~I'm In Love With A Scammer~ | Reigen x Reader

Part 2 - The Consult

Two weeks had passed. I woke up more often in the middle of the night. My neck did still hurt a little bit, but it improved after getting a new pillow. Still, logic wasn't helping. Every time I woke up during the night, I felt a general sense of dread. I read up on hauntings and general information about spirits. Naturally, this made it worse. I knew that anxiety was contributing to pretty much all of my experiences here, but I couldn't shake it.

I found myself standing outside of Spirits and Such Consultation.

I couldn't find any hours online, and none were on the building either. I got the nerve to show up around 7 PM, just before sunset when I would start to feel paranoid. The lights were on inside. I tapped at the door and slowly entered.

"Ah!" Reigen scrambled to sit upright, but I saw him eating chips and staring on his phone with his legs up on his desk. "Welcome!"

"Hi."

"What brings you in- oh, aren't you from the park? A couple days ago or something?"

"Two weeks ago."

"Yeah, that's right, you had that same experience with the bench, didn't you?"

"Well, probably not, but I... well," I fumbled for words now that I was actually there, realizing that this was ridiculous. The man was obviously a phony.

And then I had the idea - a genius idea, really, was that I could dismiss the whole consultation and not waste any money. If I could get him to just admit that he's a fake, then my anxiety about being haunted would go away for sure.

"I just need to ask you a favor. Can you just tell me if all that was fake?"

"Oh, of course it wasn't fake," Reigen replied immediately. "Do you want to sit down and have some tea?"

He beckoned a boy in the corner, who left the room to presumably get some tea.

"I really just wanted to make this short-"

"No, no! I insist, miss...?" He paused, waiting for my name.

"Oh, I'm Y/N."

"Nice to meet you. Just take a seat here and my assistant is going to bring us some excellent tea." Reigen sat down beside a small circular table and reclined. "We can just discuss what's been bothering you, for starters."

Inside the office, it looked a little sketchy. He had posters of himself on every wall - but he also had a board filled with pictures of satisfied clients. "I'm not going to get charged for this, am I?" I could see him just trying to extort some money out of this conversation.

He paused for a second. "No, no charges yet."

"Yet?"

"I'm sorry - no charges until we actually agree on a service, sound good?"

"... Yeah, that works."

The other man in the office brought out some tea and left the room again.

"I'm listening."

"Well, after we met at the park, I've been feeling a little off.. waking up in the middle of the night and stuff. My neck's been bugging me for a while. That's it. BUT - I don't think it's a 'spirit', Mr. Arataka. I think it's just anxiety because you freaked me out. So I really came here to ask you if you could please just tell me that it was a scam, or fake, or whatever."

"What makes you think it's fake?"

I got a little agitated. Being sleep deprived and anxious for two weeks was making me miserable, and this man really didn't seem to care. "If this is another business ploy, please just spare me from it - I didn't ask to be involved with you and that lady. You kind of preyed on me, to be honest."

"Preyed on you?" Reigen looked shocked, then a little apologetic. "I'm sorry. I don't want you to think that- you're right, I shouldn't have gotten you involved with a spirit like that..." He was quiet for a moment.

"That's not what I meant. I meant getting me involved in your act. It's been making me miserable."

"Okay okay, I know the solution. I'll give you this full session for free, guarantee you'll feel great after. 100 percent satisfaction guarantee. Trust me." He smiled somewhat genuinely. "Here, follow me."

I assumed that he was going to do some type of cleansing. This stuff was totally new to me. I envisioned maybe some candles in a circle and a prayer of some sort. But no, he brought me into a room with a massage table.

"What is this?" I backed away from the door.

"It's part of the cleanse. It aligns your chakras and, uh, it also redirects the flow of the negative energy... into your feet, and when you walk, it will dissipate." He seemed to struggle with the explanation. "Within 24 hours, you'll feel it. It's almost a relieving feeling, really, it works wonders..."

"Is it just a massage?"

"No!" Reigen laughed. "You are very inexperienced with this stuff, aren't you? You've never seen a psychic before, I take it?"

"Why would I go to see a psychic? I still don't even believe that any of this is legit."

"Well, either lay down or leave, this is free for you but you're on my time now." Reigen began to roll up the sleeves of his button down. Seemed rather weird for a massage. "You can sit in this chair if it's really just your neck." He motioned to a cushioned seat.

Admittedly, I was amused by him, but not any less scared than I had been before. Why wouldn't he admit that it's all a bluff? I sat in the chair, consumed by my thoughts about the whole situation. Then I felt both his hands squeeze around my shoulders. "Hey!"

"What?"

"This is just a massage. There's no, like... no smoke or scented things? Or candles burning? Or a prayer or a chant? You're just giving me a neck massage, dude!"

Reigen cleared his throat and appeared to be quite confident in his process. "I have to say the incantations mentally." He proceeded to massage my shoulders first.

"No no, this feels creepy. Definitely creepy." My heart raced at the thought that he could've locked the door, and I immediately went to open it - but he didn't lock it.

"Okay, well this escalated." Reigen rolled his sleeves back down. "If you're not comfortable, you can have some tea and head out. I'm sorry about all this trouble, really." He glanced at his watch. "I have some time in my schedule if you'd like to discuss your problems any further."

The man in the corner interrupted. "Reigen, you're not booked for the rest of the day."

Reigen shot him an irritated look. "It's okay," I replied, "you don't have to waste any more of your time. It was silly for me to come, I don't really believe in this stuff." I forced a laugh. "Have a good night."

I walked out the door without waiting for a response, not feeling any better than when I had come in.