Family Matters

Inukawa Aneko was a serious person. She was raised by serious people, and thus it was in her nature. She worked at a bank, was married to a firefighter, and had a son who recently turned 15. Her parents were proud of their daughter, and she in turn was proud of herself. By all accounts, she was successful in having a normal life.

Except for the fact that she was the older sister of a criminal scam artist. At least, that’s how she thought of him. Aneko hadn’t spoken to Arataka in years, and she preferred to keep it that way. She never introduced him to her husband (his brother-in-law) or her son (his nephew). He was a no-good, 2-bit conman who paraded himself around as a so-called “psychic”. 

Aneko had to admit that she had witnessed things in this world that did not have a logical or scientific explanation, but she did not allow those events to dismantle her firm stance that the paranormal did not exist. She had seen the press conference on TV. She had seen the incident that occurred. Yet, she refused to accept it. At least, she refused to accept that it had been the result of her younger brother’s “powers” he claimed to have. She lived with him from the day he was born until the day she moved out at 18. He was only 11 at the time. She never once witnessed any of these “powers”. She had, however, witnessed his tendency to lie, even when he didn’t really need to. 

Unlike the rest of the Reigen family, Arataka was not a serious person. He had always been loud, disruptive, and could never sit still. The rate at which he moved his hands when he spoke was undeniably annoying. Wanting to minimize the chaos he surely would bring into her life, Aneko limited the contact he got with her. When she got married at 20 to Inukawa Kentaro, she made sure to plan the small service to align with a week that Arataka would be out of town on some trip or camp or wherever. She couldn’t really remember. She just knew that she couldn’t afford her, at the time, 12 year old brother to ruin that day for her with his volume and antics. Their parents, of course, agreed with this idea. They were both serious like Aneko, after all. When her son Mameta was born the following year, she did not tell Arataka. She had already decided to not let him be a part of her son’s life. He was 13. 

Had the realization that it was ridiculous of her to decide to push her brother out of her life when he was barely even a teenager at the time ever dawned on Aneko? The answer was yes, but she had begun to justify that choice for herself as the years went on and she saw what he had become. When Arataka was in his early 20s, she considered reconnecting with him, as he worked at a reputable company and was a plain old office worker. She thought his days of impulsivity and reckless behaviour were over, until he quit his job one day and opened up some strange exorcism consultation office. She decided that Arataka was only ever going to lie. Aneko did not want that sort of person in her life. 

Ironically enough, she too would lie. She never spoke of Arataka to her son, and only did so to her husband when she felt the need to complain about her brother. When asked by her young son if she had any brothers or sisters, she answered by saying she did, but that her brother was estranged from the family and was not a good man. Little Mameta didn’t press on the issue much as he was just a child and didn’t really think it was worth his time. He’d rather play games with his friends. 

But as much as Aneko tried to keep Arataka out of her life, she couldn’t help but find him creeping in. Not the actual him, of course, but things that reminded her of him. When Mameta was a little kid, Aneko came to the realization that he looked strikingly like the way Arataka did at that age, so she began styling his hair differently, parting it down the middle. Mameta had worn his hair like that ever since, never really questioning why. It’s just how his hair was, for him.  It didn’t help Aneko that Arataka and she looked shockingly alike. Despite being 7 years older than him, as adults, the two Reigen siblings could have the potential of being mistaken for twins, if, by some impossible feat, the two were ever in the same room together. 

On occasion, now that Mameta was getting older, she’d hear him speak and hear the voice of her brother. It unnerved her. It didn’t affect the love she felt for her son. It somehow only furthered her disdain for her brother. Arataka was affecting her, even now. 

Arataka had tried reaching out a few times over the years, but Aneko always shut him down. The last time they had spoken, Aneko bluntly told her brother to hurry up and turn himself in to the cops. She was convinced he was a conman. 

She knew, of course, that her brother’s relationship with their parents didn’t fare much better. Their mother was under the impression that Arataka was being tricked by someone into doing his current “job”, while their father considered him to be unemployed. Arataka hadn’t shown his face around his family in years, and Aneko believed it was better that way.

Despite her brother being who he was, Aneko tried to lead that normal life. But then he was on the news for being a scam artist…and then there was the press conference…then terrorists attacked, and that giant broccoli appeared out of nowhere…and then disappeared. Her memory of that time felt wrong and fuzzy. 

But then she lost a chunk of time. She remembered around the time of New Year’s Eve…and then her memories seemed to resume over a week later. The same went for her husband. Her son seemed unaffected, but by his accounts, everything had just been normal. She never brought up her memory gaps to her son directly, moreso asking him how the new year had been for him so far. He replied as he usually did, saying he’s had fun with his friends and that he didn’t want school to resume. Something about him had changed, however. She couldn’t figure it out, but something was…off with Mameta. 

She had dreams sometimes of that lost chunk of time, with the dreams always being the same. Her son was missing and she was trying to locate him…but according to Mameta, life had been normal. After the city was once again destroyed by some unexplainable event filled with earthquakes and power outages, Aneko had to continue rationalizing the world around her to fit back into the scientific and logical view she had always held. 

But then?...Life resumed as normal. There hadn’t been another unexplainable astronomical occurrence since then, and she found herself staying the same as she had always been: A serious person with no time for things like that. Although the nagging reminders of her brother affected her greatly, as much as she tried to hide and ignore them.

Reigen Arataka, or simply Reigen as he was called by practically everybody now, was not a serious person. Despite being raised by serious people and having an older sister who was quite serious herself, Reigen never found himself being able to follow that lifestyle. From an early age, he had been impulsive and loud, clearly having issues with hyperactivity. His parents assumed he would grow out of it, but he never really did. It only changed as he got older, yet stayed the same in its core aspects. In his late teens, he had been diagnosed with ADHD, although his parents never liked to acknowledge it. He continued on with his life, not really being affected by the new label of a diagnosis. He just didn’t really tell anyone, as he wasn’t sure what good that would do, and his parents didn’t speak about it much, so neither did he. 

When it came to his older sister Aneko, Reigen thought they had gotten along fine when he was young, although he definitely understood that he just didn’t fit into the family dynamic the same way she did. He was loved, but…she was liked. The feelings of his parents towards him were unconditional, but the feelings of his parents towards Aneko stemmed from her perfection. She was liked. She was loved. He was loved. He wasn’t really liked. 

He vaguely remembered going on a trip early in the year that he turned 13, and that when he came back, there was a new picture on the shelf of Aneko in a white dress and a man in a suit. It actually took Reigen months to even notice the picture, the new addition to the home decor not even registering in his mind as a result of his, at the time, undiagnosed ADHD. Even after the photo was discovered, Reigen recalled not thinking too much about it, only making the note in his mind that the man in the suit had eyebrows that reminded him of a Shiba Inu, and he found that funny. Of course, Reigen wasn’t stupid . He could tell this was a wedding photo, but the idea that he purposefully hadn’t been invited to the wedding never crossed his mind at that age. He just assumed that kids his age didn’t really go to weddings, and even if they did, he knew he would have been bored out of his mind having to sit still in a suit while his sister got married. 

Only ever having one older sibling, the young Reigen came to an understanding that it was seemingly normal for siblings with an age gap of 7 years to not talk much at all once the elder of the two left home. It was the late 90s and early 2000s. It was nothing like this day and age, where a person could connect with the people they knew anytime. 

Yet, as Reigen got older, it began to become clear that Aneko’s lack of communication with him wasn’t the result of a natural drifting between two siblings. It was purposeful. He had grown more self-aware, however being aware of himself did not lead to him changing himself. He was still impulsive. He was still expressive with his hands as he spoke. He was still a liar. 

However, he did try to follow what it was his parents wanted from him. He graduated from college and held a job at some company. At that time, Reigen did everything efficiently and was filled with curiosity about everything. He tried to follow that serious life…but then he got bored, quit his job, and rented that office on a whim. He didn’t actually have a plan on what he was going to do now, having acted impulsively yet again, but he ended up getting into the psychic business simply because he saw an ad on the back of a magazine. 

Even so, after only a single year of running the “Spirits and Such Consultation Office”, Reigen had become bored again. He was about to quit, find another job that sounded “fun”, perhaps something along the lines of being a private investigator, but then…

For one reason in particular, he ended up sticking with the business, much to the dismay of his parents. His mother meant well, but she never believed in him. She wanted him to go back to an office job, find a girl, and start a family. His father wanted him to man up and do those same things, but he was a bit more assertive about it.

But his sister?...Reigen had tried reaching out to her randomly one day, but she had apparently done research on his office after being told about it by their parents. She told him he was a criminal. A conman. She told him to turn himself in to the police.

That’s when it finally clicked for him that his sister hated him.

But what had he done? He hadn’t harmed her in any way. He hadn’t harmed anyone! Sure, he was lying about being a psychic, but he wasn’t scamming people! He provided a service and solved the problems presented to him. Yeah, he might have solved them using practical means rather than psychic, as most of the issues people came to him with were natural issues they simply blamed on the supernatural. He gave them a solution and peace of mind. 

And on the off-chance that there really was a supernatural problem needing to be solved, he had Mob by his side. By one way or another, Reigen would make sure that his clients left with a problem solved. He even charged much lower rates than other psychics in the area, so the idea that he was defrauding people out of exorbitant amounts of money was absurd. 

But it wasn’t like he could make that argument to Aneko. If he told her that he was psychic and really getting rid of spirits, she would call him a liar…which was true. And yet, if he told her that he was getting rid of these problems practically, she would still call him a liar, as he was portraying himself to be something he was not…which was true. If he told her about Mob, she would say that he was using this young kid to further his business…which was true.

Everything Aneko said was true at face value, but there was more to it than that. Although, she would never change her mind or her stance. She was a serious person. He was not.

Reigen came to the understanding that his sister only saw one side of him…the side he despised. The side of him that lied and smoked and used other people. The side of him that could never hold a relationship, jumping from person to person (man or woman, he didn’t care), finding nightly company in bars only to never speak to them again (or more accurately, to never have them speak to him again). The side he so desperately wanted to get rid of. He had made small changes since the day he met Mob. He stopped smoking for the sake of that little kid and he had stopped his habit of hooking up with strangers from the bar, but he never stopped lying and he never stopped using people. 

He went around being the same, helping others under the guise of being a psychic. He got rid of stiff shoulders, spirit photos, had Mob exorcise the ghosts, and even took down some urban legends. His favourite of those legends had to be the human-faced dog simply because it was just a normal Shiba Inu that he got to give a bath and take care of for an hour or two. Reigen absolutely loved dogs.

But when he turned 28, he finally changed. His depression and loneliness were at an all time high, but then he set out to become someone. It worked, and then it didn’t, and then he was forced to come face-to-face with himself. Everyone around him had been growing and changing and moving without him as he stayed still in the same place for years. He hadn’t changed at all…but he decided he would. The press conference had been a catalyst for him to work on himself and stop holding back the people he clung to in an attempt to maintain some semblance of stability. 

Mob told Reigen that he was genuinely a good guy…and so Reigen worked harder to make that into a reality. Rather than keep up a facade for this kid, he wanted to become that man. He wanted to become someone…become someone that Mob could genuinely be proud of. He didn’t need the approval of his parents. He didn’t need the approval of his sister. He only needed the approval of Mob, because then he could feel okay enough to give his own approval to himself. 

When Reigen had started out his business, he had based part of his work off of Mogami Keiji, the “Psychic Star of the 20th Century”. In fact, Reigen had gotten his self-proclaimed title of the “Greatest Psychic of the 21st Century” from that name of Mogami’s. Reigen had originally understood Mogami as being a good guy who helped people solve their problems. He was renowned and well liked back in the late 60s and early 70s, until his death around 1972. This had been about 12 years before Reigen had even been born, and so by the time Reigen started his exorcism business in 2008, the green-suited psychic had been dead for 36 years. By that point, most of the sources that had spoken about Mogami only discussed about how well-loved he had been up until his disappearance from the public eye and his eventual suicide. It was the accepted theory that he had disappeared from the media due to his mother’s illness, and once she passed away, it caused the man to take his own life. That’s what Reigen believed as well, finding it to be a tragic turn of fate. However, he learned the truth when that whole incident with Mogami’s evil spirit happened. Reigen began to develop a fear of becoming like that man. Sure, he wouldn’t become a psychic assassin for money, but that didn’t mean he might not spiral and lose himself in other ways. His separation from Mob frightened him, as in hindsight, he saw that it could have easily turned him into a monster, just like Mogami. He had found himself attracted to the fame and the attention, like a moth drawn to a flame: it looked appealing, yet it was oh so dangerous in reality once he had gotten too close. But once again, that kid had saved his life and he would begin to make a change.

He had gotten better since October. He helped to stop Claw (...in a way ). He had even finally made more friends! Disregarding the fact that the majority of them were middle schoolers, there were that handful that were around his age! Sure, they were reformed Claw espers who believed he was truly a master psychic, but they actually enjoyed his company (to an extent. He knew Koyama and Sakurai found him to be a bit annoying, but he could tell they genuinely liked him as a person, which was so much more than could be said for how Aneko felt about him.)

Reigen had even gained a new employee! A man named Serizawa Katsuya, who had been manipulated by Claw’s boss into a false sense of hope, but Mob had saved him from Suzuki’s hold…and then Serizawa betrayed his terrorist boss to save Reigen’s life…and that’s pretty much when Reigen fell in love, although he didn’t really realize it at first. He had never had someone put quite literally everything on the line to directly protect him the way that Serizawa had done with him. They were strangers at that moment, but Reigen hired him after the whole ordeal was over. He was aware of how extremely and deeply lonely the esper was. Reigen was the same way. 

Reigen had this hole within him. He originally tried to fill it by going to bars to meet people, but it quickly devolved into him going to bars to find other people who were going to bars simply to find someone to sleep with. In the moment, he could lie to himself and pretend that the empty feeling in his soul was fixed by these strangers, but they never panned out to any sort of real relationship. He just became lonelier and lonelier…emptier and emptier. When Mob came into his life, Reigen realized that he was only doing more harm to himself than good, and he stopped going to the bars for that nighttime company. He still went on occasion to his favourite bar, which had been his favourite for the simple fact that the people there were people he could “solve” the problems of with his words in return for their respect. But even his visits to that particular spot dwindled as he gained more clients to solve the problems of. 

Yet, no matter how many problems he solved, his own problem of that empty hole of loneliness within his heart never went away. It was reduced in size due to the light of the young esper boy he had grown fond of, but he was still lonely. He couldn’t open up and so he kept up his facade of charisma. Mob knew the partial truth at that point. He had seen those brief glimpses of pain and sadness from the businessman, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

However, once Reigen hired Serizawa, he started to feel that loneliness fading. This man was like a big puppy to Reigen, and once again, Reigen had always loved dogs. He took Serizawa into his business, gave him a haircut, and instilled within him a seed in his soul from which confidence could begin to grow. Serizawa had been seriously mistreated by his last boss, and so Reigen was trying to be careful to not let that happen again to the guy. Serizawa seemed happy and so did Reigen. The businessman had not only a new esper employee who eased Reigen’s fears of what he would do with the business once Mob inevitably stopped working there, but he had something he hadn’t had in an unbearably long time. He had a best friend.

As a child, Reigen was still a loner. He had a small group of friends, but they were like him: outcasts. He was seen as weird, as strange, and was bullied for it. Despite having these few friends, he drifted away from them once they all moved on from school to other things. They were now nothing more than people in his very short Friendbook list. 

The feeling of having a best friend was almost foreign to Reigen, and of course, Serizawa felt the same way. Reigen was happy. He had changed. Of course, Serizawa was under the impression that Reigen was a psychic, but that only really applied to the business aspect of their relationship. Powers or not, Serizawa wanted to be Reigen’s friend. 

But Reigen had changed in the way he interacted with those around him. He no longer tried to hold people back for the sake of his own selfish needs. He had told Mob that he understood that one day, Mob would move on and no longer work at Spirits and Such, although he made the boy promise that moving on from the job wouldn’t mean moving on from being in Reigen’s life, to which Mob replied by saying that leaving his mentor behind never even crossed his mind, much to Reigen’s relief. It wasn’t that he was scared of being left behind anymore. He just cared for Mob more than he ever thought he would, and he wanted to see him grow up more than he already had. 

When Serizawa told Reigen that he wanted to start going to night classes to redo his compulsory education, Reigen recognized the fact that Serizawa wanted to better himself. The old Reigen would have denied Serizawa’s request to be off work by 4 PM to go to said night classes. The old Reigen would have held Serizawa back due to his selfish fear of others improving while he didn’t. The new Reigen, however, no longer felt fear at that notion. He instead felt happy for Serizawa. He felt happy that his friend was gaining confidence and wanting to change. 

Reigen was going to ask Serizawa out to have a date on New Year’s Eve, which he did so very casually and made it sound more like he just wanted someone to hang out and grab a few drinks with, but the esper already had plans with friends from night school. Rather than feel rejected, Reigen was happy for Serizawa. In Reigen’s defense on this point also, if he had outright asked Serizawa on a date , he might have broken the poor man. Reigen ended up being asked by Mob to chaperone a trip to Mount Mud Boat to look for UFOs. Although on the outside, he expressed annoyance at being asked to babysit, on the inside, he was overjoyed at being asked to do such a thing. Not only would he not be alone on New Year’s Eve, but he would get to spend it with Mob and his friends. Reigen had come to a realization that he loved being in this pseudo-parental role. He didn’t know if he would ever have kids of his own, but he felt content being trusted by Mob as if he were a father of sorts to the young esper. He met the members of the Salt Middle School Telepathy Club, and the events of that evening bonded them all. He watched these kids meet and play around with ACTUAL REAL-LIFE ALIENS! Sure, he missed Serizawa while there in the spaceship that night, but getting to see these kids fulfill a goal and do the impossible made him happy. He liked to pretend in his head that he was a proud father, although there was no way he would ever say that out loud. It was kind of embarrassing.

One of the kids in the club, Inukawa Mameta, did end up getting stuck on the ship…and was gone for 10 days. Reigen sort of blamed himself since he was in charge of these middle schoolers, but the kid ended up coming back fine, so it was all okay! Oddly enough, Reigen never heard from anybody’s parents…so if no one was hurt, then it was fine. 

Reigen made his biggest change in life when he finally told Mob the truth. Doing so eased the turmoil within both of them. Reigen ended up being the one to bring Mob back to reality by revealing that he never had psychic powers. That he was a fraud. A liar. 

And yet…Mob did not abandon him. In fact, it only brought the pair closer together. They were more alike than they had realized, both not having been able to express their true selves for fear of being rejected by the world around them. 

After that fateful day, the city was rebuilt and life went on as normal, except for some very positive developments. Reigen finally got to hear Mob laugh. It never really dawned on him that he never heard the young esper express joy in that way before, but it quickly became one of Reigen’s favourite sounds. Being able to see Mob smile and laugh and express joy while having fun made Reigen incredibly happy. He felt like he was this kid’s father each time, pride swelling in his heart. Mob’s voice became less monotonous and more expressive as he was finally able to be his whole self. Reigen too began to be more truthful. 

Mob suggested that Reigen continue on with Spirits and Such since he was helping so many people. With Mob’s permission, Reigen continued to play up this psychic persona. He had wanted the boy’s approval to do so as he wouldn’t have felt right continuing to use a facade if Mob felt it to be wrong. But the esper saw it less as lying and more as acting. In the end, Reigen really was helping people, so the teen did not see it as an issue. He did, however, make his mentor promise to eventually tell the truth to those closest to him, like Serizawa. Mob was understanding, knowing that it would take time for Reigen to be able to open up to more people, and the businessman was thankful for how mature Mob was in his emotional reasoning. 

It was now the summer of 2013. In April, Reigen had hired a new secretary, that being one Kurata Tome. She had been the president of the Telepathy Club and was the reason why Reigen was needed to take those kids out to the mountain on New Year’s Eve. They wanted to help her finally contact aliens. Her interest in the supernatural led her to asking Reigen for a job. In her eyes, he was an adult who didn’t laugh at her interests and didn’t dismiss her dreams of extraterrestrial communication. Reigen was happy to have someone who willingly wanted to work alongside him, and so he hired her on. She quickly fit right in with Serizawa, Reigen, and Mob. She didn’t have any powers herself, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to help. Reigen felt connected to her in that way, although she was under the impression he did possess some abilities or something. Her boyfriend, Takenaka Momozou, seemed skeptical about Reigen, but if he knew the truth, he never said anything. 

It was funny, really. The first time he ever spoke to Tome was over the phone and she called him out. She yelled at him and said he was probably just a fraud wanting to use Mob. At the time, she was absolutely correct, but they both had changed since then. Reigen began to believe that Tome wouldn’t mind it if he didn’t have any powers, and he started preparing himself for her to be the next person he told. He was holding off on telling Serizawa as the idea of being rejected by the esper hurt him far greater than if Tome were to reject who Reigen really was. Instead, Reigen had been preparing himself to ask Serizawa out on a proper date. Everything up until this point had just been them hanging out because Reigen was too scared to call it a date and make it be a date. He was worrying over nothing, but he had a tendency to do so. 

In the end, Reigen was happy. He may have been seen as a failure by his parents and been hated by his sister, but he realized he didn’t need the approval of the family he had been born into. He just needed that of the family he had found…and he had found a pretty good one. 

Sometimes, he would slip the word “son” in when addressing Mob. It would be casual, like saying “well, son, good job today”. It was in the sort of way that he would hear older generations say it, where it wasn’t used to literally address their sons, but used by adults instead to address any boy really. He was nervous doing so at first, but he noticed the small smile it would elicit from the young esper. Mob never brought attention to it, which Reigen was grateful for. He wouldn’t know how to properly explain the way he felt. He also didn’t want to directly impose upon the boy’s parents. Reigen was on good terms with Mr. and Mrs. Kageyama, and knew how loving and supportive they were of their two sons. He felt a little bad for feeling like he was this kid’s father in a way, as Mob’s real father was great. In fact, Reigen wished he had parents like the Kageyamas rather than the ones he did have. The businessman supposed that the acceptance of Mob and Ritsu’s powers came much easier to their parents than the acceptance of Reigen’s entire self came to his own mother and father because Mr. Kageyama was a psychic himself. Reigen’s parents were nothing like him. 

Once Reigen had learned all those years ago that Mr. Kageyama was psychic as well, he asked the young Mob why he didn’t ask for help from his father. Mob’s reasoning was that his powers scared him, and he didn’t want to scare his parents. Knowing now what Mob could do, Reigen completely understood. He was trying to protect his parents, which he was successful in doing. He didn’t even have to push them out of his life, he simply added additional help that he found in Reigen. 

As Reigen thought about this, he wondered if Mob also saw him in that familial way that Reigen saw the boy. Maybe one day he would ask him about it, but for now, Reigen was content with his life. He no longer had that hole. The disapproval of his parents and his sister no longer affected him.

Inukawa Mameta was not the serious type of boy that his mother would like him to be, but that never really bothered him. His father wasn’t as serious as his mother, and he clearly got his personality from him. Growing up, he was carefree and went with the flow, letting his mother make the important decisions as any carefree boy his age would do, as he just wanted to play around with his buddies. His mother was a bank employee and his father was a firefighter. He was just a normal middle schooler. 

He was a member of Salt Middle School’s Telepathy Club, as he realized it was an easy place for him to be able to goof off and play video games with his friends Saruta and Kijibayashi, as well as Kurata. She was a girl, but she was one that he could actually talk to. She liked to hang out with them and wasn’t unapproachable like most of the other girls in their school. Well, it was more so that she wasn’t unapproachable to people like those in the Telepathy Club, although the rest of the school probably saw her as strange. She definitely was strange, but she liked to play video games and Inukawa decided that was reason enough to be her friend. 

His mother was unaware of the fact that he was in the Telepathy Club. He told her that he was instead in some sort of study group club, as he knew that his mother would be disapproving of the supernatural sort of thing. Plus, if she found out that the club was just an excuse for a few kids to hang out with snacks and games, she probably might react even more poorly. He knew his father wouldn’t care, but his mother was a serious person. 

Despite the differences in personality, he loved his mom and she loved him. He didn’t really know much about her side of the family, other than about his grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Reigen had moved to the countryside when Mameta was little, so he only saw them on special occasions, but he liked their house and was a fan of his grandmother’s cooking. 

Of course, Mameta had once asked about his mother’s siblings, to which she had one. A younger brother. She never said much of anything about him, only that he wasn’t a good guy and that he was estranged from the family. Mameta didn’t even know his name. 

But he decided that if his mother didn’t want anything to do with his uncle, then he wasn’t really gonna make a fuss. He probably was a bad guy, as his mom wasn’t one to exaggerate much. 

Inukawa distinctly remembered the first time he learned that his mother wouldn’t tolerate anything “supernatural” was when he was in grade school with Kageyama “Mob” Shigeo. Mob could make things float around and he was sort of famous for it when they were all little kids. Inukawa recalled coming home from school one day to excitedly tell his parents about the strange kid at school, to which his mother reacted negatively, telling Mameta that he shouldn’t make up stories like that and that there was no such thing.

Little Mameta didn’t try to fight his mother on this, but it wasn’t like her words changed what he believed. He knew what he had seen, and realized that his mom just didn’t like things she couldn’t prove herself. That was fine by him. He didn’t really care that much either. Either way, one day, Mob just stopped showing off his powers and eventually Inukawa forgot about his classmate. 

When the Telepathy Club needed to find a new member to replace Takenaka Momozou, their old member who had unceremoniously quit one day, the four of them had a lot of trouble. Everyone was either already in a club, or thought that they were creepy. It dawned on Inukawa that he knew of one person who wasn’t in a club or committee, and who didn’t have any friends or girlfriends. Kageyama Shigeo, from Year 2, Class 1, the same class that Inukawa was in. He had brought Mob to the club to join, but the guy said he was busy with his exorcism job. That’s when Inukawa remembered that Kageyama had those powers -- that he was an esper. It was a little strange to Mameta that he had seemingly forgotten that Mob could do these things, but he realized that it was probably due to the fact that the esper didn’t show off his powers anymore. 

To everybody’s surprise, Mob ended up joining the Body Improvement Club instead. Good for him, Mameta thought, but the gamer would rather have fun. Luckily for the Telepathy Club, the Body Improvement guys were actually super chill and allowed the four of them to keep playing their games and eating their snacks in the club room, as the jocks just needed a place to store their equipment. 

And thus, life for Inukawa Mameta continued on as normal. Things always went on around him, but he liked to stay pretty laid-back. Even when terrorists attacked, it seemed he was more focused on playing games than being afraid. Sometime before the terrorists, in October of that year (with that year being 2012), Mob’s mentor blew up in the news for seemingly being a fraud. The name Reigen Arataka stuck out to Mameta, simply because he remembered thinking, “Reigen? What a coincidence. That’s my grandparents’ family name,” and that was that. He had warned Mob to cut ties with the guy, because he didn’t want his friend to become some sort of laughing stock, but Kageyama seemed to think it had been his mentor’s plan all along. Inukawa was pretty sure Mob wasn’t fully aware of the situation, but he wasn’t gonna be the one to tell the esper. 

When it was time for the students to fill out a career survey, Mameta put down that he just wanted to be a plain old office worker. It wasn’t that Inukawa actually wanted to do that. He just didn’t really have a plan for the future yet, but he had plenty of time to figure it out. He figured he might be a firefighter like his dad someday, but maybe not, as that required a lot of physical strength and Mameta wasn’t into doing that sort of thing. Whatever the case would be, Inukawa was fine where he was. He was doing what any normal 14 year old boy would be doing, and that was goofing off and playing video games on his DS with his friends.

Inukawa and Mob worked together later that school year for the cultural fair. They were grouped up with two other guys, with the four of them being tasked to create the costumes for the haunted house. Originally, Inukawa wanted to take the easy way out and just go with the idea of the classic “white sheet ghost”, but eventually Mob brought in his own ideas and they were actually pretty good. Maybe taking the easy way out everytime wasn’t worth it. Perhaps putting in a little more work would give that better payoff. 

It was in December of that year when Mameta realized he should have been taking things a little more seriously when it came to the Telepathy Club. President Kurata expressed her frustration with the three boys at their lack of interest and motivation to help her in her goals of finding a telepath and achieving extraterrestrial communication. To be honest, Mameta always sort of thought of this as an excuse for her to be able to play games with them, but when she disbanded the club, he realized that she was much more serious about this goal than any of them thought. Inukawa didn’t want to let her down. 

Don’t get him wrong, Inukawa didn’t have a crush on her or anything. He just really enjoyed being her friend. She was kind of like the sibling Inukawa secretly always wanted. At school, he had his friends, but at home, he was kind of lonely. His parents' solution to his homelife loneliness was a dog! A Mameshiba Inu, to be exact. She was named Keiko and his father liked to joke that Mameta and the dog were twins, saying they were both bean-sized. It was the inu-like eyebrows, which he had inherited from his dad, and the “Mame” in both his name and his dog’s breed name, but Mameta liked the joke. He loved his dog Keiko. In fact, he just loved dogs in general, a simple statement that could be seen by the many dog-related motifs on his jackets. Surprisingly, his mother was also a big fan of dogs, but maybe it was because Mameta’s dad reminded her of one. 

When the Telepathy Club was disbanded by President Kurata, Inukawa decided the boys needed to make a change for their friend. The only person he thought could even help in the slightest in this goal to find a telepath was, of course, Mob. But…the esper said he didn’t have the power of telepathy. 

But Kageyama Ritsu, Mob’s younger brother, apparently did know some. With Mob’s help, those two weirdly geometric telepath kids were able to send out a signal. It was supposed to only be detectable by telepaths and other espers, but the strength of the signal was so great that even Inukawa felt a little of it. 

And that’s how Takenaka came back to the club. Turns out the guy was a telepath all along, and he had originally joined in hopes of finding someone like him. Inukawa felt a little bad that Takenaka hadn’t found what he was looking for back then, but now the club had someone who could help them! Mameta didn’t actually believe it at first, but then a very brief demonstration of the tennis player’s telepathic abilities proved him wrong. 

Mob was able to convince Takenaka after some emotional appeal. Inukawa always found Kageyama’s ability to do this a tad interesting considering how unemotional the esper could be at times. However, Mameta had come to know Mob better over the last few months and realized the guy was seriously dependable. He was also way more powerful than Inukawa remembered, but his powers weren’t the reason any of them were even friends with him. Kageyama was a nice kid, and Mameta liked hanging out with him. 

Even though President Kurata refused to accept the club’s offer of going to Mount Mud Boat to look for UFOs on New Year’s Eve, the five boys still wanted to go to at least try and get a picture of one for the girl. This meant a lot to her, and they never took her seriously. 

Mob was able to convince his mentor to be their chaperone and drive the rental van to the mountain. After the whole incident with that press conference, Inukawa saw that guy in a different light. He realized why Kageyama had stuck by his side rather than pretending he didn’t know Master Reigen when the psychic blew up in the news. 

The man had a trustworthy aura about him. The way he spoke with such confidence, even when being an amateur in some areas. He also seemed to care a lot about the group of middle schoolers that he was tasked to essentially babysit. He kind of reminded Inukawa of someone, but the kid couldn’t figure out who. 

The group ended up having a great time, working together to try and summon the UFO. Mob was helpful, and so was Takenaka, and the club made President Kurata smile. In fact, they even were successful in their extraterrestrial attempts! The group was taken aboard a real spaceship, which reminded Mameta of their club room back at school. Turns out, aliens were just like them. They liked to hang out, play games, and eat snacks. 

Takenaka used his powers to allow the two parties to communicate with each other. He was the only one who could do so, as he was the only one with telepathy. Inukawa remembered showing the aliens how to use his PSP that he brought with him. He remembered having a great time. The kid had told his parents that he was staying at a friend’s house for New Year’s Eve, which he told his new alien buddies was technically true, since they were all friends now!

It was the events soon after that were blurry for him. He vaguely recalled getting stuck on the spaceship and taken to some strange place. His memory was weird and fuzzy, but he remembered a deep desire to be able to communicate. He wanted to go back home. 

Having been pushed to the limit by his loneliness, Inukawa reached the aliens with his mind and informed them of his desire to return home to Earth at last. Inukawa realized that if he had something important to say, all he needed to do was simply look them in the eyes and he’d be able to get through to them. But by the time he got back to Earth, most of his memories had become too fuzzy and vague. He could no longer remember them. He had apparently kept a journal while he was gone, and that’s the only way he even realized he had been on an alien planet to begin with. The things he wrote were quite literally insane, but he didn’t even doubt their legitimacy after everything he had seen this past school year. 

Inukawa came home and discovered he had been gone for 10 days…and yet his parents seemed unaware of his absence. He assumed that whatever thing the aliens did that made him forget his time on their planet probably was done to his parents as well, most likely as a gift from the aliens to keep him from getting in trouble. When his mother asked how his year had been so far, which he found a strange question for her to ask (but he got the impression she was having issues remembering as well), he told the truth and said he had just been hanging out with friends and that he didn’t want the school year to resume. Neither of them were lies. The aliens were his friends and he was a typical kid who didn’t want vacation to end. 

However, Inukawa noticed a change within himself ever since his extraterrestrial excursion. His eyes were no longer the hazel brown colour they had once been. They were now blue! When his mother noticed, she chalked it up to being some sort of puberty-induced thing. He wasn’t going to argue with her. There was no way in hell he would ever tell her about the aliens. That would almost definitely grant him a ticket to a psychiatrist or something of that sort. 

But it wasn’t just his eyes that changed. Inukawa began to sense things. He could feel the people around him more strongly than he could before. Snippets of thoughts, bits of internal dialogues that no one was supposed to know, could sometimes be heard by the boy. Upon rereading his journal entries from his 10-day trip, Inukawa came to the realization that this all must have happened because of that loneliness. His deep desire to communicate. 

Somehow, it had either given the kid some telepathic abilities, or it had awoken something dormant within him. Luckily, he now had a telepathic friend who he could ask for help with this strange development of his. 

When Mameta first told Takenaka about what had happened to him, the telepath was skeptical. But when Inukawa was able to tell him that Takenaka had been thinking that Mameta might be mocking him, the tennis player understood that the gamer was telling the truth and that Mameta was, rightfully, confused and even a little scared. 

Takenaka helped Inukawa practice his abilities. They weren’t as strong as Takenaka’s, as the guy had been using them his entire life, but Inukawa had potential. For now, unless he tried pretty hard, he mostly could just get the general feeling of someone’s current mental state in a way that wouldn’t be possible by simply looking at them. 

This changed his life.

He wondered if he could keep in touch with his new alien pals. His memory was still foggy, so he wasn’t quite sure, but sometimes he would have weird dreams. It would be like he was on another planet -- that planet he had described in his journal to be exact. It was almost like he was being periodically taken away while he was asleep and then by morning he would be back in his futon. In those weird dreams, Inukawa couldn’t stop smiling. He wondered if he was just sleepwalking, but he honestly liked those dreams. They made him happy.

But other than that, life was resuming as normal. The last time a supernatural disaster occurred was some time after New Years, but before the end of the school year. But after that had been cleared up, life was peaceful once more. The Telepathy Club was together again, continuing to be a place where the middle schoolers could hang out and have fun. Takenaka even dropped by from time to time, although it was obvious he was there mostly for Tome. The two started dating not long after the whole Mount Mud Boat thing. They were kind of a perfect match, in Inukawa’s opinion. 

Inukawa hadn’t told anybody else other than his fellow telepath about his abilities yet. He wanted to get a better handle on them before revealing them to someone like Mob. Kageyama was cool, in his opinion, and he wanted to be cool like him. It was funny, really, because a year prior, no one would have ever thought of Mob as being “cool”, but the esper had so many friends now. He was kind of popular! Not in the typical “popular” way, but in the way that really mattered. He had friends and he was well-liked.

Inukawa didn’t technically have a birthday that year. It was 2013, and his birthday was February 29th. Leap Day. 2013 was not a leap year, so he had a friend party sometime in March instead. His friends from the Telepathy Club came, and even Mob’s mentor Master Reigen did as well! Inukawa’s minor telepathic abilities allowed the kid to sense that Reigen enjoyed looking after all these weird kids, which made his willingness to take them to Mount Mud Boat make a lot more sense. Of course, Inukawa wasn’t complaining about Master Reigen’s presence at the family restaurant where the small party was held. He liked the guy. He liked how he didn’t think these middle schoolers were weird or strange for their interests. He liked how this adult liked video games. He honestly felt really familiar, even though Inukawa knew he had never met the guy before that school year. 

So he went on. Inukawa finished up the school year, so ready to just have a normal, fun summer. The Telepathy Club was going to be disbanded now that Tome would be going to high school in the fall, but the friendships they made in the club were here to stay. The group loved to go out to karaoke, and they were even able to convince Mob to sing! He still had no sense of rhythm but, hey! At least he tried!

Tome was also Mob’s coworker now, as she had gotten a job as Master Reigen’s new secretary. She seemed really happy to be there, and Inukawa was happy for her. The past school year had been hectic for everyone, but that just meant they were well overdue for a relaxing summer.

…

Until he sensed his mom’s thoughts and realized that something was very wrong. 

His mom was a serious person, but Inukawa began to sense conflict in her mind. He couldn’t hear exactly what it was she was thinking about, but it was like she was seemingly going crazy . 

One day, he was able to pick out a single word from her jumble of frantic, almost manic and angry thoughts. 

Brother.

It was the only word he was able to hear clearly, and it was there over and over. It worried Inukawa. His mother presented herself as calm and collected, but it seemed like she really wasn’t inside. There was no way he could bring it up directly, as that wouldn’t work with someone like his serious mother, but he needed to do something.

The telepath pondered on why the word “brother” would come up so much in his mother’s thoughts. It was always with an aura of anger and disdain and annoyance. It was negative. But what about a brother would be negative? 

Then he remembered that question he had asked his mother all those years ago. Did she have any siblings? Yes. She had a brother. A brother whom she claimed was not a good guy. A brother whom she claimed was estranged.

At the time, Mameta thought nothing more of it. But if he really was estranged, why would she be thinking so angrily about him now ? Did he do something recently? And more importantly, just who was he? Obviously, Inukawa had never met this “bad” uncle of his, but the more he sensed the thoughts of his mother, the more intrigued he became. He used to not care much about most things, but he had found himself in recent times developing a curiosity about everything, and this mysterious uncle was quickly moving to the top of his list. 

He wanted to know more, so he decided he would take it upon himself. It would require a bit of sneakiness from the telepath, but it kind of sounded fun. Hopefully his mom was just exaggerating in her thoughts.

Inukawa Aneko was not having a great time. She presented herself as serious and put-together but her thoughts were plagued by comparisons and inequalities. She was the perfect child of her parents, and yet here she was, feeling grossly inadequate to her joke of a brother! She hadn’t spoken to him in years , and yet she had seen him in the media. He had been on the news back in 2012 for being around a girls’ school, and that was another piece of evidence as to why she believed he was a horrible criminal. She didn’t think he was at that level of criminal actually, and so the only explanation for this, to her, was that he was a creep. The news story didn’t even say his name, but when it showed a picture of the suspect, who was crossdressed, it was like looking in a mirror. She felt sick to her stomach because she immediately recognized Arataka underneath that disguise, although it was never confirmed who it was. Maybe she was going crazy. But…how could she be? She was convinced it was him.

When his business began to blow up in October, she felt a foreign sting of some emotion she couldn’t place at first. She almost threw up when she realized what it was. It was fear. She was afraid that her brother had actually become successful and now would gain the approval of their parents! 

She couldn’t lie and say she didn’t find herself laughing when it soon all came crashing down for Arataka. He was being exposed, as he rightly should have been. When speaking to her mother and father about her brother, she felt relief knowing that they still found him to be a disappointment. Oh, if only Arataka could be more like Aneko, her mother would say. Aneko would smile, knowing there was no way Arataka could ever be happy like she was. She had a family and a job. He had neither. 

However, his fall from “stardom” came with a lot of news stories. She couldn’t keep it away from her son, as they were everywhere. She felt fear again. Fear that her son would see Arataka and make the connection. He had the family name of Reigen, just like her son’s grandparents, for God’s sake! 

Yet, by the sheer aloofness that her son seemed to have or by some strange stroke of luck, it never seemed like Mameta connected those dots. He made some negative comment about the conman while the family was watching the news one evening, and Aneko felt inner peace. Her son wouldn’t want anything to do with Arataka because of this .

But then there was that press conference . Of course Aneko was watching. She couldn’t wait to see her brother finally dig that grave for himself once and for all. On that stand, all she saw was that annoying, lying little brother she had pushed behind when she left home. He hadn’t changed at all since that day. 

In truth, neither had she, but to her, she never needed to change. There was nothing wrong with her. She was right. He was wrong.

And even so…some reporter brought up Arataka’s graduation essay. Aneko was aware of the deep digging the media had done on her brother. Thankfully, her effort to sever all ties with him worked to keep her family out of this whole ordeal, but they had found pictures of Arataka when he was younger. She had to do a double-take at the graduation photo that had been posted online. He looked far too much like Mameta. 

However, after the reporter said how Arataka had dreams of “becoming someone” (which was the same sort of vague unattainable nonsense that Arataka had always talked about, usually accompanied by the nauseating flapping and gesturing of his hands as he spoke), there was silence. 

She was sure this was the moment he would crumble for good. But the silence was unbearable for her. Why couldn’t he just say something and make a fool of himself and finally reveal just how pathetic a human he really was!

But then? His words… “You’ve grown up so much, y’know?”

Aneko couldn’t understand. What did he mean? Who was he referring to? Why was he so silent? 

And then the world flipped upside down as some seismic event occurred, but appeared to be localized entirely in that conference room. Surely there had to be some scientific explana--

But then everything in that room began floating and Arataka sat there calmly. Almost like he was the one doing it. He couldn’t be the one doing it! Aneko refused to believe it. It had to be some trick, some scheme, some plan. 

It was the awful tone in his voice when he spoke. It was calm, almost playful , upon rhetorically asking, “Goodness. Wonder what’s goin’ on around here.” 

And then the confidence in his speech once he stood up, inquiring of the reporters, “You done asking if I’m a fraud?”

Aneko was losing her mind. In all her 35 years on Earth, and all her 28 years of being Arataka’s sister, she never once witnessed something she couldn’t explain. But her brother? She didn’t have an answer. He stood up, declaring, “in that case, I think it’s time to end this press conference.” 

The look on his face when he told those reporters that they should concentrate on finding their next big story only furthered Aneko’s confusion. Who was that man? Sure, he was Reigen Arataka by name but…

The news feed cut out, and Aneko had to spend that evening scribbling down her confusion and anger in a notebook. Over the course of the next few hours, the serious bank employee was able to convince herself once more that it was all just an act. Her brother was nothing more than a fraud and that was all he would ever be.

Yet somehow that press conference did the opposite of what she had hoped it would do. Instead of bringing down her brother, it only furthered his business. She would see it occasionally being spoken about online, even hearing it be mentioned at her workplace offhandedly by coworkers or customers. 

He was doing well. How in the world did something like that ever even happen ? He hadn’t followed the path that he was supposed to, so why was he succeeding? That whole fraud thing seemed to only be a bump in the road for him!

As the year went on, and into the new year, she would obsess over the fact that her brother -- that criminal she had the misfortune of being related to -- was doing well . Aneko wasn’t evil . She wasn’t wishing death or tragedy be upon him, but she found it horribly unfair that he wasn’t getting what he deserved. It didn’t make sense to her.

Her husband would remind her, seeing how worked up his wife got regarding her brother, that Arataka was his own person and that she shouldn’t let him affect her. She should instead focus on what she had, which was a good job and a happy family. She knew Kentaro was right. But that wouldn’t stop her from seeing so much that reminded her of him. She cringed every time she saw salt for God’s sake, all simply because Arataka would throw salt around like an idiot for his dumb little psychic business!

She should stop worrying. The school year was over, and so that meant Mameta would be home more often. She didn’t want to alarm her son, and so she kept her thoughts inside. But he was looking more and more like him. He held similar interests to her brother when Arataka was Mameta’s age. He laughed like him. He had that same goofy grin.

It unnerved her because her son was unknowingly reminding Aneko of the things she didn’t hate about her brother. Mameta was showing his mother, without even being aware, that maybe her brother wasn’t such a bad guy…or that maybe she should try to think about that version of him that he was when he was a kid. 

But it caused a divide in her mind. She still felt the need to hold strong to her belief that Arataka was a fraud and was not a good guy, yet she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of nostalgia when her son woke up with messy hair, reminding her of her little brother.

Her thoughts felt jumbled, but she continued on with life as normal. One day, she noticed that Mameta no longer had the honey-coloured eyes that he had in common with her brother. Aneko’s were a darker hazel, and so she always wished his eyes would be like hers, but to her surprise, Mameta had seemed to acquire blue irises. She had heard somewhere that eye colour had the possibility of changing during puberty, which Mameta was going through. Could light brown eyes become light blue? She didn't know, but it wasn’t like she was going to look too much into it. She felt relief at being able to look her son in the eye and not see her younger brother as a child staring back at her. Thus, it did not worry the woman.

It was a tad ironic that the look of Arataka seemed to irk Aneko so much, as she looked just like him. She recalled Ken’s mother noting how Mameta looked so much like his mother when he let his bangs down. Yes. That was it. Mameta didn’t look like Arataka. He looked like Aneko. It gave her a bit of peace thinking that way. 

Weirdly, Aneko could look in the mirror and not see Arataka. She knew they looked so alike, but she never saw herself as looking like him. She made the decision to part her son’s hair in the middle to avoid him looking like Arataka, and yet, Aneko wore her bangs the same way her brother did. 

Whatever. Aneko was happy. Yes. Happy. She had a life she was proud of, unaware that her thoughts could now be understood by her son.

Inukawa met up with Takenaka at the bench that had become the default spot for any time anyone in the Telepathy Club needed to meet up somewhere. Takenaka was sitting by himself, listening to music on his MP3 player, as usual. Inukawa sat down, a bit nervous. He had asked Takenaka to meet with him over worries he was having about his powers.

When Inukawa sat down, the tennis player opened his eyes. “Oh, hey.” He paused his music but didn’t take the earbuds out of his ears. Mameta understood why. The earbuds acted as earplugs, allowing him to dampen his powers and not get overwhelmed by hearing the thoughts of everybody around him. Inukawa’s telepathy wasn’t at that level, and so it wasn’t really too big of a deal for him, but he did find his hearing to be more sensitive since his space trip.

“Hey Takenaka.” Inukawa gave him a forced smile, but it was obvious he was anxious. Takenaka didn’t need to be telepathic to understand that. 

“What’s up?” 

Inukawa sighed. “What do you do when you hear something you probably shouldn’t have heard?”

Takenaka looked up at the clouds in the summer sky. “...What sort of thing?”

“Technically, it was just one word a lot of times, but…” Mameta absentmindedly picked at his nail. “My mom’s thoughts don’t really go with how she presents herself.”

Momozou leaned his head back as he glanced at his friend. “That’s pretty common.”

“No, I mean, you haven’t met my mom. She acts all put together and serious and all that, but I keep getting the sense from her jumbled thoughts that she’s not actually like that.”

Takenaka took a moment to think. When he was a little kid, he had read his own father’s thoughts and it made his mother cry. It was a touchy subject, and he hoped that wasn’t what was happening with Inukawa.

“You said there was only one word.” The tennis player spoke up.

“Uh, well, more like there’s only one word that I can actually make out.” Inukawa explained.

“...” Takenaka looked at him.

“Oh! I probably should tell you.” Mameta laughed nervously. “It’s ‘brother’.”

“Brother?”

“My theory is that it’s about her brother. I’ve never met him and she doesn’t talk about him, but all I know is that, according to my mom, he’s not good and he doesn’t have contact with the family.” Inukawa looked out at the people walking past.

“I suppose you want to figure out why she’s thinking about him then?” Takanaka twirled the wire of his earbuds around his finger.

Inukawa looked at his friend. “Wow! You’re good at that!” He exclaimed, referring to the guy’s ability to analyze others. 

“So I’m right?” Takenaka said with a small smile.

Inukawa nodded. “I want to find out who he is. I can’t ask her about it because she might freak out, and I can’t tell her that I read her thoughts because she doesn’t believe in anything paranormal…and I can’t exactly look him up because I know literally nothing about him.”

Takenaka drummed his fingers against the bench as he pondered a solution. “So you can’t ask your parents…what about your mom’s parents?”

“My grandparents?”

“Yeah. Do you think they’d tell you?”

Inukawa sighed. “...Maybe?”

The sporty brunette thought a little more. “What are you going to do when you find out who he is?”

“...” Inukawa paused. “Y’know, that’s a good question. I’m hoping that he’s not actually a bad person like my mom says, but I guess I just want to know why she’s constantly, like, stressing over her brother that she seemingly hasn’t had contact with in years.”

“And if he is a bad person?”

Mameta looked at Takenaka. “Well, then…I guess I’ll go from there.” He sighed. “Thanks, Takenaka. I should probably give my grandma a call then.”

“Yeah, no problem.” He smiled and stood up, looking at the people passing them by, thankful for his earbuds that blocked their thoughts. “I hope it goes well…I know firsthand how telepathy can…” He trailed off.

Inukawa had heard the story when the tennis player had first revealed to the club that he had these powers, so he knew. “I get it.” He stood up as well. 

“...Yeah…anyways, I’ll let you go.” Takenaka gave Inukawa a pat on the shoulder. 

“Thanks, man.” Mameta nodded, the two boys going their separate ways.

On the way home, Inukawa tried to plan out the conversation with his grandmother in his head. It was a bit difficult, as he didn’t really know what it was she would say. He didn’t know if she would just tell him what his mom had said, or if she would reveal something. He just hoped that his grandmother wouldn’t tell his mom that he had asked her about this mysterious uncle. 

His parents were both at work, so the house was empty, save for Keiko. Inukawa unlocked the door and walked in, pulling out his cell phone on the way to his bedroom. Keiko followed him diligently to keep him company.

Mameta sat down on the floor, pulling up the number of his grandparents’ home phone. He took a deep breath and held it as he pressed the call button, waiting as it rang.

After a few rings, someone picked up.

“Oh, hey Grandpa! It’s Mameta…” Inukawa laid on the floor and stared at the ceiling. “Yeah, I’m doing fine. Could I talk to Grandma?” He reached his free arm out to pet Keiko. “She’s gardening? Yeah, I can wait a second.” The boy waited for what seemed like forever until his grandmother finally came to the phone.

“Hey Grandma!” Inukawa said with nervousness in his tone.

“Ah, hello Mameta, dear.” The kind voice of his grandmother came through the speaker. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been fine.” He replied. “How’s the gardening?”

“After those watermelon seeds I planted a while ago ruined the other plants and flowers, I’ve had to replant in other areas.” She explained. 

“Oh, that sounds annoying.” He answered, not knowing enough about gardening to contribute more.

“So to what do I owe the pleasure, getting to hear my favourite grandson’s voice? You know, I haven’t seen you in ages. You should convince your mother to visit us this summer.”

“Grandmaaaa, I’m your only grandson.” He huffed, a little embarrassed.

“Does that mean you are not allowed to be my favourite?” 

He sighed, a small smile on his face. “I guess not…anyways, Grandma, I had a question.”

“Yes, dear?”

“Uhm, so, uh…I kinda know that Mom has a brother, but I don’t know anything about him and I know she won’t tell me if I ask.” He danced around the question in a way that would allow him to not say how his mother feels about this brother of hers.

“Ah, yes, Arataka.”

“...Is that his name?” Why did that sound familiar?

“She did not tell you?”

Inukawa shook his head, even though he was on the phone and couldn’t be seen. “No, she only ever spoke about him once when I was little.”

“That makes sense. Your mother and her brother do not get along.”

“...Do you think she’d be mad if I tried to find him?”

Mameta’s grandmother thought for a moment. Perhaps in the past, she would have advised her grandson against doing such a thing, but maybe this would be good. If Mameta were to meet Arataka, perhaps it would show Arataka the joy of children and maybe convince the man to finally find someone to settle down and have a family with. She decided that Arataka meeting his nephew could potentially turn his life in a better direction.

“I’d say don’t tell her yet.” His grandmother answered. “This can be a secret mission for you, my little bean.” This caught Inukawa off guard, as it was almost out of character for her to sound like this. She was supporting him being sneaky? 

“Really? So I can go look for him?”

“It shouldn’t be too hard. He doesn’t exactly keep himself out of the public eye.” His grandmother laughed softly. 

“O-Okay! Yeah! Thanks Grandma!” He sat up off the floor.

“Of course, dear. Remember to tell your mother that we want you all to visit!”

“I will! I’ll let you get back to gardening.” He got up.

“Alrighty. I love you, Mameta.” 

“Love you too, Grandma.” 

The call ended. Inukawa couldn’t believe his luck. Not only was his grandma being supportive, but she even told him the name of his uncle! Arataka!

…

Wait, hold on.

Inukawa frowned. “If Arataka is his given name,” He muttered to himself. “Then his family name is probably still that of Grandma and Grandpa’s.” He paced around his bedroom, Keiko watching him with interest. “That would make him… Reigen Arataka.”

…

Inukawa stopped walking. “Nah, there’s no way.” He laughed and pulled up Google on his phone, quickly typing in “Reigen Arataka” into the search bar. Yeah, he had met the guy a few times, but he needed to look at him again.

He clicked on images and slapped himself in the forehead upon seeing the man. How did he not realize it before? The guy looked so much like his own mother!

It took a few more moments for everything to set in. So it really wasn’t a coincidence that he shared the same family name as Inukawa’s grandparents…the same as his mother’s maiden name. 

The brother that his mother said was a bad guy…was Master Reigen. He stared at a photo of him, seeing the resemblance between him and his mother. The same colour of hair, the same bangs…even their expressions were uncannily alike.

“Holy crap.” Inukawa sat down at his desk in disbelief. His uncle was someone he already knew…but did Master Reigen know he was Inukawa’s uncle? He sat there for a few more minutes, going over everything in his head. When Master Reigen had been in the news, Mameta’s mom did seem weirdly invested. She had made quite a few negative comments about the guy…so she really did hate her brother. 

Inukawa stood up, about to walk out of his bedroom and out of his house when he realized he didn’t have a plan. What was he going to do? Just walk up to Master Reigen with this information?

Mameta sat back down and groaned. “What am I supposed to do?” He leaned back in the chair. He wasn’t close enough with the guy to just say something like that! What if he reacted negatively?

But then he remembered that one of his best friends was close enough with Master Reigen. Mob worked for the guy!

Inukawa quickly pulled up Kageyama’s number and called him.

Kageyama “Mob” Shigeo had become a lot better over the past year. He had forgotten how good it felt to laugh and smile and be able to express himself. Sure, he had been turned down by Tsubomi, but the rejection actually had led to the two of them rekindling their friendship. It also helped Mob realize that he had placed Tsubomi on a pedestal…when she was just a normal middle schooler like everyone else. He now only felt a little nervous talking to her instead of the sheer anxiety it used to give him. 

It was summer in Seasoning City, and Mob was surrounded by his friends. Not only did he have Master Reigen (who Mob now knew wasn’t a psychic, but that actually had been a positive development for the two of them), but he had the Body Improvement Club, the Telepathy Club, all of his other friends from school, Dimple, Serizawa, Hanazawa, all of the other espers he had met, and, of course, Ritsu. Mob hadn’t felt lonely since the incident that day. He felt free.

He told Master Reigen that he would keep working part-time at the office. He knew that Master had Serizawa and Dimple, but Mob couldn’t just give up on that place. He didn’t care about the pay (which he still failed to realize was way too little to be legal). He cared about the people. He got to help people and he got to be with those whom he loved.

Mob was sitting in the office on a particularly slow business day, watching Serizawa wipe the floor with Master Reigen in some fighting game. He glanced at the disk case, which told him it was called “Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3”. Mob had never played fighting games much growing up, so he wasn’t very good at them, but he enjoyed watching his friends play. Tome was sitting next to Mob, making it very known to Master Reigen that he was very bad at this game compared to Serizawa, with Dimple obviously joining in. It was all in good fun, and Mob was laughing too.

Somehow, Serizawa could win these fights, even while explaining to Master Reigen who the characters were. The esper was like an encyclopedia of knowledge, which made him enjoyable to be around. 

“You see, that’s Phoenix Wright from Capcom’s Ace Attorney series. Capcom’s actually releasing the fifth game next month! You should really play the games, Reigen. The third game, ‘Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations’, which came out in 2004, and the fourth game, ‘Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney’, which came out in 2007, are the best ones in the series so far. I really hope that ‘Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies’ lives up to the hype!” Serizawa explained while performing a perfect combo against his boss. 

“C’mon! You gotta stop talking!” Master Reigen groaned in annoyance as Serizawa got close to beating him again. “You’re distracting meeeeee!” 

“That’s ironic, coming from you .” Dimple rolled his eyes.

Serizawa grinned, taking the opportunity to keep talking. “See, Reigen, I think you’d like Phoenix Wright! He-”

“Shh!!” Master Reigen was button-mashing with no real strategy in mind. It was no wonder he lost so easily to Serizawa. “Ah, damn it!” He dropped his controller and groaned in annoyance once more.

“Such a sore loser.” Tome nudged Master Reigen out of his spot. “My turn!” 

“Sorry, boss.” Serizawa grinned, and even though the businessman was pouting, there was a small smile on his face. 

Master Reigen sat down next to Mob and sighed. “Y’know, kiddo, it’s really not fair.” He put his arm around Mob’s shoulder.

“If it helps, you did better than I would have done.” The boy offered, trying to hold back a small laugh at just how easily Serizawa had defeated Master Reigen.

“It doesn’t really, but thanks.” The man sighed and turned his head to watch his other two employees, while Dimple gave some colourful commentary about the digital match (although Kurata couldn’t hear him, as she was unable to see the spirit). Unlike her boss, Tome was actually decent at the game. It probably helped that she had spent a lot of her after-school time playing video games with the Telepathy Club.

Mob resumed watching them as well when his phone suddenly rang. He pulled out the flip phone that Master Reigen had given to him years ago and checked the caller ID. 

“Oh, hey Inukawa.” Mob answered, unsure as to why his friend might be calling. Master Reigen glanced at him.

“Hey Mob! Uh, hey, I have a question.” Inukawa’s voice sounded a little hesitant.

“Huh? Okay. Hey, give me a second. It’s kinda loud in the office right now, so I’m gonna step out so I can hear you better.” Mob stood up and did just that. He closed the office door behind him and sat on the steps. “What’s up?”

“Your boss’s name is Reigen Arataka, right?” 

“Yeah. You knew this though, I thought. You’ve met him a few times before.” Mob replied, not knowing where this was going.

“I know! I know…I just needed a little confirmation…” On the other end, Inukawa nervously bounced his leg while sitting in his desk chair. “Would you happen to know if he has a sister? An older one, to be exact?”

“A sister?” Now that was certainly not what the esper had been expecting. Upon reflection, he had never heard Master Reigen mention a sister. Only briefly had he ever mentioned his mom or dad, but those times were few and far between. “I’m not sure. Why?”

“Oh, uh…okay, dude, can you promise not to tell your mentor about what I’m about to tell you?”

Mob furrowed his brows a little. What was wrong with his friend? Was he okay? “Sure. What is it?”

“I don’t think you’ve ever met my mom. But uh, after talking to my grandma, I’m, like pretty sure that your boss is, uh…my mom’s brother.” Inukawa reached down to pet Keiko.

“He is? That’s so cool, Inukawa!” Mob’s eyes lit up.

“Hold on.” Mameta cut him off.

Mob was a little confused. “Huh?” 

“You see, my mom kind of…hates her brother? To the point where I didn’t even know anything about him -- not even his name -- until I finally asked my grandma today. And according to her, my mom and her brother aren’t on good terms…” Inukawa explained.

“Oh, wait…so you didn’t even know Master Reigen was probably your uncle until today?” Mob glanced back at the closed office door.

Mameta sighed. “Nope…do you think he knows?” 

“...Hm. I’m not sure. Although, probably not, considering he didn’t ever say anything when you guys met.” Mob tried to think back on the trip to Mount Mud Boat.

“I wanna tell him.” Inukawa replied. “...but I’m worried. I don’t think I’m wrong, but what if I am? Or, or, or, uh, what if he doesn’t want anything to do with me? What if he actually hates me because I’m his sister’s son?! What if-”

“Inukawa?” Mob was the one to cut off his friend this time.

“...Yeah?”

“I know Master Reigen. He’s genuinely a good guy. I don’t think he would ever hate you.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Y’know, this might actually be really good. Based on the years I’ve worked for him and what you’ve told me, I don’t think he has that strong of a relationship with his family…so he might be really happy to have a nephew.”

Inukawa tapped his foot. “...You really think so, dude?”

“Sure. Why not? It doesn’t hurt to try.” Mob answered. 

Mameta thought to himself for a moment. He remembered getting the sense that Master Reigen enjoyed watching over the Telepathy Club. He remembered how helpful he had been. 

“Yeah…yeah okay. Hey, uh, is he there today?” Inukawa asked, realizing how dumb of a question it was considering that the guy owned the place.

“Yeah. Serizawa, Tome, and Master Reigen are playing a video game. We’re not busy.”

Inukawa sat up straighter in his chair. A video game! That was something he could relate to! Maybe this wouldn’t be so stressful after all! “Do you think I could drop by?”

“Sure.” Mob answered, standing up off of the stair he was sitting on.

“Alright! Okay, yeah! I’ll be there soon! Oh man, I hope this goes well.” Inukawa laughed.

“See you soon.” The esper replied, to which the call ended. He was about to turn around and go back into the office, but he came face to face with the familiar green ghost. 

“That’s interesting.” Dimple observed. 

“Were you spying again?” Mob asked, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

The spirit sighed. “Well, what else am I supposed to do? I’m bored . I can only watch Umbrella Boy over there win so many times.” 

“You probably shouldn’t call him that.” Mob reminded him. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Dimple rolled his eyes and crossed his little green arms. “What was all that on the phone just now?”

“Don’t you know it’s rude to eavesdrop?” Mob avoided the question.

“Oh, c’mon Shigeo!” It seemed that the only two people who ever called him that were Dimple and Serizawa. “I heard you say something about Reigen being an uncle?” It was clear that the spirit was always interested in gossip or secrets in one form or another.

“Possibly. It’s not my place to say.”

Dimple groaned. “Shigeo, you’re impossible to have fun with, you know that?”

This elicited a chuckle from the esper boy. “You know that’s not true.” But Mob paused for a moment. “...Hey Dimple, do you think Master Reigen talks to his family?”

The green ghost raised an eyebrow. “How should I know?”

“You’re usually either by his side or mine, so I thought you might have heard him say something.”

Dimple observed Shigeo. The kid seemed worried for his boss, that was certain. “You and I both know he’s kind of a lonely guy.”

Mob looked back up at his friend. “Not so much anymore, right?”

“Hm. I suppose not. But I mean that he doesn’t really have a family.”

“Other than us.” Mob corrected.

Dimple stared at the boy. “You know what I meant.”

Shigeo looked at the office door. “...Thanks for looking out for him, Dimple. You’re a good friend.”

“Seriously, kid?” The spirit huffed, but he couldn’t help but feel touched. 

Mob laughed again and opened the office door, Dimple following behind him. Now it was Master Reigen versus Tome, with Serizawa trying to help them both.

“Pick a side, Serizawa!” Master Reigen complained as Tome got the upper hand. 

“But then the other person will be mad that I didn’t help them!” The anxious esper tried to reason with his boss. 

“It’s okay, Serizawa.” Tome laughed with a smirk. “No matter what Reigen does, there’s no way he could win!”

“Hey!” The blonde gasped incredulously. 

Kageyama smiled and sat on the office sofa again, happy that everyone was getting along.

The call had ended and Inukawa had been instilled with a wave of confidence. If Mob said it would be okay, then it probably would be. He trusted Kageyama to have good ideas. The boy wondered if he should bring anything. He wanted to make a good impression, but at the same time, he had already met Master Reigen on a number of occasions, so why should this time be any different?

He looked in the mirror and fixed his hair, making his middle part clean and neat, as well as putting off leaving for the consultation office. He bent down to pet Keiko, who seemed happy to just be there with him. Dogs were such great companions.

“You have no idea what’s going on, do ya?” Mameta cooed in that voice that people used when speaking to pets and small children. 

Keiko yipped in reply, licking Inukawa’s nose. 

“Aw, come on!” He laughed and wiped it away with the back of his arm. “I wish my telepathy worked with you, girl.” He scratched behind her soft ears before standing up. “Okay. Wish me luck, Keiko.”

The Mameshiba Inu yipped once more, as if she really was sending him well wishes. Inukawa smiled and slipped his phone into his pocket, making his way out of his bedroom and out of the house. He made sure to lock the door behind him and began his trip to the “Spirits and Such Consultation Office”. He had been there before a couple of times to meet up with Mob or Tome for some reason or another, but now he was making probably the most important trip of his life! Okay, that was an exaggeration. He had literally been on an alien planet. But, still! This was big.

Inukawa found himself getting lost. He knew it was due to his nerves, but he made an embarrassing amount of wrong turns for someone who had lived in Seasoning City his whole life. In his defense, he had been trying to figure out what he was going to say. 

Finally, he saw the office building with the sign on the side. He pushed past the unreasonable fears in his head and powered through, walking inside and making his way up the stairs. He stopped midway through to take a deep breath. As he got near the office door, he could sense the excited thought patterns of the people inside. 

That’s right. They were playing a video game. Everyone inside that room liked video games. He liked video games. So, he would be able to relate to this guy, right? 

Inukawa took a deep breath and turned the door knob, allowing him entry inside the small office. He was greeted by the sight of Mob and Tome sitting on the floor in front of the office TV, playing a familiar fighting game. The esper had probably been coerced into doing so. He wasn’t doing too bad, although Tome clearly had the upper hand. The other employee of Master Reigen’s, who Inukawa was pretty sure was named Serizawa, was crouched down next to Mob, trying to help him. 

Master Reigen was sitting on the sofa. Seeing the man in person with the new knowledge that this guy was Mameta’s mother’s younger brother made Inukawa feel almost stupid for not realizing it before. 

“Oh, uh, hey!” Inukawa spoke up, being a little louder than he intended. 

Serizawa stood up (oh wow, he was tall, Mameta thought) and turned to Inukawa. “Hello! How can we help you?”

Master Reigen, too, stood up to face Inukawa, before realizing it was just one of Mob and Tome’s friends. 

His two friends at the TV didn’t even pause the game, but they both called out a hello in the midst of their duel.

“It’s okay, I’m not here for business or anything!” Inukawa told the tall psychic. 

“I assume you’re here for them?” Master Reigen pointed with his thumb behind him to his employees.

“Uhm. N-no, actually.” Mameta shoved his hands in his pockets. “I actually wanna speak to you, uh, Master Reigen.”

“Really? Alright.” The blonde shrugged. 

“It’s kind of noisy in here…is there somewhere else we could go?” The boy seemed nervous to Reigen. It reminded him a little of when he first met Mob. There was something on this kid’s mind that was clearly bothering him.

“Sure.” Reigen nodded. “There’s the hallway outside if it’s gonna be a short conversation, but there’s also the cafe upstairs if it’s gonna be longer.”

“Cafe.” Mameta nodded. “It’s important, but might take a while.”

Reigen furrowed his brow a little as he tried to figure out what it could be. Was it related to the alien thing that happened to the kid? “Yeah, alright.” Reigen turned to his employees. “Mob, you’re in charge.” He told the esper boy, right as Mob lost. 

“Yes, sir.” Mob looked behind him to his boss before glancing at Inukawa and giving him a thumbs-up.

Reigen nodded. “K. Follow me, kid.” The businessman motioned for Inukawa as he led the way. The boy was silent as he trailed behind the man. He noticed the guy humming to himself, a habit that it seemed Reigen shared with Mameta’s mother.

As Reigen brought the middle schooler upstairs to the cafe, he glanced back at him, noticing the look of anticipation on his face. He got a table and motioned for the boy to take a seat, to which Inukawa did.

“So, what’s on your mind?” Reigen asked, neatly clasping his hands together on the table, although anyone who ever met the man would know that his hands would not be still for long.

“...Do you have a sister?” Inukawa needed to get that question out of the way first. If Master Reigen didn’t have one, then this could be just one big coincidence and misunderstanding, but if he did-

“...Yeah.” Reigen’s expression became a little more concerned. His brow was furrowed and his mouth was in a slight frown. “Why?”

“Uh, have you spoken to her at all recently?” Inukawa fidgeted with a sugar packet from the little dish on the cafe table, unable to make eye contact with the man across from him. 

“No. What’s this about?” Reigen crossed his arms.

“Well, uh…oh man. Uhm.” Mameta felt like he already messed up. Reigen could see that the kid was panicking, so he reached over and set a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder. 

“Hey. It’s okay, kid. Inukawa, was it?”

Inukawa nodded. “Mameta’s my given name.”

“Do you prefer to be called Inukawa or Mameta?” Reigen asked.

“Huh? Oh, uh, I don’t care honestly.” It seemed like a weird question, but then again, Master Reigen seemed like a weird guy.

“Inukawa it is, then. Y’know, Inu means dog.” The blonde man motioned with his hand in a general informative gesture as he took it off of the kid’s shoulder.

“Yeah.” Mameta nodded. “I know.” He pointed at the little embroidered dog on his button-up shirt’s pocket. 

“I take it you’re a fan of them, then?” Reigen was trying to ease the kid’s nerves with small talk.

“I love dogs.” Inukawa nodded again. “I have a Mameshiba Inu, actually.”

“Hey, I love dogs too.” Reigen grinned. “Although I don’t have one. My apartment building doesn’t allow them.” He sighed, gesturing with his hands like he usually did.

 It was silent for a few moments before a waitress came over to their table, and Reigen ordered melon sodas for both of them. The waitress took the order and left them alone again.

“Hey, so is your sister’s name Aneko?” Inukawa blurted out, unable to stand the quiet. The question caused the man to pause and look directly at Mameta.

“...Yeah?” Reigen seemed concerned again.

“Oh, well, uh, cool! Yeah! So, uhm…that’s my mom!” Inukawa laughed nervously, finding himself looking everywhere but at Master Reigen.

“Huh?” Reigen sat up a little straighter. “Your mom’s name is Aneko ?”

“Yeah! You’re, uh, Reigen Arataka, right?” Dang it, Inukawa! Dumb question. Of course he’s Reigen Arataka!

“Yeah.” The man was no longer moving his hands.

“Well, my mom’s name, or well, uh, her name before she got married , was Reigen Aneko-”

“No kidding, huh?” Reigen cut him off, an amused expression on his face, until the guy seemed to finally connect the dots. “Wait…wait, wait hold on. My sister is your mom?”

Inukawa watched, still fiddling with the sugar packet. “Y-yeah. You’re my uncle.”

Reigen sat back, his eyes wide as he looked out in the distance at nothing. “...My sister has a kid.” He muttered, seemingly in shock. “...a 15 year old kid…that I never knew about.”

“Wait, you didn’t know?” Inukawa sat up.

“I had no clue.” Reigen admitted. “...Oh my god, I have a nephew!” He couldn’t stop the smile that grew on his face.

“Yeah! We’re related!” Inukawa felt relief upon seeing his grin.

 Reigen looked at the boy and he saw the similarities now. It was mainly in his hair, as Reigen remembered his own mother styling his hair that way for picture days. He also noticed again that Inukawa had those silly rounded eyebrows, which brought the man back to that photo in his parents’ house. His sister’s wedding photo, which included a man, presumably her husband, with those same eyebrows. The kid’s striking blue eyes did seem a little out of place, but something about his expression felt familiar to Reigen. 

“Wait, so have you known? Or…”

Mameta shook his head. “My mom kinda refused to speak about you. I had to ask my grandma today to see if she’d give me your name.”

“...Huh, my mom really told you?” Reigen seemed a little surprised. 

Inukawa honestly had forgotten that his grandmother was also Master Reigen’s mother. “Yeah. It was kinda weird, actually. I didn’t think she’d be so willing.”

Reigen sighed. “Tch, knowing my mom, it’s probably her way of trying to tell me something.” He rolled his eyes, but then looked back at Inukawa. “So…your mom doesn’t talk about me?” The man asked softly.

“...Do you want the truth?” Inukawa bounced his leg anxiously under the table. 

“Do I?” Reigen seemed just as anxious about this, although he was much better at hiding it. “...Yeah, I already know she hates me. Lay it on me, kid.”

This got Inukawa’s attention. He looked up at his uncle. “Wait, she really does hate you?”

“That’s the impression I got from her the last time we spoke a few years ago, yeah.” The man tried to hide that it bothered him, but Inukawa could sense his thoughts loud and clear in a way that he hadn’t been able to do with anybody yet. Reigen was sad about this. He genuinely didn’t want to be hated, and yet he was. Sure, nobody wants to be hated, but it was deeper than that.

“...I asked my mom when I was little if she had any siblings.” Inukawa resumed the fiddling of the sugar packet. “She said she had a brother…but that he was a bad guy and that the family didn’t talk to him.”

Reigen groaned. “Of course she would say that.” He expressed annoyance, but his thoughts were that same deeper sadness. He was silent for a few moments. “Hey, you didn’t tell her about the whole space thing, did you?” 

“Oh man, of course not! She’d think I’ve gone crazy! And besides…I think the aliens wiped her and my dad’s memory? So that I wouldn’t get in trouble?” 

“Wait, so they don’t even know you were gone for, like, over a week?” Reigen leaned forwards as the waitress came by with their drinks, setting one down in front of each of them. Reigen gave her his signature charismatic smile and a pleasant thanks before opening his straw and taking a sip.

Inukawa did the same, letting the sweet soda sit on his tongue for a moment before speaking. “Nope. To be honest, I wouldn’t even have believed it if not for that journal I kept…” He took another sip. “And the fact that I have telepathy now.” He muttered.

“Wait, what?” Reigen stopped playing with the straw wrapper. 

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. I guess I got powers or something while on that alien planet? Or maybe they were always there within me or something? I think they might be genetic, actually, because both Mob and his brother are psychic?” Inukawa then had a light bulb go off in his head. “Oh! Wait, hold on! You have crazy powers too, yeah? And I’m your nephew! So maybe that’s how I have them!”

Reigen’s face fell a little. “...You’re telepathic, right?” He asked in a weirdly soft tone.

“...Yeah?...I’m not super good at it yet or anything, but Takenaka’s helping me and-”

“Can you read my thoughts?”

Inukawa paused to look at his uncle’s face. “Y’know, you’re actually the first person I’ve been able to clearly read the thoughts of. Usually I just get a…a vibe.”

Reigen looked down at his drink. “So you must know the truth then.”

Mameta tilted his head like a confused dog. “The truth? I don’t-” He stopped talking as he suddenly knew what it was the man in front of him was referring to.

This guy didn’t have any powers. All those news stories were technically true.

Inukawa sat back, blinking. “...Oh. Huh.” He didn’t really know what to say.

“Yeah.” Reigen muttered in reply. “Look, I understand if you want nothing to do with me now.”

“Hold on.” Inukawa sat back up. “Why wouldn’t I want anything to do with you?”

“Because you know the truth.”

“So? Honestly, I never really thought about your powers much. They were always more of an afterthought.” Inukawa shrugged. “And like, you’re not hurting people, right?”

“Oh god, no. I, uh, actually try to help.” The blonde man swirled his straw around the fizzy drink.

“Wait, do your employees know?” The boy took another sip.

“Only Mob…and only recently.” Reigen’s usual in-your-face facade was gone and before Inukawa sat a much more authentic version of the man.

“How recently?”

“A few months ago. But…y’know everything’s better now.” Reigen looked down at the ice in his cup.

“What about President Kurata?”

“Huh? Tome?...Nah, she doesn’t know. I was gonna tell her next, actually. She’s like me, y’know? No powers, but she wants to help.”

“And that other guy? Serizawa, I think his name is?”

Reigen looked to the side, and Inukawa got the impression from his uncle’s thoughts that this guy was important to him.

“Ohhhh…” Inukawa nodded. “I see.”

“C’mon! Reading people’s minds isn’t nice, kid.” Reigen frowned, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

“Hey! I can’t control it!”

The man sighed. “I know…”

“So Serizawa doesn’t know then?” Mameta asked gently.

“Not yet. Someday though.” He looked up at this kid he barely knew, yet felt like he knew all too well. This unknown nephew of his reminded him so much of himself, as well as his sister Aneko. At least, the Aneko that he knew when he was little. 

“...My mom’s wrong about you.” Inukawa spoke up. “You’re a good guy, Master Reigen…er, uh…Uncle…Arataka?”

Reigen looked a little confused. “Why Arataka?”

“That’s…that’s your name, yeah?”

“Yeah, but nobody actually calls me that.” He laughed. 

“What about your family?”

Reigen shrugged. “Sure, but I don’t talk to them much, now do I? Everyone just kinda calls me Reigen now.”

“Is that why you asked if I preferred Inukawa or Mameta better? Because you prefer to be called Reigen over Arataka?”

The man chuckled. “Perceptive, aren’t ya? I guess so…eh, yeah, I suppose you could call me Uncle Arataka.”

“Well, if you’d rather not be Arataka, it’s okay.” Mameta finished his soda. “I can call you Uncle Reigen.”

The fake psychic sat up. “Huh…Uncle Reigen.” He smiled softly. “...Y’know, it feels like I’ve spent my whole life with a family who tries their best to run away from me. This is the first time someone I’m related to has willingly sought me out.”

“I’m sorry my mom’s a jerk to you.” Inukawa found himself fiddling with his straw the same way his uncle had been.

“Don’t apologize on her behalf. If she was mature like she likes to claim, she’d do it herself.” Reigen scoffed and downed the rest of his own soda. “...Does she know you’re here doing this?”

“Nope.” Inukawa confirmed.

“Ah, sneaky! A kid after my own heart.” Reigen grinned and got up, leaving payment in cash. Mameta stood up as well, following his uncle to the hallway outside.

Reigen stopped walking to turn and look down at this boy. His nephew. 

Inukawa could immediately sense the joy behind the man’s eyes. “I’m happy too, Uncle Reigen.”

“Hey! Stop doing that!” He complained about the mind reading. Inukawa laughed. 

“Sorry!” He looked up at his uncle’s eyes and realized they were the same colour that his own had once been. “...Yeah, so my time with the aliens also gave me their weird blue eyes, y’know? Mine used to be the same colour as yours.”

“I was wondering how that happened. It did feel out of place. How did your mom react?”

“She seemed oddly accepting of the random change, but now I suspect it’s because with my normal eyes, I probably looked…too much like you or something.” Inukawa was putting the pieces together.

“Too much like me , huh? Well, makes sense. Aneko and I look a lot alike.” Reigen shrugged and looked down at Inukawa. “Hmm…does your mother make you style your hair like that?”

“Huh?” Inukawa’s hand went up to his parted hair. “This is just how it’s been since I was little.”

“Can I do something?”

Inukawa tilted his head. “Uh, sure?”

With that permission, Reigen then ruffled his nephew’s hair, messing up the middle part and destroying the neatness of the look. He fixed it up a little so it wasn’t crazy , but he smiled when he saw the result of his action.

“Hey, man! What was that for?” Mameta pulled out his smartphone and opened the front camera to see the damage. “...Oh.” He saw why the guy had done what he had done. Now he looked like Reigen. His uncle took the phone out of his hand and held it out to take a picture of the two of them before handing the device back. 

“Here.” Reigen smiled. “I think I know why your mom makes you do that with your hair.” He began to walk down the hall to the stairs.

“...Huh.” Inukawa thought to himself for a moment. “...Do you think my mom resents me or something because I look like you?”

Reigen stopped in his tracks. “...Look, kiddo. I may not have known you existed — as my nephew anyway — until today, and I may not have spoken to my sister in years, but there’s no way in hell she would hate her own kid.” He walked back over to Inukawa. “Do you get the impression that she hates you?”

“No, actually.” Mameta felt some relief. “...Actually her thoughts are kind of strange. I can’t really make them out, but the whole reason I went to look for you was because the only word I could hear clearly from her head was ‘brother’ and…and y’know it was always negative.”

Reigen frowned. “Why would she be thinking about me?”

“I don’t know! I mean, you’ve been in the news a few times.”

“Yeah, but not recently .” Reigen shoved his hands in his pockets. “...You ever gonna tell her that you know me now?”

“Maybe.” Inukawa bit his thumbnail. “But I’m not really sure how to go about doin’ that.”

“Yeahhh. I get it. Aneko can be a bit…stubborn in her ways.”

“It’d probably be hard to reason with her from where you stand since she seems deadset on you being a bad person.”

Reigen sighed. “She’s not really wrong in a way. There’s…a part of me that I think she sees as the whole me. I’ve been working on getting rid of it entirely, and I’ve made a lot of progress in the last half a year or so…but I doubt she’ll listen to me.”

“...I’m getting the sense that this is making you sad.” Inukawa shoved his hands in his pockets, mirroring his uncle. “Why don’t we go back to your office and play games with the others?”

Reigen chuckled softly. “I like the way you think, kid. Kind of ironic how my sister’s kid seems to be more like me than like her.”

“Y’know, my dad’s nothing like my mom either. He’s really fun and goofy, actually.” Inukawa trailed after his uncle like Keiko would do with him as the man began to walk down the hallway again.

“Really? What’s he do?” 

“He’s a firefighter.” Mameta answered.

“I saw their wedding photo as a kid.” Reigen mentioned. “I remember thinking: ‘Oh wow, that guy’s got dog eyebrows.’”

Inukawa laughed. “Yeah, that’s my dad!” He followed Reigen down the stairs. “Wait, you saw their wedding photo ? Not their wedding?”

“Nah. I, uh, wasn’t invited.” He chuckled, once again sounding unaffected, but of course, Inukawa could sense that this fact bothered him.

“How old were you?”

“12, I think.” 

“Oh.” 

“It’s not like it matters anymore.” His uncle sighed as they reached the office door. “Not really anything I can do about it, so why care?” He started to laugh a little when suddenly he felt arms around him. It took Reigen a second to register that the kid was hugging him. He wasn’t against the contact, just a little surprised.

Because it took Reigen a moment too long to do anything, Inukawa quickly let go. “Ah, sorry, man. I didn’t really think to ask if that was okay. I just thought, y’know, because we’re related and-” He stopped talking as his uncle put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey. You just caught me by surprise.” Reigen smiled and leaned down to hug Inukawa, relishing in the fact that this kid was his family. He had family who actually wanted to be his family. This boy went out of his way to find him.

Inukawa hugged back happily, the two in a familial embrace for a few moments before Mameta let go. Reigen seemed to have been lost in that comforting feeling, but he quickly came back to reality, a goofy grin on his face. 

“You’re cool, Uncle Reigen.” Inukawa mirrored the goofy grin and pushed open the door. The words caused pride to swell within the businessman’s heart as he followed his nephew inside.

The trio in the office turned to look at Inukawa and Reigen as they entered. Tome raised an eyebrow at her friend now sporting the same hair as her boss.

“Everything okay, sir?” Serizawa held his controller tightly.

“Yeah! Everything’s great, actually!” Reigen grinned. “Oh, wait, am I allowed to tell them?” He muttered down towards his nephew.

“I don’t see why not.” Mameta shrugged. “Mob already knows.”

“Tell us what?” Tome crossed her arms. 

“I’m this kid’s uncle!” Reigen looked genuinely happy. “His mom’s my sister!”

Tome squinted at the two of them, as if comparing their features. “Oh. You know, that actually makes a lot of sense.” She nodded.

Inukawa looked at Mob, returning the thumb-up that the esper had given him before he had left. Kageyama smiled happily in response. He was happy for his friends.

Serizawa seemed way more surprised than even Reigen had been, as the tall esper gasped. “No way!” He stared at his boss and the kid with his wide eyes. “That’s crazy!”

“Get with the program, Serizawa! It’s actually super understandable!” Reigen waved his hand around like usual.

“Oh! Uh! Yes, sir!” He stood up straighter, seemingly a little intimidated by his boss, even though he was shorter than he was.

Inukawa smiled. His family wasn’t just his serious mom, his fun dad, and his cute dog. It was also this. His goofy uncle and his friends. 

He couldn’t tell his mother that he had met Reigen. That would cause issues, but…maybe he could help them fix their siblinghood. Wouldn’t that be nice? Uncle Reigen could come over for family dinners and they could all be happy!

However…based on his mother’s thoughts...that task definitely seems easier said than done. Maybe even just easier thought than said.