"Are you certain?"

Usually his voice was soft – it never carried and people had to strain to listen for it – but this was even softer. He was in a library after all. And the gaze of his study group not-so-discretely fixed on him wasn't helping matters much. He should have stepped out to take the call. He hadn't.

An affirmative grunt traveled over the line. For all his oozing charm and people skills Reigen could really be coarse at times. He must not be with a client.

"Alright. I'm coming. Give me thirty minutes. I'll have to catch a train."

"I'm really sorry to bother you with this, Mob." Reigen sounded a little worn, "I didn't want to…"

"Don't worry about it, shishou."

He hung up before Reigen could beat himself up about it anymore. He understood. Reigen might be a fraud of a psychic but his desire to help people was genuine. Things got out of hand on occasion, but that's why he had Mob.

"Kageyama-kun, are you leaving?" his classmate peered over the top of her glasses, "You've only been here a half hour.

"Sorry, Yokoi-san. It's urgent." he packed his things into his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

Yokoi leaned over her textbook as she said, "I hope your friend is okay."

Mob couldn't help but smile, "I'm sure he is. He's just in over his head. Again."

"And you're off to bail him out. Again." Tanaka, another member of his study group, said with some skepticism, "What exactly did you say your friend does for a living?"

"He's a consultant."

Tanaka looked ready to launch into another round of questioning that Mob didn't have time for. He took his leave with only a parting comment.

"I'll be sure to go over the readings."

"Don't stay up to late, Kageyama-kun!" Yokoi reminded him, to which he nodded. Mob pushed his way through the university's library doors and out into the chill of early February. The air seemed to pierce his lungs, but it was therapeutic.

His phone buzzed. A brief text from Ritsu saying that he wouldn't be eating dinner at the apartment. Which was fine with Mob. He probably wouldn't be eating dinner at the apartment either if Reigen had his way. Which he usually did.

The route to the station, the platforms, the train ride. It was all familiar. Mob wasn't attending a university that was far from home, but he found himself making the transit back about once a month. Not to visit home, no, but for Reigen. Sometimes Mob wondered if Reigen found an evil spirit just so he could call and check on Mob.

Today's case most likely wasn't one of those.

Mob had exams coming up in a month. Hence the study group. And Mob struggled with classes even with the help of the study group. Reigen knew that.

But Mob didn't mind.

The scenery flashed by. The train carriage rocked, making Mob sleepy in his seat. To distract himself he responded to his text from Ritsu. But that barely took up any time. Mob hadn't realized he'd nodded off until he was waking up again.

"You're here."

The nebulous form of Dimple floated in front of his face.

"Have you been with shishou today?" Like it had been in the library, Mob's voice was soft. But this time to avoid the attention people might give him for seemingly speaking to thin air.

"Ritsu didn't want me around."

Mob laughed a little at that.

"And I know you didn't want any distractions with exams coming up."

"The point is moot now." Mob said, standing as the train came to a complete stop at the platform for Seasoning City, "Did you happen to see what it was that shishou found."

Dimple followed by his side as he scanned his rail pass at the gate and shuffled out into the streets.

"Well, it's a little difficult to explain. You might just want to see for yourself."

"Hmmm."

Mob followed his feet and his senses. It didn't take much effort to locate Reigen's aura, he'd been doing it for years. And as he drew closer, the aura of an unfamiliar spirit came into focus as well. It was weak, yes, but stronger than what just Reigen and Dimple could deal with.

"Shishou?" Mob called up the stairwell of a decrepit building.

A series of knocks traveled down through the ceiling. Reigen was somewhere up there. Mob eyed the sagging steps with some trepidation.

"They held Reigen." Dimple assured him. The spirit had become quite the expert at dealing with Mob, "Even with the muscle you have now, it shouldn't be a problem. And even if they don't, you can catch yourself with telekinesis."

"Yeah."

Mob mounted the steps and trudged down the dreary hallway to the room he'd identified as the source of both Reigen's and the spirit's auras. Dimple had been right, the scene was much easier to digest when it was seen than when it was explained.

Reigen was peeking through a cracked door to what must be a closet. Blocking his exit was a… thing. It appeared to be an amalgamation of creatures: a lizard's body with the head of a monkey and the talons of an eagle. It was growling and slobbering at Reigen who ducked behind the door as much as possible.

"Oi, Mob. Can you get rid of this thing already!?" Reigen's tone was sharp. Mob wondered how long he'd been trapped in that closet. It probably didn't help that there were cockroaches scuttling away with every human movement in the room.

"Give me a minute, shishou."

Calmly, Mob scanned the room. It looked to be a small, one-room apartment. The cheap kind. It had fallen into disarray with the rest of the building. But something caught Mob's eye. Pinned to the wall was a faded square of paper. A careful crayon drawing had survived over the years, made with all the skill and dedication a six-year-old child would have to offer.

Not many people would call Mob smart. But when it came to psychic powers, he didn't have to think, he just knew. And he was almost never wrong. So he just knew that this spirit was an imaginary friend. Brought to life, left behind, and eventually forgotten by the child who'd envisioned it.

"What are you doing, Shigeo?" Dimple asked, puzzled, as Mob levitated the drawing over to himself. Obviously, neither he nor Reigen followed his line of thought. Not many people did. Not even Ritsu after he'd awakened his psychic power. But as far as Mob was concerned, that was fine.

The way Mob saw it, this was the purpose of his psychic powers.

Lights burst and popped. Wayward flashes startled the remaining cockroaches and forced them to hiding. The spirit squealed and swirled as its energy was exorcised. Mob could just barely feel its energy pulse past his outstretched hand as it dissipated. It was next to nothing on his radar.

All that remained was a quivering lizard thing, its unblinking eyes fixed on Mob.

Mob crouched down.

"Look." Mob explained as he pointed to the date scribbled on the bottom corner of the paper. The date was seventeen years past, "You did it. He's all grown up now. You did a good job."

The ghost curled up on itself. Its quivering shuddered and came to a stop. With a final heave – a sigh – the little ghost faded out of existence. A little hum echoed in Mob's ears as the late imaginary friend offered its thanks.

Mob pushed off his knees to lever himself to his feet. Reigen emerged from the closet, brushing dust of his trademark grey suit. Reigen was wearing his pink tie today, Mob noticed.

"Thank you, Mob." Reigen tugged his suit jacket straight, "That thing wouldn't let me out of the closet."

"It probably thought you were a monster."

Reigen looked highly offended.

He had failed to realize the fact that the late imaginary friend was trying to protect its child from the monsters in the closet. He had chosen his hiding place poorly.

"Well," Reigen was sweating just a bit. Whether that was because he'd been stuck in a closet or because he was anxious about something, Mob couldn't tell. Even after all this time he was still bad a reading the mood. Even Reigen's.

Reigen coughed awkwardly, "I'll have to swing by the office to grab your pay. I'll include your commute time in that. By then, it'll be dinner time. How does Ramen sound?"

"Sounds good, shishou."

Mob didn't argue with Reigen.

"You're just letting him do whatever makes him feel better about calling you out today, aren't you Shigeo?" Dimple whispered to Mob.

"Well…"

"Mob! Let's not hang around in this roach infested hole!"

Mob followed Reigen out, letting his lack of answer serve as an affirmative to Dimple's posed question. But the fact of the matter remained, he enjoyed these evenings with Reigen. It was like old times, but much more tame.

No crazy cults. No societies out for world domination. No powerful spirits trying to murder anybody. Just little jobs and shared meals.

One psychic and one self-proclaimed psychic sat at a ramen bar, slurping noodles noisily.

Partway through the meal, Reigen slowed down enough to start asking questions. How were Mob's university classes going? How was having an apartment with Ritsu? How many new friends had he made? Mob answered what he could between mouthfuls of ramen.

"Mob," Reigen said earnestly, after Dimple had wandered off, bored, "I'm sorry to stress you out by making you deal with my mess. I was pretty sure the client was just…"

"I said it before when you first called. Don't worry about it, shishou."

Mob smiled.

Reigen smiled back, "You did a good job. You know that, Mob."

Mob nodded.

"I mean it."

"I know, shishou. I appreciate it."

Reigen heaved a sigh. He set his chopsticks across his bowl and pushed it away so he could lean forward, elbows propped on the bar, "Some days, it doesn't feel like any time has passed. But then I look around and see everything that's changed." Reigen glanced at Mob, "Especially you, Mob. You've changed."

"Not that much." Mob mumbled.

"You think so?" Reigen raised an eyebrow at Mob, "You're taller than me now. All that body improvement paid off. You're working hard at your university classes…"

"Not that hard." Mob cut in.

"And you haven't had an explosion in how long?"

"Almost two years."

"See. You changed, Mob. You changed yourself."

"You've been a big help, shishou."

"Hmmph. I haven't done much."

Once again, Mob didn't argue with Reigen.

"All I'm trying to say, Mob, is that you did a good job. And I don't mean just today. I mean with everything. You've handled it well."

Mob could think of a number of things he didn't handle well. How he actually handled it. He wanted to squirm in his seat. But what Reigen was saying was starting to sink in. He wasn't that person anymore. He had changed himself.

"Thank you, shishou."

"What are you thanking me for?"

Mob wasn't sure. There wasn't a good way to sum up everything Reigen had done for him. So instead, he just settled with a smile and a complacent, "Nothing, shishou."

Reigen waved the manager down and paid the bill – two bowls of ramen with extra pork. They stepped out into the darkening streets. Mob looked up, straining to see a single star, but all he saw was Dimple. The spirit darted back down to their sides.

Reigen pointed at Dimple, "Make sure Mob gets home safe tonight."

"You're not my boss, Reigen."

"Dimple, don't be childish. You were going to do it anyway."

"Then why tell me to do it?" The spirit griped.

Mob interrupted before the two could devolve into an argument. "Have a good night, shishou."

"You too, Mob. Maybe next time I have a real case, it'll be in your area." Reigen waved before turning in the direction of his apartment.

"I wouldn't count on it." Dimple grumbled.

"Maybe." Mob whispered mostly to himself, "We can hope."

The walk back to the station was filled with Dimple's usual complaints about Reigen. The train ride was, once again, a battle to stay awake. Which he lost. Dimple woke Mob at his stop and filled his ears with nonsense during the subsequent walk to his apartment. Mob let himself in. It was still quiet in Ritsu's absence, but Mob didn't mind.

The day settled into his limbs when Mob collapsed onto his futon, making them feel like lead. He'd do those readings for class in the morning. Right now, he just wanted to sleep.

And it was peaceful.

Some of you want angst. Which is fine. I want angst too. Sometimes. But not in this case. In this case, I just want Mob to be happy. So if that's what you want too, this may be the fic for you. Fair warning: nothing happens. This is as plotless as it gets. It's just me writing about wonderful characters having a wonderful time. Even Ritsu. (eventually)