eye contact with Reigen, reaches over and gives Ritsu a hi-five.
Reigen’s eyelid twitches, once. “Ungrateful brats…” he mutters. He shoves the rest of his food in his mouth and chews with much more force than is necessary.
The amusement-park haunting that Reigen had waxed poetic about earlier that day doesn’t actually seem to exist. He’d woken Teruki up early in the morning, claiming that a huge job had just come in, that the haunted house at the local park was crawling with evil spirits, and that Yes, Teru, we need to get going now or else we’re never going to beat the lines, I know it's summer vacation, but I already gave Mob a call- it’s a big job, so we’re bringing his brother, too, get up already, you brat-
(There were no actual spirits in the haunted house.)
(Privately, Teruki wonders if this has anything to do with earlier that week, when Mob and Ritsu had gone to visit their grandmother for a few days and he’d not known what to do with himself. He’d ended up finishing his summer homework in a single day, and spent the rest of the time pacing restlessly around Reigen’s apartment or the office, anxious and fidgety and bored out of his mind.)
(He doesn’t remember saying anything to Reigen about that. Strange.)
Ritsu is using the carnival games to practice with his fledgling powers- he’d tried to hide it at first, but Teruki had caught on quickly, and then Mob soon after. Mob, of course, gently scolds him, but backs down quickly enough once Teruki and Ritsu spot his eyes catching on a giant stuffed frog and collaborate to win it for him, and Reigen loudly proclaims that the games are rigged anyway, so using their powers in this specific circumstance is fine. Ritsu's are finicky and inconsistent, but his control over them has improved since last week, however marginally. He and Teruki find themselves locked in a competition as to who can win the most prizes, until Reigen, sputtering through an armful of plushies, snaps at them that he can’t carry any more stuffed animals, and that Teruki doesn’t have room for them, anyway. In the ring toss, the one and only game Mob tries, he accidentally throws the ring backwards and it gets lost in the crowd.
(Teruki’s fifth grade graduation ceremony had been last week, right after the debacle with Claw. He’d gotten a card in the mail from his parents, something hollow and impersonal with some money inside. They haven’t bothered to call him on the phone since he’d started living in Reigen’s apartment. His lease is set to expire soon, and quietly, they haven’t renewed it.)
(But Reigen had been there, he’d clapped and cheered wildly when his name was called, earning dirty looks from the other parents, and snapped a grainy, unflattering picture of him on his flip phone- Teruki had begged him to delete it, but he doesn’t think he has. He'd taken him out for ramen afterwards, though, clapped him on the back and told everyone who'd asked that they were celebrating. And even though it still hurts that his parents don’t seem to care, even though there’s still resentment and anger and frustration, a tangled mess of emotions that sits at the base of his chest and might not ever go away- things are okay. Good, even. Teruki always has somewhere to go after school, be it the office or Mob's house or just straight back to Reigen's apartment, and wherever he goes, it's never empty for long. There is always food in the fridge for him to eat, and hot water in the pipes, and if there isn’t, he doesn’t have to be the one to fix it. He’s eating vegetables because Reigen will be mad if he doesn’t, he can’t stay up to unreasonable hours anymore because he'll notice if something is off, and Reigen might be worse at math than Teruki, but he can help him with his other subjects if he needs it. If he’s sick, he doesn’t have to force himself through school anymore.)
(And on the nights where he’s not okay, when he’s overwhelmed, when he feels small and scared and isolated, like he’s not worth the trouble everyone goes through for him- he can go out into the living room and lie on the couch and listen to Reigen snoring, look up at the water stains and cracks on the ceiling, and know that he isn’t alone. Know that there are people in his life who care about him, people he cares about in turn.)
“Hey, that roller coaster’s closing in ten minutes!” Reigen shouts, pointing imperiously towards the butterfly-shaped kiddie coaster; the only one, as they’ve learned, that Mob can ride without getting sick. “Go!” he continues, “Ride it! I paid to get you in here, make sure I get my money’s worth!”
Ritsu and Mob go. Teruki takes a few steps after them, his purple shoes tapping against the pavement, but slows down to a stop before he gets too far. Hesitantly, he turns around, meeting Reigen’s puzzled look with his own uncertain one. Without warning, before he can think too hard, he runs back over to Reigen and throws his arms around him in a hug.
Hugs aren’t something they really do- Reigen isn’t a touchy-feely person by nature, Teruki too proud to appear vulnerable- and it shows in the way Reigen stiffens at the contact. “Teru, what…?”
Teruki’s face is hidden in Reigen’s chest, eyes squeezed shut. “...Thanks,” he says, and his voice is soft, barely more than a gust of air.
Reigen flounders, seeming unsure of what to do with his arms. They pinwheel sporadically above Teruki’s head, hovering like hummingbirds in search of a place to land. “What are you talking about?” he sputters, “It’s just a roller coaster.”
Teruki isn’t really sure how to say what he’s thankful for, isn’t sure if he can put it into words, so he just tightens his grip and buries his nose in Reigen’s shirt. He still seems unsure, stiff and uncomfortable, but before Teruki can decide this was a bad idea after all and pull away, he feels Reigen relax. “Pfft,” he says, as one hand pats Teruki’s head, awkward and unpracticed, before the other arm comes down to sling loosely around his back. “Don’t worry about it, kid.”
He stands there for a few moments, one hand on Teruki’s head and one wound around his shoulders, arms tightening in a reassurance. Then, once the moment has gone on for long enough, he leans away and shoves Teruki towards the coaster. “Now go!” he shouts dramatically, “Don’t waste my hard earned money, you hear me? You’re gonna go on that ride and you’re gonna like it!”
Laughing, Teruki runs a hand through his hair to fix it and scampers off after his friends. In a few weeks, he and Mob are going to start their last year of grade school. Claw is still out there, even though the seventh division is disbanded. But for now- just for now- everything is good.
“What took you so long?” asks Ritsu, peering at Teruki as he narrowly beats out the person behind him in line.
“Nothing,” says Teruki, and his mouth twitches into a grin, genuine and gleeful. “Are we gonna ride this thing or what?”