Chapter Text
Years later, when the dust had settled and the country had recovered some semblance of normalcy, people would ask Reigen where he was when the first broadcast happened.
If he’d known.
Deep down, there was a part of him that wanted to embellish. That perked up at the opportunity to entertain them with a truly impressive tale of dread and heroics. To weave a story that highlighted all the best parts and forgot the rest.
In the end, he could only tell the truth.
The events of that one Thursday evening hadn’t struck fear into his heart. There was no moment of cold realization that crashed over him or an understanding that nothing would ever be the same. Not right away.
September first hadn’t been all that important. What was important was every day that followed.
“-not panic. We have taken over the airwaves with our psychic powers. It’s in your best interest to listen to what I tell you now and do not resist-“
Conversation at the table paused. Reigen’s brow furrowed, his glass frozen halfway to his lips. Across from him, Ritsu craned around in his chair to peek at the TV. A grain of rice fell off Shigeo’s cheek and onto his shirt.
“Ritsu, turn around and face your plate, please. The show can wait,” Mayuko said as she returned with a second helping of udon.
Saburo leaned around her, squinting with the same amount of confusion Reigen was experiencing. “No, hon, wait…”
“-Our power is absolute. We intend to overturn this world and its leaders starting right here with Seasoning City. We will rule the powerless. All who decide to join us will be rewarded-“
“If this is one of those weird new horror movie commercials, they need to think more about their audience.” Mayuko shook her head and grabbed the remote. “It’s dinnertime. There are kids watching. Shige, Ritsu, come on now. Finish up, okay?”
She pressed a button and nothing happened.
“-less collateral damage if we’re met with cooperation. Surrender or report any known psychics to Claw immediately-“
“What on earth?” Mayuko pressed more aggressively. The intimidating stare was not replaced with regular programming. “Didn’t we just change the batteries in this thing?”
The remote wasn’t the problem. Reigen could see the channel number changing in the corner of the screen. The mute symbol popped up a moment later, but the man’s voice rang through the house clear as day.
“Mom…?”
“Mayu, just turn it off. It’s scaring Shige.” Saburo wrapped an arm around Shigeo’s back and rubbed his arm.
“I’m trying.” She got to her knees in front of the set and clicked the power button
“Mom, what’s he talking about?” Ritsu slipped out of his seat and stood beside her.
A splash of cold on his leg snapped Reigen out of his stupor and he put down his drink before he slopped it all down his front. It clanked loudly on the glass coaster and Shigeo startled. Reigen offered him an apologetic wince.
“-This is only a fraction of our power. Do not force me to demonstrate further. I’ll be waiting.”
The man’s face disappeared from the screen with a flicker of colorful stripes and a piercing beep. A commercial for shower mats took its place.
“What happened?” Ritsu asked.
No one spoke.
Reigen hoped someone would come up with an answer because he sure didn’t have one. What had happened was that the atmosphere in the Kageyama house had been light before. Cheery even. Now it was strained. There was an uneasiness sinking into the very air and making Reigen antsy.
Shigeo let out a nearly inaudible whine, picking at the decorative wrap on his chopsticks.
“Ah, maybe it was a prank.” Reigen waved his hand as if to brush the whole thing aside. If only so Shigeo would stop looking so anxious. “Or some propaganda thing. Everyone is getting so touchy these days, you know? Maybe it’s a statement for some new… psychic equality… movement? Not that I’ve noticed any mistreatment from clients lately, except for that guy who-“
Ritsu spoke up over him as he rambled, and for once Reigen was grateful for it.
“Why was he telling people to turn in psychics?” Ritsu looked to his dad when Mayuko’s expression pinched in lieu of an answer. “Why does he want Nii-san?”
Shigeo shrunk down in his seat.
“I don’t know, kiddo. But don’t worry. Nobody is going to take your brother anywhere. Mayu, maybe we should check the news?” Saburo shrugged at the look he received. “I don’t know. Maybe they know who that was? I’m just taking a shot in the dark here.”
Mayuko let out a sharp huff and changed the channel to the local news, her foot tapping out a steady rhythm on the floor.
“-calling in from every corner of Seasoning. It appears that the broadcast spanned all public and private channels, interrupted movies, radio, you name it. Someone even reported to have heard the message from an mp3 device.”
The familiar six o’clock newscasters were off script, papers being slid towards them across the desk as they spoke. Text scrolled across the bottom of the screen. “Mysterious demand for compliance from unknown source ‘Claw’. Active threat or psychic hoax?”
Reigen got out of his chair and joined Mayuko and Ritsu in the living room. He crossed his arms to hide the beginning of two damp spots on his shirt.
“Local law enforcement in Seasoning is investigating the source of the broadcast. At this moment there has not been any initial statement made by the Prime Minister, but his media team has reached out and announced that there will be an address to the country once more information is known. The suggestion from authorities for the time being is to stay calm and continue normal activity. Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m interested in finding out where that guy got his eyebrows waxed-“
Reigen choked on a snort that felt entirely inappropriate and thanked the merciful gods for the fact that it went ignored.
“Well,” Mayuko said, turning the volume almost down to zero. “That’s, um. Interesting.” She stared at the screen another moment and suddenly became aware of Ritsu hovering by her elbow. “Ah, Ritsu, why don’t you…? It’s your night to help clean up, isn’t it? I think it’d be okay if you let me and Dad take care of that. I don’t- Unless anyone is going to keep eating?”
Reigen shook his head, as did Saburo and Shigeo, though he’d slunk so far down behind his knees that Reigen could barely see him.
She nodded once. “Right. Okay. I think we should clean up and you two can pick out a movie. Maybe two? It’s early. You can put it on in our room, alright?”
Reigen could feel the stress dripping from her words. The forced smile wasn’t fooling anyone.
“I have homework,” Shigeo said quietly.
“That’s okay. Reigen can help you with that, right?”
Reigen blanched before stitching his expression into something more composed. He swung around to Shigeo, jamming his hands deep into his pockets. “Sure! Something giving you trouble?”
“Math.”
Of course, it was. Why had Reigen even bothered asking? He’d helped Shigeo with homework before. He could handle sixth-grade math. Right? Right.
“What’cha working on?”
“Decimals.”
Oh, that was a relief. That was basically just money. Reigen’s grin turned more genuine.
“No problem. Why don’t you go get that set up and I’ll be up in a minute.” Reigen eyed Mayuko. Were they going to talk about what just happened, or…?
“That sounds great. Ritsu, you too,” Saburo said when Shigeo left the table and his little brother didn’t follow.
“I want to hear what he says. The Prime Minister.” Ritsu set his shoulders and tried to look stern. He looked like he was pouting instead.
“Ritsu, go do your homework.”
“I did it already.”
“Go upstairs, please,” Mayuko said with an edge to her voice.
Ritsu squirmed in place, eyes darting from his mom to the TV screen. “But…”
The tension was mounting with every second Ritsu didn’t do what was asked of him. Saburo finally stood from his seat at the table. “Listen to your mother, Ritsu.”
“They’re talking about psychics, Mom. They’re talking about Nii-san.” Ritsu pointed to Shigeo on the stairs. He peeped at being caught still in the room.
“It could be late. You have school tomorrow. You’re not staying up to see the address.”
“I’m eleven.” Ritsu said it in a way that was meant to sound impressive but simultaneously made him sound five.
Mayuko covered her face in her hands and took a deep breath. And then she cracked her fingers and fixed Reigen with a look so suddenly desperate that he could do nothing but act like a total fool.
“If you don’t want to pick out a movie, I will!” he taunted, dropping to his knees in front of the cabinet. “Oh, I heard there’s some excellent home videos in here. Tub time for baby Ritsu! I’m sure they’ll be great for a laugh.”
There was an indignant squawk from behind him.
“There are not!” The frantic thump of footsteps followed and then there were small hands pushing him away from the movie collection. “And don’t pick a little kid movie either.” He made a face, throwing a frustrated glance over his shoulder at his parents. “Will you tell me what happens after? Please?”
“We’ll see, Ritsu. We’ll talk to you if there’s anything to worry about. Both of you. Promise,” Mayuko said.
Reigen took a random movie case out and Ritsu snatched it out of his hands and replaced it in an instant. “You’re a bad movie picker. Nii-san likes this one better. You should know that.”
Reigen pursed his lips and didn’t comment. Ritsu was one of the most well-behaved kids in the world, but when he was cranky he had a hell of a mouth. It wasn’t Reigen’s job to parent him. There were two adults already leveling disapproving looks in his direction.
Ritsu’s hands balled into fists and fixed his eyes on his lap. “Sorry.”
“I’ll take this on your expert recommendation. You pick out another and meet us upstairs.” Reigen patted him on the back and stood. Mayuko and Saburo grimaced at him, the “thank you” unspoken between them. Reigen shot them an equally awkward smile. He met Shigeo on the stairs, the two of them trekking up to his room to grab his school stuff before heading into Saburo and Mayuko’s room. It felt weird to be in here. Reigen hadn’t ever had a reason to come in before.
Math book laid out before him, Shigeo sat cross-legged on his parent’s bed and watched Reigen get the movie ready.
“Reigen?”
Reigen fiddled with the movie case, closing his eyes and buying another second to steel himself for whatever was coming.
“Yeah?”
Shigeo didn’t say anything else, though. Not until Reigen got the movie playing and leaned back on the pillows next to him, the mattress dipping with his weight and making Shigeo’s pencil roll off his notebook.
“Reigen?”
“What’s up?”
Shigeo scooted a little closer. “Psychic powers are like any other talent, right? We don’t have to use them just because we have them? You said that before.”
Reigen nodded resolutely and did his best to project confidence, gently clapping a hand to Shigeo’s knee and hoping he couldn’t feel how clammy it was through his pants. “I stand by it. Life’s about making the choice to be a good person. You’re a good person because you’ve made a lot of good choices, Shigeo. Don’t forget that.”
Shigeo’s shoulders slumped minutely at that. The reassurance succeeded in taking some of the heaviness out of the room. But then the frown was back and Shigeo looked Reigen dead in the eye.
“That guy is making a bad choice. He’s scaring people.”
“Ah…” Reigen drummed his fingers on Shigeo’s knee. “We don’t know if it’s anything to get worked up over yet. Could just be someone with a little too much computer smarts and a bad sense of humor.”
Shigeo thought that over. “It’s not funny. He’s making people worry. Ritsu shouldn’t be worried. He’s too little.”
Reigen tucked away his amusement at that statement. “Are you too old to be worried, then?”
“I’m worried.”
“About what?”
Downstairs a phone started ringing. From the sound of it, the call went unanswered. Soft footfalls could be heard on the stairs shortly after and if Shigeo had been planning on answering honestly, he changed his mind knowing his little brother was on his way.
“I don’t know.”
The door opened and Ritsu came in looking significantly calmer. He was also carrying a plate of mochi, which Reigen had to appreciate. At least if the kids were getting excluded from something, they were getting a special treat.
Reigen didn’t know how he felt about including himself with “the kids” in this situation but there were three mochi, so he wasn’t going to fuss.
“Mom said we can have these, but don’t get any on the bed. They’re going to come up in a bit.” Ritsu put the plate down on the bedside table and climbed up beside Shigeo. He glanced briefly at the open math book and the blank worksheet. “Do you want me to help you? I’m pretty good at decimals.”
Shigeo hummed. “I’d like that. You’re so good at school, Ritsu.” He tipped his head to Reigen. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want to help me?”
“Ah, you know what they say. Teaching others is the best way to learn! It’ll be good for both of you if Ritsu walks you through it,” Reigen said with an overly airy laugh. Okay, he was good with money and yeah, decimals were like extra detailed money math… But the glimpse he’d gotten of the equations had been enough to make him re-think his offer. Adding and subtracting decimals? Easy.
What the heck were they doing multiplying that shit?
Ritsu folded himself into Shigeo’s side and jumped to it, quickly outlining the first problem. Reigen watched them with a hint of wistfulness. His own sister had never been one to help him with schoolwork. She’d been so many grades above him. Always busy with her extracurriculars. Unintentionally setting the bar so high Reigen could never hope to reach it. Brushing him aside hadn’t been an act of maliciousness, but for a long time Reigen had held onto a deep sense of resentment. One that he was slowly coming to regret.
When was the last time they spoke?
The phone downstairs rang again and Reigen’s remained silent in his pocket. He pushed back into the pillows and took the closest mochi, shoving it in his mouth with more vigor than he meant to. A cough welled up in his throat and he clamped down on it, chewing faster.
His mom would call eventually. Probably. She should. Some guy had come on TV and spouted nonsense about taking over the world with psychics, for crying out loud. He thought she would have jumped on this opportunity to chide him for the thousandth time over his poor career choices.
Would his mom call if these guys turned out to be a legitimate threat? If they came knocking on his door?
It probably should have been worrying that he felt a swell of vindication at the thought. He tucked that aside and into a little pocket in his chest he studiously ignored. He shouldn’t want that. He didn’t want that.
Out of the corner of his eye, Shigeo toiled over his homework with his bottom lip caught between his teeth. Reigen internally shook himself. Shigeo was a psychic, but more importantly he was a kid, and there was absolutely no amount of attention from his mildly shitty mother that was worth Shigeo being in danger. None. Reigen wasn’t even sure if he’d lost his last baby tooth. His biggest concerns should be puppy-love crushes and pre-teen acne. Not whatever the hell was going on right now.
What the hell was going on right now anyway? Where had this lunatic come from? He was acting like there were a lot of other psychics around.
Shigeo was the only one Reigen had ever met. And Shigeo still hadn’t met any others, though Reigen wasn’t ready to set that little detail straight yet. He wasn’t sure he ever would be, but once in a while Shigeo looked up at him with stars in his eyes and told him he made a new friend based on something Reigen had suggested, and the guilt would rise up once more.
But after two years… Could he even come clean? To Shigeo, maybe. He was an understanding kid. But to Mayuko and Saburo?
Reigen didn’t think he could handle no longer being invited to the beach. To birthday parties. To regular Thursday night family dinners where leftovers were pressed upon him at the end of each stay.
Mayuko and Saburo were always saying he was such a huge part of Shigeo slowly coming out of his shell, but Reigen wondered if they knew how much they were saving him from social isolation as well.
Reigen blew out a long breath.
“Can you check these? Ritsu thinks they’re right.” Shigeo held out a completed worksheet.
Reigen took it, his vision glazing over at the messy scrawl of numbers. He thought of the soft smiles he was given whenever he “canceled” plans and joined in on what the Kageyama family was doing instead. Of the increasing invitations to come on weekend outings.
Ah, maybe they did know. That was mortifying enough that he passed the homework back and tuned everything else out by staring mindlessly at the cartoon on the screen.
The hour hand on Reigen’s watch was past ten when the bedroom door crept inwards. Saburo appeared in the gap, tilting his head and beckoning Reigen out into the hall. Reigen levered himself out from between the boys, holding his breath when Shigeo sniffed and rubbed some hair out of his eyes. His lids fluttered, but he didn’t wake.
Reigen slunk from the bed and both he and Saburo waited a few seconds to make sure neither child noticed his absence.
They looked asleep. Two relaxed faces and two evenly rising and falling chests. By all accounts they seemed to be off in dreamland, but Reigen wasn’t sure he bought it.
“He’s going to be on in a minute.”
Saburo led the way, Reigen’s chest tight with anticipation. It wasn’t anxiety. What he told Shigeo wasn’t totally bogus. For all they knew the Prime Minister was about to tell them it was footage from some kid’s college film class that a buddy had leaked as an alcohol-induced laugh. That was way too specific and pretty damn unlikely, but Reigen had a lot of time to himself to think about the possibilities.
“Are they sleeping?” Mayuko asked as soon as they returned. She was in the same spot in the middle of the living room as before and Reigen wondered if she’d even moved at all. The still messy dinner table suggested she hadn’t.
“As far as I can tell,” Reigen muttered, raking a hand through his hair. He stretched and his back popped. “I almost was.”
Mayuko hugged herself. “Sorry for keeping you so late. We didn’t want to have the boys alone, but sitting by yourself and waiting for some kind of news? I- We just really appreciate it.”
Reigen stifled a yawn. “Seriously, no problem. It’s not like I had anything else planned. This is important.”
The three of them fell silent when the scene on the TV switched away from the newscasters and to a podium surrounded by microphones. Saburo stood behind Mayuko and put his hands on her shoulders. Reigen crossed his arms and fisted his hands in the fabric of his suit jacket so he wouldn’t indulge the urge to fidget.
Yabe Hiroshi walked into the frame and held his hands up to quell the barrage of chatter and flashing of cameras.
A bead of sweat dripped down Reigen’s temple. This didn’t have to be anything bad. It didn’t.
The Prime Minister cleared his throat and Mayuko raised the volume just enough that they could hear without straining.
“Good evening. Thank you all for your patience.” He nodded to the camera and clasped his hands on top of the podium, as composed as ever. “As you’re all aware, there was a message delivered to the people of Japan through an illegal broadcast tonight. One that I can assure you, the authorities are looking into seriously. The safety and well being of our citizens continues to be our highest priority, and it is due to that dedication that we are implementing the following precautionary measures. After this broadcast all telecommunications with the exceptions of cellular towers and VHF devices will be temporarily shut down to prevent further transmissions from this group that has named themselves ‘Claw’. Please restrict using these methods of communication to emergencies only. All future messaging can be accessed at 1620AM radio, the Crisis Alert System.”
Reigen let out a nearly inaudible hum. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but this wasn’t it.
“There will also be a mandatory shelter-in-place order beginning at midnight. Please return to your homes and await further instruction. Exceptions will be made for essential workers. We ask you to have identification ready if you find the need to travel. We expect that these measures will be only necessary in the short term, and in turn, expect that all of you will do your best to follow all instructions to ensure the safety of all residents, psychic or otherwise. My teams, in cooperation with others around the country, will be working tirelessly to mitigate any further disruption to daily lives. Thank you and have a good evening.”
The Prime Minister bowed and gestured to someone off-camera. The feed cut and the screen abruptly switched to static. The soft sound of it filled the house and painted the walls in a shifting grey. It made Reigen’s teeth itch.
“Well. Feels a little silly that we had Shigeo do his homework now that there’s no school tomorrow,” he said with a smile that twitched as it stretched across his face. “Nothing like taking a forced vacation! Can’t remember the last time I got a day off.”
Neither Mayuko nor Saburo looked away from the television set.
“He didn’t say who Claw was,” Mayuko muttered after some time. “He- They didn’t even say they were investigating the source at all. Did they know? Does the government already know who they are? Is that why they’re taking it so seriously?” Her voice got higher pitched as she went on, and Saburo gently shushed her. “They wouldn’t be shutting everything down for no reason. Why weren’t we told there was a crazy person with psychic powers parading around with the ability to do this shit?”
“Well, I doubt he was parading before,” Saburo said, letting go of his wife when she started pacing around the small space.
“Don’t be like that right now, Saburo. I swear to god.”
“Mayu, calm down. The kids are sleeping.”
Reigen stepped back when she turned on her heel and nearly clipped him in the arm trying to face her husband. His mind was blank of any comforts. Actually, all of him felt off.
“The kids? God, what are we going to do?" Mayuko turned towards the stairwell and froze. "Shigeo-“
Two pairs of feet tumbled up the stairs and out of sight. Reigen’s heart fell into his stomach with a sickening splash. Ah. Not asleep then.
“Son of a bitch…” Mayuko hissed under her breath. She took off up the stairs after them. “Ritsu? Shigeo? No, come here. Come back, it’s okay-“
Saburo pinched the bridge of his nose and heaved a sigh.
“Crap.”
Reigen swung his arms aimlessly and gave a weak clap. “I uh. I guess I’m heading home then.” He didn’t know what else to say. There was a bit of him that felt he should be more disturbed by this turn of events than he was. The jitters might come later. When he wasn’t trying to save face in front of friends.
“No.”
“Huh?”
Saburo’s brows were drawn tight, peering at him with an intensity Reigen didn’t usually see from him.
“I think- And I think Mayu would agree with me, that you should stay here. If you need to run home and grab some of your own things, fine. But I think we’d all feel better if you stayed. We don’t have a clue what these people are capable of, but if the government is treating this the way they are, you shouldn’t be alone. You’re just as much of a target as Shige.”
Reigen’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. There was no way to contradict that statement when he was being offered such kindness. He was more touched than he had any right to be.
“I’m sure the boys will be sleeping with us tonight, or at least with each other. There’ll be an empty bed somewhere, anyways. It’s all yours. I can grab some sheets.”
Dazed by the gesture, Reigen slowly cleared the table while Saburo set up the spare futon in Shigeo’s room. He warred with himself over running home for the essentials. Was it really worth the danger? But what even was the danger? Would Claw even believe him if he said he wasn’t a psychic? What could they do besides screw with the TV stations? He’d never seen Shigeo do anything worse than accidentally make tableware into modern art sculptures. And the last thing he wanted was to get in trouble with the police for being out, but the orders had been set for midnight and he still had…
Only forty minutes. Maybe he shouldn’t go. He could look like an idiot for a day or two in Saburo’s clothes.
Okay, no. He would just drive really fast and hope he didn’t get pulled over.
Despite his claims of being back in fifteen minutes or less, Reigen pulled back into the driveway just shy of the curfew.
“Either everyone else also had to run home for underwear, or people are evacuating,” Reigen half-joked, keeping his voice low. Shigeo and Ritsu were on the couch with Mayuko, bundled up in blankets with a small cup of milk each. He eyed them briefly, rubbing at his face. There was sweat beading quickly on his forehead now that he was back inside. “How’re they doing?”
Saburo leaned in. “They’re alright. Mayu was able to get them to sit down and listen. It’s hard to know what to tell them. They’re kind of at a weird age. They understand all the words, but they don’t get it like we do. Between the two of them, Ritsu’s been more worked up, but you know. Shigeo’s always been like that. He wasn’t happy that you left. Took a solid ten minutes to get him to stop hanging out by the front window. They’re going to be in with us tonight.” He paused, fingers mimicking Reigens’ tapping on the edge of the table. “Evacuating? We didn’t hear anything on the radio.”
Reigen shook his head. “There were a lot of cars on the road for a city that’s supposed to be shut down. This neighborhood was quiet though. Maybe they’re going by districts. I could see the highway from my apartment and there was already traffic. I guess it could technically be all the evening shift people heading home. The trains are still running.”
“We’re… We’re sticking here until we’re told otherwise. God, I hope this is just a scare and it’s over soon. I’m aging a year a minute here.”
Reigen chuckled uncomfortably.
“Anyway, we’re taking the kids to bed. Let us know if you need anything.”
“Thanks again. Will do.”
Mayuko caught her husband’s eye and ushered the boys towards the stairs once more. Saburo followed, stopping at the bottom and calling back to Reigen with a wink.
“Don’t stay up too late, kiddo.”
Reigen sputtered, his cheeks turning an embarrassing shade of pink he was sure Saburo could see even in the low light. “Kiddo? I am twenty-six. You don’t get to call me that.”
“I do. My house, my rules. I’m forty. Go to bed.”
Reigen continued to make horrible scoffing noises all the way up to Shigeo’s bedroom. The lightness that had bubbled up in his chest sunk away as he got ready for bed and climbed under the comforter. It retreated further as he stared up at a ceiling that wasn’t his. It drew him down and inward, a place he tried to avoid at all costs. It was easy to get caught up in other people. To put all of his focus on them and their problems so that he didn’t have any time to spend with himself. It was half of what made him an incredible consultant.
It was a tactic that worked until it didn’t.
It was twelve fifty-two on September second when Reigen finally accepted that he no longer knew what his future held. With no one left to distract him from his own thoughts, Reigen lay in the dark and spiraled.
Time behaved strangely on Friday. It surged and blurred and crawled to a near stop all at once. Reigen woke too early. Laid in bed too long. Spent much more time than he should have wondering why his inbox wouldn’t load anything past eleven the previous night. Spent hours poring over emails he couldn’t answer. Clients asking him for answers. For advice. For predictions and protections. Well-wishes and pointed fingers and accusations. He closed his laptop and had lost a year off his life, and it was only eight o’clock.
No news came over the radio and it felt like the entire world was in a holding pattern.
Reigen spent the afternoon beside Shigeo and Ritsu on the floor playing video games. The banter was absent. The house was quiet. Reigen got the distinct feeling that Shigeo wanted to talk to him very badly, but Ritsu refused to leave his side, and Mayuko and Saburo seemed to be taking shifts hovering over both of them. Reigen was a coward and didn’t pull him aside. Instead, he dealt with the frequent sidelong glances by making inane jokes that somehow only Ritsu ever heard.
Pretending this was a normal day off failed horribly, but it wasn’t until the phone rang that they abandoned the charade.
Mayuko darted to the kitchen to grab it, all eyes following her. Ritsu stood, hands clenched in the sleeves of his shirt.
“Hon?” Saburo got off the couch when Mayuko stopped, her fingers an inch from the receiver. She pulled her hand back. Inched away from the phone with fear lining her eyes. “Mayuko, who is it?”
The ringing stopped. Two quick beeps notified them that no message had been left.
“Mom?”
“Mom?” Shigeo echoed, his eyebrows pinching under his bangs.
“Ah, it was nobody,” Mayuko said. She didn’t rejoin them, still staring at the phone as if it would make a sudden move if she turned her back on it. “The… The government is doing a lot of maintenance to make sure our, um, our communications are secure. I wouldn’t be surprised if something they’re doing is setting off some phone lines.”
Reigen drummed out an unsteady pattern on his game controller, trying to piece together what that meant.
Shigeo curled in on himself. The wires around the videogame console took on a pink-purple-blue glow and squirmed around like snakes. Shigeo scrambled to them and held them down with a hand, his eyes wide.
“Sorry! Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
Reigen’s heart twisted at the pale green tinge to his cheeks. It had been ages since using his powers made Shigeo visibly nauseated.
“Kiddo, it’s fine. You’re not hurting anybody,” Saburo said soothingly. “It happens.”
Shigeo shook his head quickly. “I’m really sorry.”
Reigen got the feeling he was apologizing for a lot more than making some wires wiggle. He opened his mouth to shut down the misplaced guilt and was cut off by his own cell phone ringing. Reigen’s hands were slick with cold sweat when he flipped the phone open and saw the line of zeros where an incoming number should have been.
He looked up and met Mayuko’s knowing gaze. Reigen’s stomach did a very unpleasant somersault.
“Is it the government? Is it Claw?” Ritsu tried to see over his shoulder and Reigen shut the phone before he could see. “Hey!”
“Your mom is right. Probably just the switchboards misfiring,” Reigen said, nerves making it sound more flippant than he intended.
“I’m not stupid and neither is Nii-san.”
“Do you know how the phone operating systems work?”
Ritsu made a face. “No.”
“Then trust what we’re saying.” A hysterical laugh rose up in him and he held it inside. Trust them? None of the adults had any better of an idea of what was happening than Ritsu did.
But it was their job to make it look like they had everything under control.
Ritsu gave him the stink eye and spun on his heel to sit next to Shigeo. Normally Ritsu was Shigeo’s number one cheerleader. The one that told him his powers were cool and nothing to be afraid of. The one that rubbed his back when Shigeo accidentally contorted something into a funky new shape and felt bad about it.
It was curious that Ritsu did none of that now. He sat by his brother’s side and frowned down at the tangled cables.
“Sorry,” Shigeo mumbled again.
Ritsu didn’t say anything at all.
Reigen wasn’t hungry for dinner, but that was okay because neither was anyone else. Mayuko put out some snacks for them to nibble on. They went mostly untouched. Reigen lounged in the armchair and played Solitaire on his laptop while Saburo employed both his sons in helping him to finish his sudoku puzzle. The late night before hadn’t done them any favors. Ritsu’s eyelids were at half-mast as he pointed out where the numbers went, and Shigeo laid his head on his dad’s arm and didn’t even bother to pretend he was helping.
Mayuko was the only one with any energy, and she put it into meaningless tidying that was doing nothing but make for a lot of background noise. It was giving Reigen a headache. Maybe he should take something for that, actually.
He rocked forward and went to put his laptop on the side table when the television turned on with no warning. Reigen jumped, bobbling his laptop. He caught it by the charging cable right before it hit the floor and it disconnected with a pop and a clatter.
No one spared it a single glance.
“I’m disappointed.”
Reigen swallowed roughly, heart stuck in his throat. The leader of Claw was glaring out at them from the confines of the screen, head tilted and eyes narrowed as if he could see right through the glass and into the room.
Saburo pushed Shigeo behind him.
“Very few psychics turned themselves over to us and even fewer were reported. There is no question that there are more. It seems I did not make myself clear.”
The cable slipped out of Reigen’s hand and slithered to the floorboards.
“Psychic power is absolute. All those who are gifted with the ability to change the world should grasp it with both hands. Anyone who shows less than a hundred percent commitment to their power is a waste.” The man looked down his nose at them and continued, leaning closer. “I will allow you a short time to reconsider, but I am not a patient man. Join Claw or be removed.”
The TV screen went black. Reigen could see the whole room reflected over the surface.
“Pack up.” Saburo got to his feet and brought Shigeo with him. “Everybody pack a bag. We’re leaving.”
Ritsu looked back and forth between his parents, confusion stealing over his features. “What? Dad, wait! I thought we were supposed to stay home?”
“Saburo, what are you talking about? Where do you want to go?” Mayuko asked. She was doing her best to be calm, but Reigen could hear the tremor in her voice. She speed-walked across the room and tugged Ritsu up from his spot. “Saburo.”
“My mom’s. She has the space and it’s pretty far out there.”
“But the Prime Minister said to stay!” Ritsu cried. He went with them, holding Mayuko’s hand tight. “Aren’t we going to get in trouble?”
“Dad…” Shigeo hiccupped and pulled his dad to stop at the bottom of the stairs. Saburo crouched to get in his son’s line of sight, gripping Shigeo’s upper arms.
“Your mom and I are not going to let anybody hurt you. If that means breaking the rules a little bit, that’s okay. Do you understand?”
Shigeo shrugged and Saburo’s face creased in concern. Reigen stepped forward, his chest cramping at Shigeo’s guilty expression. He hovered, not daring to interrupt.
A tear rolled down Shigeo’s cheek.
“Oh, honey…” Mayuko breathed.
Saburo wiped it away with a thumb. “You and Ritsu are our whole world, okay? We’re just doing our job. We’re going to head to Tome Obaa-chan’s house and we can hang out there until all this blows over. If the Prime Minister himself wants to fine us after for breaking a mandate, fine. Money isn’t important. You are.” He shot Ritsu a significant look as well.
Shigeo shuddered and tipped into Saburo’s arms. Saburo wrapped him up tight and picked him up. He swayed with the added weight, adjusting Shigeo twice before he stabilized.
“Oof. You’re not allowed to get this big. Alright, let's go. Huh?” Shigeo hugged closer and said something Reigen couldn’t hear. “Yeah. Yeah, Reigen is coming with us.”
It took a few seconds for that to sink in. By the time it did, most of the Kageyama family was at the top of the stairs. Reigen ran after them. He packed up his bag as quickly as he could manage, keeping his head down as Shigeo and Saburo gathered Shigeo’s things around him. He couldn’t let them see him like this. Getting all misty-eyed at something like being included in a family evacuation plan? Stupid.
The Crisis Alert channel went off downstairs, bits and pieces of the messaging audible between the sounds of them all rummaging through drawers and calling to each other. Reigen hovered halfway down the hall to make sure there was nothing critical they were missing. He abandoned his post once he realized the government was just reiterating what they said earlier. Hunker down. Everything was under control. Leave this to the authorities.
It wasn’t long before there were five backpacks in the hall.
“Nobody really ate. I don’t know what the traffic is going to be like. It’s a couple hours, Saburo. Do you think we need to pack something?” Mayuko called on her way down to the kitchen.
“I don’t know. Just grab some granola bars!” Saburo turned to Shigeo. “Go down and fill up some water bottles for me, okay kiddo? Can you do that?”
Reigen shadowed Shigeo down the stairs and helped throw together a quick bag of snacks while Shigeo stood at the sink and filled up a few thermoses with shaking hands.
Reigen knelt and zipped up the backpack, his mind moving a hundred miles an hour. What if’s and worst-case scenarios and everything in between. He tried to only think of finally getting to see the countryside. Of seeing for himself the neatly kept vegetable gardens Mayuko was always talking about with that hint of jealousy.
It had been ages since he got out of the city. He-
The floor lurched under his feet. Reigen tipped back onto his ass as Mayuko shouted, grabbing onto the counter. Shigeo yelped. A thermos dropped into the sink with a crash and water splattered the floor.
The lights all went out with a crackle and a second wave of movement and noise flooded the house.
Pulse skyrocketing, Reigen grabbed Shigeo and took him to the floor. He curled around him. Covered his head like this was an earthquake drill. Every one of Shigeo’s muscles was tense as a bowstring under Reigen’s hands.
Mayuko dropped to her hands and knees and scrambled to them, arms coming around them both. A rumble crawled over the neighborhood and rattled the windows.
“Holy shit. Holy shit-“
“Mayuko?” Saburo’s shout was saturated with worry.
“We’re okay!”
A series of pops and flashes outside echoed down the street and Shigeo clapped his hands over his ears. The lightbulb over the kitchen sink suddenly flickered to life. It burned bright for a breath and then shattered, pink-purple-blue radiating from the ruined socket.
“Sorry!”
“You’re fine. It’s fine. We’re all okay,” Reigen said, squeezing him tighter. Another round of noise came in from outside, but no shaking accompanied it. Whatever was going on, it was getting further away. “Everyone is okay. Nothing even happened…”
Reigen lifted his head, heart pounding in his ears. That had been nothing short of terrifying, but it didn’t look like anything had fallen over or broken. Just the one lightbulb. The power was out, but they were okay.
He let Shigeo shift into his mother’s arms and cautiously peered out of the kitchen window. All he could see was the neighbor’s house and a sliver of the street beyond. There was no obvious damage. A rumble like distant thunder rolled over the house.
“What the hell was that?” Mayuko mouthed to him over Shigeo’s head. Her eyes were wide, and her chin trembled. She combed her fingers through Shigeo’s hair. There was something far away in his expression, eyes tracing along the walls as if he could see through them and down the street.
Reigen glanced out the window again. Nothing had changed. “I mean, I think every transformer on the block blew out. Other than that I don’t have a clue.”
That wasn’t true. There was a word for what just happened, but Reigen would not be the one to expose Shigeo to the words “terrorist attack”. Reigen was an expert bullshitter. He didn’t think he had it in him to be that brutally honest.
“Mayu?” Saburo’s voice pierced the tension. “You might want to come up here.”
Reigen felt goosebumps rise over his arms.
“Is Ritsu okay?” she called, slowly releasing Shigeo. He jerked his head up at the question, hands fisting in the fabric of his hoodie.
“Yeah!” Ritsu’s call came back immediately.
All of them deflated and Mayuko bit back a mess of swearing.
Reigen held out a hand and helped them to their feet. They made their way through the living room and up the stairs with their heads on a swivel. It was quiet now, but there was no reason to think whatever it was, was over.
They found Ritsu and Saburo in Ritsu’s room in front of the balcony door.
“What is it?”
Ritsu pointed past the glass, his expression torn between awe and horror. “There’s smoke.”
Mayuko edged in and pressed close to her husband’s side, her hand still around Shigeo’s. He leaned away from her, actively avoiding the window. Reigen couldn't blame him.
What he saw made his skin crawl.
Out over the first of the changing leaves were plumes of smoke and dust. They were small on the horizon, dark against the setting sun. Another one bubbled up as they watched, too far away for them to hear whatever caused it.
“Oh my god…” Mayuko breathed. She let go of Shigeo to cover her mouth with her hands.
Shigeo took a step away from his family. His arms were coiled tight to his chest, toes curling into the carpet. There was nervous sweat gathering on his face and Reigen could practically feel the dismay rolling off of him in waves.
He took another tiny step back and bumped into Reigen, jumping in surprise. He whipped his head up and Reigen’s lungs stalled at the amount of anxiety in his eyes.
“I don’t want my powers,” Shigeo whispered. His face crumpled, but no tears came. “I don’t want to be like that guy on TV. I don't want to hurt anyone.”
“What? Shigeo, you are nothing like them. Why would you even think that?”
“Are we going to have to fight them? If Claw comes? I don’t want to. What if I’m not enough or- or I can’t control my powers?”
“Woah, no. Slow down,” Reigen said over the thumping of his own heartbeat. "Who said you have to fight anybody? Where did you get that idea?"
Shigeo clenched and unclenched his fingers, his eyes tracing invisible patterns on the carpet. He shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. Movies always have people with powers fight."
“Movies aren’t real life. You’re twelve. You don’t have to fight anyone. Just like your dad said, it’s me and your parents’ job to keep you safe. You’re the kid. I know in movies the good guys always stand and fight, but listen to me, Shigeo. This is important. Are you listening?”
Shigeo met his gaze, tilting closer to Reigen.
“It’s okay to run away.”
Except they weren’t running away.
No one was comfortable with the idea of leaving the house anymore, not with roads potentially blocked and no way to know which ones. Not with the Crisis Alert Radio on the fritz. Even with fresh batteries, all that came through was garbled static and the occasional nonsensical phrase. Once the sun set, the house was dark and alien, everyone spooking at the smallest of provocations.
There hadn’t been any more shaking, but once in a while light flared from between the drawn curtains. Sirens sang and wailed, their sources just out of sight. With nothing to do but sit and stew, there was no reason to be out and about in the house. All four Kageyamas piled into Saburo and Mayuko’s bed and Reigen’s futon was dragged into the room as well.
“Not that anything is going to happen,” Mayuko assured the boys. “It looks like whatever is going on is closer to downtown. It’s just best to be prepared and we can keep an eye on each other this way.”
It felt fake. The Kageyama parents weren’t dumb. They weren’t promising that everything would be okay, but even the stab at optimism felt futile.
It was a miracle any of them managed to fall asleep that night. They dropped off one by one in the dim light of a flashlight propped against a bedside lamp. Reigen was sure he was the last one asleep, thoughts keeping him tossing and turning and restless. Living alone for years had changed him into a light sleeper and every time one of the Kageyamas so much as rolled over Reigen was roused from his dozing.
Every time he woke he found himself dancing in circles around the reality of their situation until he slipped away again. Two kids and two and a half adults against whoever Claw had? Those weren’t good odds. But how would Claw find them? Shigeo was in elementary school for heaven’s sake. He didn’t have any enemies. No one in their right mind would report him. Reigen, though? His thoughts kept drifting to clients he’d pissed off. That older guy he’d given the fake curse to. Maybe no one would volunteer the information right off the bat, but if pushed, would someone offer him up to protect themselves?
It probably wouldn’t even matter. His website alone was enough to bring Claw’s attention to him. His promotional photo was on it and everything. Claw undoubtedly knew what he looked like.
Reigen drifted in and out and tried not to think about what Claw was doing with the psychics that were turned in.
He didn't know what time it was when he woke to the tapping of footsteps in the hall. Alarm prickled under his skin.
Click clack. Too sharp to be any of the Kageyamas making a bathroom run in bare feet. Reigen rolled over and counted one, two, three, four lumps squashed together under the comforter. The bottom dropped out of his stomach.
Do something. Do something now. Yell or get them up or anything, you idiot. Grab one of the golf clubs Saburo put beside the bed and defend the only good things in your life.
Reigen couldn’t move. His body remained motionless, paralyzed by the fear scorching ice-cold into his bones. Cheek pressed to his pillow, he could see through the crack under the door and click clack, the footsteps stopped right outside. No silhouette came with them. Only the same darkness that drenched the entire city.
Reigen’s fingers wound into the sheets. The only thought in his head was how sorry his mom was going to be when she found out he was dead, and she hadn’t called. His breathing sped up, Reigen drowning in the flood of anticipation. It swelled for a tenuous moment, and then it broke.
A cackle rang out through the night. Wild, deranged laughter that sent the Kageyamas jolting out of their sleep and into a frenzy of limbs. Reigen clambered out from under the covers, tripping over himself in an attempt to get as far from the door as possible.
That split-second instinct to move might just have saved him his feet.
Flames exploded from under the door and licked inward, wallpaper and the edge of Reigen’s futon catching alike.
Someone screamed. Mayuko threw herself out of bed and dragged a floundering Ritsu with her. They hit the floor with a thudding of knees and elbows.
“Ow!” Ritsu tried to claw himself upright, but Mayuko pinned him down, covering his face with the overhanging sheet.
Saburo disappeared over the other side of the bed with Shigeo. The heat of the fire abruptly cut off for a moment, the pink-purple-blue of Shigeo’s aura bleeding out over the door and stifling the blaze.
“Ritsu hold still!”
Shigeo let out a cry and the fire burst through his thin shield.
Smoke billowed over their heads and another crow of insane laughter came with it. “Having fun in there?” Someone jeered over the crackle of flames.
“Go!”
Reigen covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve and went for the window. He threw it open but didn’t have time to relish the cool air. A backpack went whipping past his head and right out into the night. It was quickly followed by a second, and then Saburo was running at a crouch across the room, he and Shigeo clinging to each other.
“Everybody out!”
“Aw, that’s no fun!” The Claw agent banged on the door and whined. “Why don’t you guys hand over the kid and I only burn down half the house? Deal?” The Claw agent kicked the door in, a gangly figure partially visible in the inferno.
“Nii-san!”
Shigeo raised his hand and his barrier flashed back to life, stronger than before. The spiraling colors were reflected in his terrified eyes.
Ritsu was by his side in a flash, grabbing at his brother’s arm and then reeling back when he realized what the plan was. By the time Mayuko arrived a half-second later, Reigen was already halfway out the window. He hung onto the windowsill with quaking fingers and braced bare feet against the house.
“Give me Shigeo!”
He had to be out of his mind. There was no way he was going to be able to hold them both up. Even if the porch roof wasn’t that far below, keeping his grip long enough to let Shigeo down gently was an impossible task.
“Drop!” Saburo shook his head. “Drop and catch him!”
Reigen blanched, sure that the restrained panic on all four faces was identical to his own.
Oh, fuck me.
The wood slid out from under his fingers and Reigen screamed. Air rushed up under his pajamas. He squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself, but it was too late. His legs crumpled to his chest and his knees knocked all the air out of his lungs.
“Shigeo, come on!”
“No! Ritsu first!”
“But-!”
There were gritty shingles under his feet and Reigen was up, arms raised and not even close to ready. Ritsu appeared above him, fighting tooth and nail.
“I'll catch you!” Reigen said, aligning himself beneath him.
“No! I don’t want to! Dad, don’t!” Ritsu was crying, scrabbling to hold on as a strong pair of arms dangled him away from the house. “It’s too high!”
“Hey, I love you. You’re going to be okay.”
Saburo let go and Ritsu dropped like a rock. He shrieked and collided with Reigen’s chest, Reigen purposefully falling off to the side so they didn’t tumble backward. Ritsu was gasping, staring unblinkingly up at him as Reigen untangled himself from Ritsu’s stranglehold. He sat Ritsu against the wall and reached back up.
“I’ve got you, Shigeo!”
Shigeo’s eyes were round as saucers and as wet as Ritsu’s, but he allowed himself to be manhandled out the window. He was too focused on keeping the barrier up around his family to react when he looked down. Shigeo fell into Reigen’s awaiting arms without so much as a sound, but his silence ended the moment his feet touched the roof.
“Mom! Dad!”
Reigen held him around the middle and ushered them as close to Ritsu as he could. God, the roof wasn’t that big. Would they even all fit? This was taking too long. Was this guy seriously toying with them? Reigen had just told Shigeo that movies weren’t like real life. In how many ways was he a liar?
“Mom!”
Mayuko was almost out when there was a deafening bang from inside. Windows blew out all around the house, fire spewing outwards and crackling jovially at all the new fuel. Reigen barely had time to dodge Mayuko nearly falling on top of them and then with no time to prepare at all, Saburo crashed into them as well.
“Shit!”
Saburo’s momentum sent them all stumbling backward. Reigen lost purchase on the roof. Ritsu’s arm in one hand and his other wrapped around Shigeo, everything was darkness and noise.
Reigen had no idea how many of them fell. Were all five of them plummeting towards a painful landing in the yard? God, he hoped the ground was soft.
Shigeo twisted in his grasp and the world turned a magnificent pink-purple-blue.
Reigen jerked to a stop, his nose just brushing the grass. The colors released and he smacked into the damp ground, his knees smarting.
“Aw, isn’t that cute?” The Claw agent cooed down to them, chin in his hand and elbow propped on the windowsill. “Too bad you didn’t take my offer though. Bye-bye house!”
Reigen didn’t remember grabbing a backpack but the next thing he knew he was booking it down the street with one on his back and Kageyamas all around him. He looked over his shoulder and saw the house engulfed, the heat of it hot on the back of his neck. Disturbing red light filled the street and fueled hellish silhouettes that swayed before them, their own frantic shadows never seeming to touch the ground.
Shigeo was wheezing. Shallow, airless breaths that were making him wobble. He stumbled, and Saburo yanked him up before his hands hit the pavement. Reigen had him by the back of his shirt, stabilizing him.
Reigen had never been this afraid in his life. His mind was empty, feet pounding on the road faster than he knew was possible. Houses passed by them on either side, looming over them with darkened windows and drawn shades.
There was no one to ask for help.
Ritsu was still crying, his hand wrapped in Mayuko’s. He looked behind them and a whine escaped his lips.
Reigen made the mistake of looking back too.
The Claw agent was striding down the middle of the street, casual as could be with his arms behind his head. Flames spread out in his wake, eating at mailboxes and fences and lawn decorations. Beyond it, Reigen could hear the first stirrings of chaos, residents fleeing through their backyards in the opposite direction.
A door opened a few houses ahead, a face appearing in the doorway for a moment before slamming shut again. A fireball exploded on the frame.
“Don’t be nosy!”
Shigeo stumbled again, unable to keep up. Saburo swept him into his arms with a curse. Pink-purple-blue wavered around them both. A thin shield flickered between them and the approaching danger.
Reigen’s hair was plastered to his head with sweat. What were they going to do? His feet already hurt. They couldn’t keep this pace up forever. When was the guy going to get bored and-
“Do me a favor and slow down!” A mocking voice rang through the night. “Running is Tsuchiya’s thing.”
A stream of fire raced past them on both sides and met in the middle, leaping high into the air and cutting off all escape routes.
Reigen skidded to a stop just in time. He snagged a finger in Ritsu’s pajamas and Mayuko grabbed a handful of Reigen’s own to stop herself from careening face-first into the flames. They spun, backing away as far as they could without getting burned. Saburo and Shigeo pressed close on his other side, all five a mess of trembling.
They were trapped.
Lungs heaving, Reigen did the only thing he could.
“Arson is illegal, you ass! Give me your ID so I can sick the insurance company on you!” His voice was ragged.
The Claw agent laughed, ambling towards them and clapping as he went. “You’re a funny one. Too bad I’m going to roast you. If you hand over the kid, I might let you live. We’ll see. You did make me chase you all this way!”
Glints of pink-purple-blue appeared in the fire, Shigeo’s frantic attempts to open a path for them overpowered by the flames. Tears poured down his cheeks with the effort.
“You can’t have him!” Saburo roared, gripping Shigeo tight to him. Mayuko curled around Ritsu, eyes fierce in the firelight.
The Claw agent stepped closer and they collectively stepped back, heat radiating through their nightclothes.
“Okay then! Not much of a loss. You seem kind of lame anyway, kid. It was nice knowing you!” The pyromaniac held out a hand and fire gathered in his palm, a massive, whirling ball with death written all over it.
He released it. Reigen’s heart stuttered and stalled.
His whole world turned yellow and Reigen lost track of everything else in a burst of light and noise.