Chapter Text
‘Okay… deep breaths, Mamoru…’ With a side glance to his ghost companion on his right, he hesitated while his hand rested on the doorknob.
Can he really do this? These people have seen him so many times whenever Ekubo uses him, but they’ve never actually seen the real him- nor has he even taken initiative to bother even meeting them in return.
What would they think of him? Would they think he’s weird? Would they pick up on the fact that the only person he’s made real contact with within two years was Ekubo? What about the fact that his casual clothes consist only of a faded t-shirt of an old horror movie cover on it, and some jeans? They’re probably going to think that he looks sloppy. Should’ve he wore his suit? No- but if he did that, they might think that he was trying too hard. Maybe he should tell Ekubo that he doesn’t feel well and they can go back home and he can hopefully curl away in his sheets and disappear for a while-
At the pause of Mamoru's actions, Ekubo looked over to see what the man was doing before realizing that he was already overthinking everything. He could basically hear the man’s thoughts buzz around like a running motor.
Ekubo made eye-contact with Mamoru, giving the silent encouragement that he needed to take a deep breath and slowly turn the knob.
Holding his breath, he finally pushed it open, immediately being jumpscared by a young girl in a highschool uniform, sparkles seemingly glittering around her bubbly aura.
“Welcome to Spirits and Such! How may we be of assistance to you today?” She had black hair with bangs, and a blinding smile as she ushered him inside of the office. Ekubo sighed at her actions, a hand on his forehead.
“Tome, it doesn’t matter how enthusiastic you are with the clients; you could wash their feet and Reigen still won’t give you a raise.” The girl, Tome, it seemed, immediately dropped that sparkly smile of hers- grimacing when she realized that it was just Ekubo who she was talking to.
“Oh. It’s you.” She deadpanned, dragging her feet before flopping down against the couch and going back on her phone. “False alarm. It’s just Ekubo.” She sighed and grumbled to herself, “Can't blame a girl for trying...”
So… what does he do now? Introduce himself? Let Ekubo talk for him?
“-Wait a second! You’re not possessing that guy right now!” Now, that seems to catch everyone’s attention as they look over to see Mamoru standing awkwardly near the doorway.
Each one of them had a different level of curiosity or surprise, furthering his uncomfortableness.
A man with copper hair suddenly stood up from his desk dramatically, walking over to him like he had a bone to pick.
Oh, God… he hasn’t even met this guy and the man already seemed to hate him.
Did he accidentally offend him without his knowledge? Was it his clothes? Maybe he should’ve worn his business suit afterall…
The man stopped a few feet away from Mamoru, making sweat begin to form on his forehead as he kept with that unreadable look that had his fight-or-flight kick in.
He should book it. This guy clearly is not pleased with him; probably something to do back in his younger years, or when he was still with Claw-
Suddenly, a hand reached out- indicating for him to take it.
Either, (A): the guy is going to try to fight him, and he’s going to have to put his years of street fighting to use; or, (B): it’s the most ominous handshake he’s going to ever receive (which is saying a lot from a guy who used to work for a criminal organization).
He was praying for option (B) as he reached out- firmly grasping the hand in front of him in case it turned out he might have to fight a man today.
The man ominously held Mamoru’s hand in a tight grip before suddenly clapping the other one right over them- giving an enthusiastic two-handed shake.
“You must be Yoshioka-san! It’s nice to finally meet you after so long!”
Mamoru nearly fainted from relief, but also because the man’s customer service smile was somehow more blinding than the Tome girl.
“Dammit, Reigen! I told you not to freak him out!” Ekubo yelled, having Mamoru let out a silent chuckle from the solace.
His hand was released, having him retract it as he awkwardly watched as the man used at least ten different gestures within the few moments that he began to welcome Mamoru to the office.
Ah, he knows who this guy is.
“You’re Reigen Arataka, right?” This seemed to break the customer service facade he was witnessing, because a more genuine smile finally adorned the man’s features. “It’s nice to meet you, as well. Ekubo’s told me a lot about you guys.”
He was still nervous to have so many eyes on him all at once, but it was somewhat relieving to break the ice.
Ekubo, however, was more red in the face than his cheeks usually were.
“Mamoru, you’re not supposed to say that-!“ The spirit hissed quietly, but that didn’t seem to escape the ears of Reigen.
“Oho, so you do tell him about us! All this time I thought you were purposefully hiding us away from him.” Reigen had a smirk on his face that had Ekubo fuming in place.
“I only talk about you because you’re so damn annoying, dumbass!”
So, Ekubo really wasn’t exaggerating how those two interact...
“Excuse me,” Mamoru glanced over to his side to see a boy that seemed to be roughly the same age as Tome. He was standing nearby with his hand extended and giving a smile. “It’s nice to finally meet you Yoshioka-san. Ekubo tells us a lot about you, too.”
Huh, he actually felt a little warm at the comment.
“Oi! How many times are you guys going to piss me off today!? I told you guys to not say anything to scare him off!” To be honest, he’s pretty sure Ekubo’s the only one getting worked up.
Mamoru knew what to do at times like this; he ignored Dimple.
“You must be Shigeo-kun. Sorry for the informality- I forgot your last name. Usually Ekubo just calls you by your first name.”
“It’s no problem. It’s Shigeo Kageyama, but others call me Mob, too.”
He really did seem like he was a good kid.
Despite being a young teenager- who usually have an air of indifference to them- this kid was like a warm fireplace. He gave the appearance of someone who was quiet- like Ekubo had mentioned- but, overall, he didn’t really match the face of someone who would be able to destroy half the city, nor take down the entirety of Claw.
“I’m Katsuya Serizawa. Nice to meet you, Yoshioka-san.” The man who was previously sitting at the other couch across from Tome stood up, only being a bit shorter than Mamoru. Instead of shaking hands, Serizawa gave a small, polite bow that he mirrored in return.
“And I’m Tome Kurata! The best secretary that this company has ever seen!” To Mamoru, Tome resembled Reigen in such an indescribable way- it was almost uncanny.
He knows that Tome and Reigen aren’t related by means of names, (and Ekubo had never mentioned them being relatives), but he was beginning to wonder if she was secretly the man’s daughter or relative of some kind.
“Tome, I’m still not giving you a raise-“ The girl dramatically groaned when Reigen spoke up, huffing before sitting back down again.
He seemed to have met everyone, which left him to wonder what to do with himself now that the introductions were done with.
Everything had been so casual a moment ago- mostly with everyone conversing and bickering back and forth (that was from Reigen and Ekubo), but now everyone was looking to Mamoru to say something.
To answer for him- Reigen placed a hand on Mamoru’s shoulder, making his face heat up a little to see the man so close to his face.
“Well, did Ekubo help you pick out a new suit already? If not, I know a great place down the street for real cheap!”
It’s not like Reigen was trying to make him nervous on purpose; he just isn’t used to so much physical contact. Hell, it’s been years since Mamoru had someone make contact with him for longer than a two second handshake; much less throw an arm over him like he was an old friend.
“Uh… no, I didn’t know that we were-“
“-We haven’t gotten around to it!” Ekubo cut in for him, flying in front of them and making a face that had Reigen cross his arms- but still kept his body close enough to slightly brush against Mamoru’s side.
He’s not really sure what ensued afterwards- mostly too busy thinking about how everything went with introducing himself; meanwhile, Ekubo and Reigen had started to bicker, eventually throwing insults while they moved over to Reigen’s desk to continue the meaningless argument.
Everyone seemed to just drown the two out, leaving Mamoru to ruminate the feeling of Reigen’s arm across his back.
Something about the gesture shook him to his core, and he has no idea why.
Did he not like being touched? No… it wasn’t a negative emotion he was associating it with…Maybe it was that he hasn’t been in contact with someone in so long, his body was trying to soak up each and every last sensation it left. Geez, he knew he got lonely at times, (considering the only person he ever really talks to is an evil spirit), but this was straight up mortifying to realize.
Someone, please, take him home. He doesn’t need these thoughts to also plague his mind for the next several weeks. He already has more than enough thoughts to keep him awake at night.
“Heya, buddy. ‘Ya ready to leave?” Ekubo’s voice snapped him out of his trance, making him embarrass himself in front of everyone when he looked around in confusion.
“Oh, uh, yeah… I still gotta do some grocery shopping.”
A lame excuse, but he didn’t want to seem like some anxiety-riddled kid who needed his mom to do everything for him- like getting out of social situations.
“It was nice meeting everyone.” He gave a polite bow as he and Ekubo left, hearing several different goodbyes before shutting the door after him.
They walked in silence for a bit- only the sound of Mamoru’s shoes walking against the pavement echoed around them before Ekubo decided to cut the quiet moment short.
“You didn’t tell me you needed to get groceries.” Ekubo looked over curiously to Mamoru, making the man sigh in slight shame and embarrassment.
“I mean, I do, but I didn’t want to seem rude to leave so soon.” The spirit hovered close to his side, sitting down on the man’s shoulder.
“Nah, everyone in that room is neurodivergent as hell. They probably didn’t even realize how you were blanking out most of the time there.” This actually made Mamoru chuckle a bit, even though it still didn’t make him feel less upset at himself.
“You gotta cut yourself some more slack; honestly, if Reigen was the first person I had to be introduced to, I would’ve left right there.” To see Mamoru actually smile a bit at the comment, Ekubo inwardly felt content to see his friend a little less stressed out.
“Oh, wait, I did have something to ask you, though…” The man quietly asked, trying not to grab the attention of passersby by seeming like he was speaking to himself.
Mamoru actually wanting to be more involved in talking? Well, sign him up! This has got to be good if the man looks this curious about it.
“Is Reigen-san secretly Tome-chan’s father? They just act so much alike- I felt like I was looking at a miniature version of him-“
Ekubo sputtered before letting out a loud guffaw, kicking his feet and everything.
“You really think someone like Reigen would get laid enough to have a child?! -Bwahahaha!” He was holding where a stomach would have probably been in that odd form of his, leaning against the side of Mamour’s head to steady himself. “Oh, man! That guy’s probably the next forty year old virgin!”
The spirit wiped away his tears, still chuckling a little.
“Nah, Reigen’s only thirty-one, believe it or not; and Tome’s going to be seventeen in August. I mean, it’s not impossible, but highly unlikely for multiple reasons.”
Ah, well that made sense. Just odd to see two people who are so different in age, yet also so similar to have the same habits and speech pattern.
“Reigen does kind of have a kid, though.” This had Mamoru have to do a double-take as he snapped his head over to look towards the spirit.
Didn’t he just go on about how the guy has probably never gotten action before? What’s the logic behind that?
“There’s a kid named Teruki Hanazawa; Reigen heard about the kid’s living situation a few years back, and basically made a second home at his apartment for the kid. I wouldn’t be surprised if he signs adoption forms by this summer with how much the kid stays over and visits.”
Huh… That was really commendable of the man.
From what Ekubo had told him about Reigen Arataka, he was sure he was going to meet a scummy con artist- much like the kind he used to hang out with back in his early twenties. But, when he met him today- despite it being no more than fifteen minutes- Reigen actually seemed like a genuine guy. At least, everyone in the office certainly seemed to like the man, and the kids seemed to trust him enough.
“I was honestly expecting Reigen-san to be way different, with the way you talk about him.” He gave Ekubo a curious look, thinking back to the warm feeling of the man’s arm across his back- his face tinting a little pink at the recollection.
Ekubo looked over to Mamoru, clearing his throat and scratching the back of his head as he avoided the man’s gaze.
“Well… he is an egotistical jerk who often thinks about himself, and still does run a shady business… But, I guess he’s not that bad. ‘Just easier to complain about him, than it is to compliment him. Especially, when he’s such a smug bastard if you do anything instead of insult him…”
More theories were beginning to arise in Mamoru’s mind the more the spirit talked.
Ekubo looked annoyed while he spoke about Reigen, but the embarrassed blush on his face was becoming increasingly noticeable.
“But… I guess he does actually do what he promises his clients… And he has gotten better about admitting that he’s wrong…” The spirit groaned. “Okay, and maybe he’s actually more selfless when it comes to helping people than I give him credit for- BUT, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a loud, annoying, dumbass who doesn’t know when to stop running his mouth, and infuriatingly cocky-”
“-Are you sure you don't like him, Ekubo?”
All conversation came to an immediate halt, the spirit sitting in dumbfoundment at Mamoru’s question.
“...Mamoru- that is probably the stupid thing I’ve ever been asked in my after-life.” The spirit glowered before leaving the man’s shoulder, beginning to float away. “You’re on your own. I’m going back to Shigeo’s house. You can think about what you just asked me, in the meantime.”
Mamoru watched the spirit float off- scrunching his face in confusion at Ekubo’s hostility.
Was the spirit that stubborn to admit that he actually found Reigen a friend? Actually… He’s not sure why he’s surprised. The spirit has always been overly defensive over the weirdest things throughout the years he’s known him.
He always had a sneaking suspicion that Ekubo was actually fond of the man, despite how much he claimed to hate him, but Mamoru just had to take the spirit’s word on it.
He’s not so sure why the idea struck such a nerve with the spirit, though.
With a shrug, Mamoru continued his journey back to his apartment, knowing that Ekubo would come back when he needed him for a job.
Until then, he should probably go shopping like he said so he isn't forced to eat another package of cheap ramen- like he has been for the past two weeks.
“-And then he asked me if I liked him! I mean, what kind of stupid question is that?!” Mob watched as the green spirit floated back and forth across his room, rambling mostly to himself over a topic that had an answer that was so obvious to everyone else but Ekubo. “You agree, don’t you, Shigeo?”
Mob hummed a bit to himself before answering.
“Well, I think he actually has a point-”
“-Right?! He’s totally lost it-! Wait, what?” Ekubo snapped over to look at Mob, shocked to hear that the boy wasn’t agreeing with him.
“Yoshioka-san probably meant it platonically.” Mob smiled, looking up at Ekubo- who held a poker face. “You and Shishou are like me and Hanazawa-san. We both like each other, but it’s not romantic.”
The spirit groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.
The last people he and Reigen should be compared to would be Teru and Shigeo.
Teru is one hundred percent convinced that he and Shigeo are dating, but just taking things slow for the other boy’s sake, while Shigeo is completely unaware that the latter thinks that the two of them have been in a relationship for months now.
He and Reigen have tried to help them with this miscommunication, but, ultimately, they decided that it’d be best for them to figure those things out themselves.
Shigeo has gotten a lot better at expressing himself over the years, so, they figured that this would be something that the boy would be better off experiencing himself.
It’s probably something every teenager goes through, right?
Ekubo can’t remember his life before dying- much less his teenage years- and Reigen probably just bullshitted the fact that it’s common for teens to go through a situation like that- but, it was kinda funny to see Teruki come in and gush about what a ‘good boyfriend’ Shigeo is, while the latter will talk about the fun he had hanging out with his ‘good friend Hanazawa-san’.
“Uh, no offense, Shigeo, but I think you and Teruki are a special case...”
The boy did have a point, though.
The more Dimple’s thinking about it… maybe he did take what Mamoru said the wrong way.
He groaned, dragging a hand down his face.
But what would that say about him ? If Mamoru was actually talking about liking Reigen in a platonic manner, then that would mean that Ekubo was the one who jumped straight to thinking about romancing the conman.
It might be time for Shigeo to finally exorcise him. If he’s the one immediately jumping to conclusions about other’s thinking that he’s attracted to Reigen- then it’s time for him to seriously reconsider everything that led him to this conundrum.
Why would that be the first thought that occurred to him, anyway? There was absolutely nothing that gave the idea that Ekubo could possibly find Reigen attractive. So, why would he think that Mamoru was talking about that ?
‘I don’t have the energy to deal with this shit.’ He internally muttered to himself.
He doesn’t want to know, and he doesn’t care.
“Ekubo, I really do think that you and master Reigen get along really well, though.” Shigeo’s comment was starting to make Ekubo’s non-existent pulse rise. “Even if you don’t think of Shishou like that, it is nice to see you two more affectionate towards each other.”
At the comment, Ekubo began to think back to the times that he would crash at Reigen’s place- often sitting on his lap or shoulder as they watched cheesy sitcoms together, or would just laze around in each other's presence.
What solidified the conviction even more was the fact that everyone’s seen Reigen let Ekubo possess him an embarrassing amount of times- all because he just happened to mention that he likes possessing people because he likes feeling alive at times.
Now, no one is really surprised to see the two of them share a body as they did idle things around the office on slow days.
‘Damn it…’ Now Ekubo was starting to think back on those memories with fondness. Maybe he did consider the stupid conman as a friend…
But, did Reigen even feel the same towards him?
‘NOOO!’ He internally screamed at himself, desperately trying to stomp those thoughts as far back in his mind as possible.
“Uh, thanks for listening, Shigeo, but I suddenly remembered that I forgot to do… something.” Before the boy could even get a word out, the spirit bolted out of the window, leaving Mob to watch the spirit’s panicked form.
‘I need to talk to Mamoru!’