Chapter Text
The human brain is a funny little thing, and emotions even more so; no one knew that better than the 21st century’s greatest psychic- Reigen Arataka.
Hovering outside his door was a very strange presence; two sets of emotions were layered on top of each other- which usually indicated a possession- but neither were exerting emotions synonymous with a possession. He couldn’t feel a ghost either, instead an aura that felt like pure power emenated out of the door, and both presences shared emotions. Currently they were experiencing nervousness and hesitation, and considering they had been hovering outside the door for a solid 30 seconds Reigen could guess what they were nervous about.
Reigen snuffed out his cigarette and called for the people- person?- to come into his office.
“Excuse me, I came here because I saw your sign.”
To Reigen’s surprise a young boy- alone- opened his door. He knew instantly that the boy was psychic, extremely powerful, and that the two entities were both a part of him. The boy gaped at him and a mixture of emotions came over the boy- shock, hope, and excitement- but they were quickly stamped down by him and the second entity greedily ate them up.
One of the brain’s many quirks is that seeing is believing- but as a result if the brain vehemently doesn’t believe something it won’t see it. It was through using this inanity that Reigen was able to hide his aura from psychics and ghosts alike(strangely enough, despite not having physical brains ghosts followed the same rules humans did). If Reigen could just take the muted emotions the boy was feeling about his aura and turn them into a strong enough sense of denial he’d stop being able to see Reigen’s aura entirely.
“How may I help you?” Reigen put on his biggest smile despite the disappointment now emanating from the boy from his missing aura.
He sauntered closer to him so the boy would have to move his head to look up at him.
“Um, I’m an esper.”
Reigen lifted an eyebrow as the kid’s hesitation reached him, mixed in with a little regret.
“There are times where I can’t control my powers very well, and it’s scary.”
Oh. Reigen immediately realized it probably had something to do with the second entity hoovering up his emotions, the source of an esper’s powers- was the boy even aware it existed?
“And you came to me because you heard I was psychic?” He spoke slightly softer than before.
“Yeah. I haven’t been able to talk to anyone about this.” The boy looked away from Reigen and towards the floor. “I thought you might be the same as me…”
Ouch, Reigen momentarily regretted his knee-jerk reaction to hide his aura from people.
“If I tried, I could see spirits, too.”
“Well, come in.” Reigen wasn’t telekinetic like he assumed the boy was but he might be able to help with his emotional problems.
Reigen indicated a chair for him to sit on while he made tea. He ruminated on the boy showing up at his office. Reigen had only met a handful of espers before- and most of them before he started hiding his aura soon after he started his psychic business. They were all telekinetics and they all had powers that were nothing to cough at, if the boy had strong powers that he couldn’t control Reigen couldn’t blame him for being scared. He eventually made two cups of tea for the both of them and sat down across from him, and immediately started bullshitting the kid.
“I was troubled a lot when I was a kid, too.”
Okay that wasn’t an entirely a lie, even if Reigen wasn’t troubled in the same way the boy was. Reigen experienced a kind of detachment from his fellow students as well, and when he started being able to control people’s emotions when he reached high school he’d made the mistake of letting it be known. He was already known as a sweet talker that could con people out of everything they own and the knowledge that he could have been using powers to do so resulted in the people around him avoiding contact. To Reigen’s credit, he hadn’t used his powers, he discovered quickly that any emotion he could feel he could also see as plain as day in the way people move and talk. By the time he mastered control of emotions he’d already learned that words and actions were just as effective as using his powers in most situations and deemed his powers next to useless. In fact, the most they ever did was attract unwanted attention from beings that could sense him.
Reigen had only meant that line to draw some connection between him and the little esper, he didn’t expect him to start brimming with hope from Reigen’s first sentence. He dove further into the kid’s psyche, pushing aside the emotions he was currently experiencing and reached for the underlying emotions that he was feeling about other things on his mind and was touched by a profound loneliness. Reigen felt his heart clench in sympathy.
“Listen. Just because you have psychic powers doesn’t make you any less human.” He needed to make it clear that the kid was being ostracized by his peers for something not very important. He’d seen ghosts and psychics alike drunk on power because they thought being different made them above everyone else. By framing it as if he thought the boy thought less of himself destroyed the mental connection of psychic powers being inherently better than any other ability. “It’s the same as people who are fast, people who are book smart, and people with strong body odor. Psychic powers are just another characteristic.”
The kid nodded and lapped up everything Reigen was giving him earnestly. He almost felt bad, the boy was obviously searching for someone to tell him something exactly like that and Reigen happened to be the first person he ran into and now he clung to Reigen’s words like they were verbal gold. He stood up in an attempt to get the kid’s big, hopeful, eyes off of him for a second; it didn’t work.
“You must embrace that as a part of yourself and continue to live positively. The truth behind one’s charm is kindness.” Reigen put a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “Become a good person. That is all.”
“May I come talk to you again?”
“Yeah, I don’t know about that.” If he wasn’t careful enough the kid would keep coming back and with that cute puppy dog face that Reigen couldn’t resist. “I’m pretty busy, you know. Anyway you should go home for-”
Distracted by his conversation with the young psychic Reigen took a sip from his still hot tea and gasped in pain and horror as he watched it fall towards the boy.
“Hey, don’t get bur-”
The kid’s aura quickly covered the cup and the liquid and it coalesced back into the cup before landing neatly in the kid’s hand. Very suddenly Reigen had an idea.
“Hey… you said you can see ghosts, too, right?”
He nodded.
“Do you know how to exorcise them, too?”
He nodded again.
Good, Reigen couldn’t imagine how he could teach a telekinetic how to exorcise ghosts. He had figured out how to be rid of ghosts using his powers of empathy- it was as easy as forcing a ghost to feel acceptance about the ghostly afterlife and it would vanish- but powers that dealt with the mind and powers that dealt with the physical realm were two entirely different beasts.
“Alright. Come again tomorrow around the same time.”
“What? Really?” At that moment the boy showed more visible emotion than the entire time he’d been there and Reigen belatedly realized he had just signed himself up for something he shouldn't have.
“I’ll show you how to use your powers.” Well, he was already deep in it he might as well keep going.
“Th- thank you, Master.” The boy bowed and Reigen suddenly felt respect come to the forefront of the boy’s mind.
He stepped back in shock. “Whoa, whoa kid- that’s a little much.”
“Oh, I thought that because you were training me…”
“I see, hold the bowing at least.”
“Okay.” The kid’s eyes suddenly grew wide and he jerked back up to meet Reigen’s eyes. “I never introduced myself. My name’s Kageyama Shigeo, but most people call me Mob.”
“Mob, huh?” That wasn’t the friendliest nickname he’d ever heard. “I’m Reigen Arataka.”
He glanced up at the clock on his wall. “Now go on, Mob.”
“Oh- alright.” Mob moved towards the door and glanced at Reigen. “Thank you.”
“It’s- it’s no problem, kid.”