°˖✧Gaijin✧˖°

°˖✧Reprobate Romance✧˖°

"Alright, Arataka, what do you want?"

Reigen stands in the doorway of Snowdrop Psychic Mediums' office, two coffees in hand and a bag from Mobdonald's tucked under his arm. Under Micah's scrutiny, he begins to sweat slightly. "What do you mean? Can't a guy do something nice for his friend every so often?" He stammers, his eyes darting around the room.

"When have you ever done this for me without us talking about having lunch together previously?" Micah asks in turn, squinting.

"Surprises are appreciated, aren't they?" Reigen retorts, using his leg to scoot the chair in front of Micah's desk out so he can sit comfortably. He plops the bag on the desk and pulls out a wrapped burger. He wiggles it around, clearly trying to distract him. "I got you your favorite~"

The man across from him doesn't say anything and snatches the burger from him. He unwraps it and takes a hefty bite from it, letting out a noise of approval. "Thanks," he mumbles through a mouthful of food. "But don't think you have me fooled. Seriously, what's the occasion?"

Reigen takes a big bite of his own burger and leans back in the chair he's sitting on, resting his unoccupied arm on the back. "Don't laugh at me, alright?"

"No promises."

He scoffs. He should have expected that response, to be fair... "After that whole fiasco with the public and the reporters, my mom has decided that she's going to come visit me. I haven't seen her in years at this point."

Micah nods along, but there's a slight furrow in his brow. "Well, okay... but why do you have to feel like you have to bribe me because of that?"

"W-Well..."

"It looks like you got yourself out of trouble, Arataka," his mom had told him over the phone, but the tone of her voice didn't display much of anything. No surprise, no relief... it was just sort of flat. "Did that student of yours bail you out, I wonder?"

"Who knows?" He said noncommittally. He didn't understand why she bothered to call all of a sudden anyway, nor did he understand why he picked up. Their conversations always left him feeling like shit.

A tense silence followed, and he wondered then if he should tell her that he should get off the phone, that something came up or something, but then she suddenly started talking again. "You know, son, you're 28 now... don't you think that you should settle down sometime soon?" She asked.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. Not this crap again. "Mom - "

"You know, your sister got married to that very successful man - "

"Yes, mom, I'm aware. I went to the wedding," he pointed out through gritted teeth. That was the last time he saw any of his family, in fact.

"Now they have a child on the way. Your father and I are very excited about it. Yet here you are, still a bachelor at your age. Don't you think it's time?"

It's always like this. Making digs at him, kicking him while he's down and pointing out all his faults, comparing him endlessly to his older sister... And they wonder why they haven't seen him in so long. He clenched his fist at his side. "For your information, I am in a relationship," he snapped at her, lying through his teeth.

"Oh? Is that so?" His mother responded with an actual hint of surprise in her voice. "Well, you should have told me sooner. Why did you keep this partner a secret from me?"

Shit, he's really in it now, he realized. Panicking, he began to do what he does best - bullshit on the spot. "Well, I didn't think you would approve of the relationship, so I didn't make it a point to tell you."