Chapter Text
Years later.....
Reigen’s hands were full with dual cups of hot coffee but he shifted them just enough to open the front door to Spirits and Such. The office was empty except for Serizawa who was doing some filing. Reigen had just seen him that morning, but it still felt like forever. He sighed at his boyfriend’s sartorial choices. The older man loved his comfortable cardigans and button front shirts but they drove Reigen nuts. Yes, they were adorable for everyday wear but they were not as professional as Reigen would have wanted.
Reigen was still a student so his shabby t-shirts and jeans were acceptable. But if he was working full time at Spirits and Such he’d been dressed much differently, a suit perhaps. Yeah, a nice suit sounded classy. Maybe a tie with a splash of color? He kissed Serizawa on the corner of his mouth before handing him a coffee. “How were the clients today?”
“Pretty calm, really,” Serizawa answered. He took the offered drink with gratitude.
“Where’s Mob and Dimple?” Reigen asked, taking a sip. He grimaced, still too hot. Someday he would learn to wait but it was just too tempting.
“Out on a job,” Serizawa said, closing the file drawer. It shut with a bang that was too loud for the space. One day he’d have to fix that.
“He didn’t want you with him?” Reigen asked. He thought that was odd.
“He wanted to spend some time with Dimple,” Serizawa said. He shot Reigen a pensive look. “He’s not doing this job for much longer.” Dimple had already told them that when Shigeo left, he would stay with them. That meant that Dimple and Shigeo’s time together was limited.
Reigen hesitated before his next question. “So, when do you take over officially?”
“We,” Serizawa insisted, “will be the owners of Spirits and Such in March.”
Reigen whistled between his teeth. “That’s sooner than I thought.”
“Kageyama’s new position starts in April,” Serizawa said. Shigeo had secured himself a job at Salt Elementary School as a homeroom teacher. He had been both nervous and excited when he had told his apprentices about it.
Reigen nodded. “Of course, that makes sense.” After waiting for so long, it seemed now that everything was moving too fast. “Are you going to be okay running this place by yourself? I still have a few years left in school.” He made the most drastic offer he could. “I could quit.”
“Don’t you dare,” Serizawa said. He nuzzled at Reigen’s cheek. His breath smelled faintly of coffee. “I’ll be fine. You can always help out when you can like you’ve been doing. I’m proud of you, ‘Taka.”
“I’m proud of you too.” Reigen meant it with every fiber of his being. Serizawa had really come into his own.
“There’s uh, something else,” Serizawa said. He moved over to his desk and opened his laptop. Curious, Reigen followed him. “I’ve been looking around and found this.” He pushed the monitor to Reigen’s eyeline. It was a webpage for an apartment: semi-open floorplan, simple décor with light wood details. It was lovely.
“What’s this?” Reigen asked.
“Well, if you want,” Serizawa said, “we can look next week and see if you like it.”
Reigen felt a pleasant chill up the back of his neck. “Are, are you serious?” He took the laptop from Serizawa to click through the pictures. “Can we afford this?”
Serizawa laughed, wrapping his arms around Reigen’s middle and pulling him onto his lap. “’Taka, I wouldn’t show it to you if we couldn’t afford it.”
“But are we ready for this?” Reigen asked, almost afraid of Serizawa’s answer. It represented the kind of stability he had wanted for so long.
“Babe, you can’t sleep on my parents’ couch forever,” Serizawa said.
For the past year, Reigen had been forced to couch surf once his family discovered that he wasn’t going to business school for them. They had unceremoniously kicked their “ungrateful child” out of the house hoping to teach him humility or some other nonsense. Reigen actually surviving on his own drove them to distraction. He still found it hilarious that they had only been mildly put out when they found out their son was dating Serizawa. No, the final straw had been the stupid business, as always.
Reigen had a scholarship so tuition wasn’t an issue, but a place to sleep was. Shigeo had let Reigen stay with him until Teruki had asked Shigeo to move in with him. Teruki offered to take Reigen in as well, but the young man only stayed for a few weeks until he could secure a different situation. He did not want to intrude on his mentor’s new happiness. That and looking at Teruki’s clothes everyday made Reigen’s eyes water.
The next futon was at Endo’s, one of his kempo senpai’s. Dark-haired and with a severe face, Serizawa never particularly liked Endo all that much. He especially didn’t like Endo when he kept coming home drunk after work and waking Reigen up in the middle in the night. It wrecked hell on Reigen’s sleep which started effecting his grades.
Finally, Serizawa’s parents took Reigen in. They adored Reigen, but he hadn’t wanted to impose. Serizawa had to literally throw Reigen over his shoulder and carry him out of Endo’s apartment to convince him how serious the offer was. Reigen slept on the old couch, mostly because the one stipulation that Serizawa’s folks had was that they did not share a room under their roof. They had to maintain some sense of propriety.
This meant that any physical intimacy had to wait until after Serizawa’s parents were out and that one ear always had to listen for the turn of a lock. Growing up, Serizawa had never thought that sexual frustration would be the primary motivator for striking out on his own but here he was.
“Have you told your parents?” Reigen asked.
“Yes,” Serizawa answered. “Mom said that she was going to have to speed up your cooking lessons.”
“Oh god,” Reigen groaned. Mama Serizawa had been teaching Reigen all of Serizawa’s favorite dishes to make sure her boy wouldn’t starve. Considering his own mother hadn’t subjected him to cooking lessons, he was doing all right. It wasn’t his favorite thing but Reigen would do whatever it took to make Mama Serizawa happy.
The front doorknob rattled. Reigen launched himself out of Serizawa’s lap. This was a place of business after all. “Welcome to Spirits—” Serizawa started his speech but trailed off when he saw who it was. “Hanazawa-san,” he said, “I’m afraid Master Kageyama isn’t here.”
“I know,” Teruki answered. “I’m taking him out to dinner after this last client.”
Reigen chuckled under his breath. “Of course, you are.” Despite the man’s terrible sense of taste, Reigen did genuinely like Teruki and appreciated how well he treated Mob.
“I actually came here to give you two this.” Teruki took an envelope out from his turquoise tracksuit jacket. He handed it over to Reigen.
The younger man opened the envelope. The thick cardstock was an elegant cream with beautiful calligraphy. It took Reigen a second to recognize what is was: a wedding invitation for March, in Hawaii. Reigen was stunned. He looked up at Teru. “I didn’t know you two were engaged.”
“We didn’t want to announce anything until we were sure it was possible,” Teru said. “It won’t be legal here but—” he changed the thread of conversation. “I want to spend my life with him. I want Shigeo to know how important he is to me. Can you and Serizawa come? We’d like you there.”
“Yes,” Reigen hugged the older man. “Of course. We’ll work something out.”
“I’ll be more than happy to pay for plane tickets,” Teru offered.
“Well,” Reigen smirked, “since you offered—”
“Taka.” Serizawa chided his boyfriend on his cheapness.
“I meant it,” Teruki said. “I know you have other things you’re saving up for. That and my parents are so ecstatic about me having a destination wedding that they’re paying for everything else. I can treat my favorite boys to plane fare.”
The older man really was too generous. Conspicuously generous sometimes, but if Reigen and Serizawa could benefit from it, then Reigen wasn’t going to complain. “We can go over details later,” Teruki said. “I just wanted to tell you about the wedding in person.”
“We appreciate that,” Serizawa answered.
They chatted for a few more moments before they said their polite goodbyes. Then Teruki left, carrying his hopes on his shoulders. Reigen shook his head. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “The two of them married, just wow.”
Serizawa snickered, he was imagining it. “I know, Hanazawa is going to be insufferable.”
The fond laughter was contagious. “It’s going to be amazing,” Reigen muttered, meaning the wedding. “What color do you think the tuxedoes will be?” Reigen asked, nearly breathless.
“You think they’re wearing tuxedoes?” Serizawa asked.
Reigen had to set his coffee down before he dropped it. March could not come soon enough. The door to the front door clicked open. The two young men frantically tried to get their act together before their prospective client saw them. It was a woman in her mid-thirties. “Is this Spirits and Such?” she asked.
Considering the huge sign outside of the building it should have been obvious but clients asked this all the time. “Yes,” Reigen said, having regained control of himself before Serizawa. “Can we help you?”
“My name is Kurata Tome,” she said, jerking a thumb dramatically at herself. “What do you guys know about aliens?”
Reigen and Serizawa looked at each other. Aliens, really? They had no one but themselves to blame for the life they chose but they wouldn’t have it any other way.