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It’s a cool evening on the third Tuesday of December and 22-year-old Shigeo Kageyama finds himself at a therapy office for one of his regular sessions.
“Ah, Shigeo-kun, how nice to see you again.” His therapist, Shoko Kaneki, greets him with a handshake, as usual. She is in her late 30’s wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses.
Shigeo returns the gesture. “Glad to see you as well, Dr. Kaneki.”
After the greeting, the duo sits down and carries on with a routine that has been part of Shigeo’s life for the past 8 years.
Shigeo has been attending therapy sessions with Dr. Kaneki ever since the aftermath of what has become known in the media as the ‘Seasoning City January Incident’. Once it became known to the government he was the one responsible for nearly destroying Seasoning City, some members of the Japanese Esper Agency demanded to lock him up. Others had a more humane understanding of the situation, taking into account both Shigeo’s unwillingness to cause further harm and the testimonies of those who directly engaged with him during the Incident, in particular that of Arataka Reigen.
After plenty of negotiations and ponderings among the involved parties, an agreement was reached regarding Shigeo’s status towards the government. He (or better put, his parents) would not receive criminal charges, under the conditions that he a) helped with rebuilding efforts; b) reported his actions and travels to the government at least once every 3 months; and c) attended obligatory therapy sessions to help manage his mental health. Shigeo agreed to all of those.
That is how Shigeo ended up assigned to Dr. Kaneki, and he could not be more glad. Despite the initial tension between them derived from the state-mandated basis of their relationship, Kaneki proved to be the exact kind of professional Shigeo needed to finally attain the tools to untangle his complexes regarding emotional repression and his relationship with his powers, among other less obvious, but no less important, issues that troubled his mind. They have had their fair share of heavy, emotionally (and psychically) loaded sessions involving trauma processing, acceptance of hard truths and even questioning the purpose of the sessions themselves.
Today’s meeting is thankfully a much lighter affair, with Shigeo having so far only brought up some annoyance at the schedule of his December finals at college, upon some prodding by Kaneki.
It is thanks to her experience with Shigeo as a patient that Kaneki quickly notices how the man seems to be barely paying attention to her comments, and keeps answering her questions with the least amount of words possible. Even his gaze seems to be unfocused on anything around him. That usually indicates one thing:
“Shigeo-kun… you have something else on your mind, don’t you?”
At that, Shigeo’s dark red eyes widen in shock. “H-How did you know?!”
Kaneki chuckles lightly. “I’ve known you for a long time, hun. Now, I won’t force you, but if you feel like sharing your thoughts with me, I’m all ears.”
Shigeo spends a few seconds silent at that, his face creased in deep thought. When almost half a minute passes without him saying anything else, Kaneki is ready to propose they discuss something else instead, when-
“What should I get as a Secret Santa present?” Shigeo asks, leaning forward slightly off the couch.
“...Hoh? How interesting.” Kaneki nods. Despite the apparent non sequitur, she knows that Shigeo will explain things properly if asked about it. “Could you give me some more details on that?”
“A-Ah, well…” Shigeo scratches the back of his neck with a tinge of embarrassment in his expression. “There’s only a week left for the annual Spirits and Such Christmas party. This year the theme is ‘handmade’. O-Oh, I mean, the theme of the Secret Santa exchange in said party. We have to actually make a gift for the person we got, we can’t just buy them something.”
“I see, I see.” Kaneki nods. “I think I remember you telling me about something like this last year. So, who did you get this time?”
“Well, that’s the issue.” Shigeo sighs loudly. “...I got Tome.”
“Oh? It’s been quite a while since you brought that name up in our sessions. She’s an old friend of yours, right?”
“From middle school, yeah.” Shigeo affirms. “We were really close during middle and high school, but… she moved to Topping City for college, and ever since then, even our chat messages have gotten more and more sparse.” A frown crosses his face and he lets out a long breath. “...It’s been more than half a year since I’ve had a proper conversation with her.”
Even a non-esper would be able to tell that this fact upsets Shigeo, but Kaneki does have the advantage of actually having some psychic powers herself - as expected from a staff worker of the Japanese Esper Agency - to feel the way Shigeo’s pink-purple-blue aura carries his emotions – it is saturated with a deep sensation of longing.
With a sympathetic sigh, the psychologist composes herself and steels her aura (as to prevent Shigeo’s incredibly powerful emotions from affecting her too much), then addresses her patient. “I’m sorry to hear that. Sometimes friendships fizzle out, and it’s nobody’s fault. Do you want to rekindle your relationship with Tome?”
“That’s what I was thinking of doing with my present. It’s the first time in three years that Tome’ll be attending that party, so I was… yeah, hoping to reconnect with her. Me getting her as my Secret Santa might be the best shot I’ve got.”
“Yes, that does sound like a great idea. Was it you who came up with it?”
Shigeo nods, making Kaneki smile gently in return. Seeing Shigeo progress across the years to the point where he takes the initiative to preserve his bonds, instead of just hoping they stay constant, brings her a lot of satisfaction as a therapist. Perhaps, she thinks, the point where he might be able to handle living a normal life without regular therapy sessions might come soon.
Ah, but she digresses. Despite the nod, Shigeo does not exactly look confident in his plan. He is still looking at anywhere but her and shifting around in his seat. She decides to prod him a little further. “You still seem nervous, however. You don’t know what to make for her, right?”
The man slouches on his seat, despondent. It is incredible how, despite his well built muscular frame, Shigeo can look so small when clutching the palms of his hands against his head like that. “I’ve been thinking about this non stop the past few weeks. If I can’t get her anything decent, does this mean we’ll completely drift apart just like that?” A shiver crosses his frame. “...I don’t want that.”
“Now, now, Shigeo-kun,” Kaneki reassures him, waving her hand up and down, “I’m sure that even if this doesn’t go well, you can still make the effort to stay close with her. Perhaps by asking her how college is going, seeing if there is any gap in your schedules when you can meet-”
Shigeo cuts her off. “So, what should I get as a Secret Santa present?”
“...You’re asking me that again?” Kaneki says back, her tone slightly unamused.
“You didn’t answer the first time,” Shigeo pushes, his stubbornness showing.
“Ah. Indeed, I didn’t.” Kaneki concedes, with a slight smile. “But if I may know, why ask me of all people about it?”
That makes Shigeo huff in (literally) palpable annoyance. “Because almost everyone else I’m close to will be in that party, and I don’t wanna spoil who I got to get help!” He crosses his arms and gives Kaneki a stern look. “So will you help me or not?!”
A couple small objects are now floating in response to Shigeo’s irritation. Kaneki pinches the bridge of her nose, the man’s feelings are starting to influence her mood as well. “Yeah, of course, just. Lemme think.” She takes a deep breath to let Shigeo’s feelings out of her system, as to clear her mind. “Well, for starters. What does Tome-san like?”
Thankfully for Kaneki, it seems that actually addressing this conversation topic does the trick to calm Shigeo down a bit. “She’s been into aliens and occult stuff for as long as I’ve known her. It’s a big part of why she’s studying to become an astronomer.” A fond smile crosses his face at that. “She’s been working pretty hard for it.”
“Hmmm… I have to admit, it is hard to think of what to give someone with those interests when you can’t buy a gift. You’d probably have an easier time getting her a themed plush or a poster.” Kaneki picks one of the pens currently floating and proceeds to wave it around with her fingers. “Do you know how to craft anything like that from scratch?”
“No… I was never particularly good with manual skills. At best I learned how to patch clothing tears during my time at the Body Improvement Club. Besides that, the only things I’ve ever managed to learn the past few years besides working out are gardening and cooking.” Shigeo reclines into the seat, a hand wearily resting over his eyes. “I don’t even know what her favorite food is.”
“Still…” Kaneki waits for Shigeo to recompose himself before continuing, “there should be something you could get her, no? Something only you can do.”
“Something only I can do…” Shigeo stops to take a deep breath, then thinks about those words. There are not many things that Shigeo alone is capable of doing when it comes to skills and hobbies that average people are expected to have in society.
But then again, Shigeo Kageyama is both an average person and anything but average.
His eyes fly open, quickly moving his hand from his face. “I’ve got an idea.”
“Oh? What is it?”
Shigeo’s eyes shine with excitement. “Well, how about this…”
He tells his idea to Kaneki and she grins, nodding enthusiastically at it. “Yes, based on what you told me about Tome-san, I think she’d love that gift!”
Shigeo smiles wide, his relief reflecting in the spots of bright purple sprouting among the deep blues of his aura, flooding Kaneki’s senses with said emotion. “Thank you so much, Dr. Kaneki. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Kaneki giggles in response. “Just doing my job, Shigeo-kun.”
----
The rest of the session goes without a hitch, and Shigeo leaves the office full of gratitude for his therapist. He steps outside, breathing in the fresh air.
The roads are packed with cars traveling as rush hour picks up, dozens of people looking forward to going home. It has gotten late, too late for Shigeo to even consider studying further for tomorrow's final. Therapy does not magically fix all of life's problems, sadly.
Still… There is one issue that Shigeo can solve tonight, at least. A waxing moon greets him in the night sky. It should reach its full state in a few days.
Shigeo stares up at it as the clouds briefly block the moon from his gaze. He focuses on them for a moment longer before smiling. He might as well do the thing only he can do right now.
With a burst of pink-purple-blue psychic energy, he shoots upwards into the sky.
A week later…
Tome really missed the Spirits and Such office.
The lingering smell of incense and cheap green tea, its tacky posters displaying both Reigen’s cringe-inducing face and a variety of endless promotions, the ancient stains of grease splashed here and there on the walls and floor, the well worn seats like the one she is currently sitting at. All of it brings memories from her youth, of a time when she could goof off on her homework while treating herself to takoyaki, the occasional times when she learned unexpectedly valuable life lessons, and even lived through a life-threatening adventure or two.
Of course, what she missed most was not the office itself, but the people with whom she built those memories. Seeing the old crew all reunited like this - Reigen keeping Teruki and Serizawa entertained with a story about a haunted fashion store, Ritsu glowering at the former scene while Ekubo and Shou tease him for it, and of course-
“S-So…” Shigeo asks her, timidly sitting by her side. “Uh, h-how is college going?”
“Aw, Mob, no need to be afraid, I won’t bite!” Tome lightly slaps his back, which nearly makes him lose some balance. “But I’m surviving college, I guess. I finally got done with the last calculus class this semester.”
She huffs after that comment. Failing both Calculus I and II consecutively really messed with her college class arrangements. The stress of having to constantly rearrange her schedule while also working as an intern at one of her professors’ research lab really messed her up over the past few years, and it played a big part in why she had such a hard time keeping in contact with her friends from Seasoning.
(Fuck Newton, or Lebowitz, or whoever the fuck invented calculus), she mentally curses.
“Ah. Good for you,” Shigeo replies, making no effort to hide his shared utter contempt towards math, this subject that breaks friendships left and right. That seems to be the right topic to break Shigeo out of his ‘talking to a close friend for the first time in a long while’ conversational awkwardness. “I don’t think I’d have endured a major with as many calculus classes as yours.”
“I mean, let’s be honest, Shigs- It's Shigs fronting today, right?” Shigeo nods, so Tome continues. “I don’t think you’d have survived a single semester of calculus. You’d probably need Ekubo to possess you throughout college to get through that!”
“No, thank you.” He replies drily. That makes Tome guffaw in laughter. She missed Shigeo’s bluntness so much. And Shigeo in general, to be more accurate.
Tome wishes that this one visit could completely rebuild the bridge back to Shigeo and all of her friends from Seasoning, but… there is no work she can do here, at least none relevant to her chosen career. She knew this when she applied to college entrance exams, she knew this when she enrolled in Topping University.
For the sake of her dream to study the cosmos and perhaps even find and contact more aliens out there, Tome had to raise a distance between herself and her old friends. Sometimes she wonders… is it worth it? Will the distance grow too much for her to cross?
“...Tome.” Shigeo whispers, having enough of a good sense not to publicly call attention to it. “You’re crying.”
“E-Eh? Ah, hahahahaha, nah, nah!” Tome dismisses while conveniently rubbing the sleeve of her shirt over her eyes, her other arm now moving at startling speeds while switching through a series of varied gestures. “T-These are-” a sniff, “-allergies! They get pretty strong this time of the year, you know, Shigs? Gotta be careful with it!!”
“If I upset you…” Shigeo replies, Tome’s attempt at a Reigen-styled diversion not working on him. “I’d rather you tell me about it-”
“SO ANYWAY, SERIZAWA!!” She suddenly shouts, catching everyone else’s attention and making Shigeo flinch over the loudness. “Isn’t it time we started the Secret Santa exchange?!”
Serizawa, who had also recoiled from her shout, soon recomposes himself. “A-Ah, yes, that’s right! I think we’re still 10 minutes earlier than we had expected, but there shouldn’t be any issue to start it now, right, Reigen?”
“Absolutely none.” Reigen opens one of the drawers in his desk, likely looking for his gift. “I officially declare this year’s gift exchange has started!! Lemme see… Ritsu! You can go first! You know how it goes, give us some clues so we can try and guess who you got as your Secret Santa, and-”
“I got Teru. Here, Merry Christmas to you.” Ritsu quickly says, handing his gift to Teruki.
“H-Hey, you’re going against the spirit of the thing!!” Reigen protests. The others simply laugh in response.
“Oh my god, seriously, Ritsu?!” Teruki proceeds to walk towards the younger Kageyama, then takes the package and opens it on the spot. “Thank you so much for the- …oh wow!”
In Teruki’s hands lies a small piece of clay ceramic, fashioned after his well known interest in Flying Dead Pig. Paint streaks are visible on the edges of the figure, uneven and clearly done by hand.
Tears come to the blond’s eyes, and he proceeds to tackle Ritsu into a tight hug, much to the latter’s chagrin, sprouting thank you after thank you. Ritsu pats Teruki’s shoulder with a sigh.
Similar scenes with varied degrees of sentimentality play out with Teruki’s gift to Ekubo, then Ekubo’s gift to Serizawa, followed by Serizawa’s gift to Shigeo. Once Shigeo’s turn comes, he takes a page from Ritsu’s book and wastes no time in announcing who his Secret Santa is:
“Merry Christmas, Tome. I… I hope you enjoy it.” He shoves the present into Tome’s hands.
“Gee, thanks, Mob! Guess you didn’t want to delay it longer, huh- oof!” Tome’s arms pull downwards with the surprised weight of the gift.
“Tome!” Shigeo rushes to her side, “Are you alright?!”
“Ah, no worries!” She huffs while lifting the gift with both of her hands. “Just should have expected you to have given me something worthy of a Body Improvement Club member, hahaha.”
Shigeo sighs in relief and gives Tome the space needed to actually take a proper look at her gift. In her hands sits an object about the size of a potato (and also vaguely shaped like one), wrapped in shiny blue gift wrap. She undoes it without difficulty, revealing her present to be…
“...A rock?” She asks, puzzled. It is a gray rock with a slightly yellow tinge to its coloration, about the size of her palm, with several small holes across its surface. At first glance, it might look like any random rock laying down in a forest or a quarry. However, the texture is unlike anything Tome has ever felt before.
…It feels nice to her skin. She ends up smiling at it, despite her confusion.
“Well, it looks like a neat rock at least.” Shou comments. “You could use it as a paper weight, and if anyone in your lab asks about it, you could say it came from the moon.” He chuckles.
“Well, it did.” Shigeo nods.
Silence befalls the room.
“...Come again?” Ekubo asks. “A-Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“What do you think I’m saying, Ekubo?” Shigeo asks, clearly not understanding the confusion.
Ekubo groans.
“Y-You…” Tome blinks, bewildered, as she finally finishes processing Shigeo’s words. She leans forward into Shigeo’s space, “Wait, did you GO TO THE FUCKING MOON?!”
Shiego blinks, a bead of sweat sliding down his face as he leans back, “Y-Yeah?”
“I mean, it’s not the first time Shige’s done that.” Teruki cuts in with a smile. “Didn’t you figure out how to travel there during last semester’s finals, hun?”
“Yeah, that was around the time that I first went there. Finals were stressful,” Shigeo explains, as if he were simply describing how to get to another city.
“A-And you didn’t bother to tell us about it?!” Reigen shouts in mock offense. “I’m shocked- SHOCKED, I say, you wouldn’t tell us that you figured out space travel!”
“He didn’t tell you all because Nii-san isn’t one to gloat about it.” Ritsu smirks. So he probably already knew about it as well, Tome deduces.
“Still… you went all the way to the moon… just to get me a present?” Tome’s eyes sparkle, as she looks back and forth between the (now confirmed) moon rock and Shigeo.
“Ah, yes.” A faint blush appears on his face. “I figured, since you liked that stone the aliens gave you back then, you would like to add something else space-related to your collection.”
At this moment, Tome wishes she had brought said stone with her to compare with her present. The weight, the texture, the warmth… How much do they differ? How many different worlds are out there, just waiting for humans to find and learn more about them?
Then again, even if she had brought the alien stone with her, Tome would probably not be able to do the comparison right now. Her tears of joy are blurring her sight too much.
“Thank you, Shigs… T-Thank you so much…!”
She throws herself at her old friend and tackles him into a tight hug. Despite his frame having gotten considerably larger compared to hers over the years, Tome does her best to wrap her arms around as much of his torso as she can.
Shigeo says nothing in response. He simply hugs her tight and gives her the time needed to process her feelings. Eventually, she feels Serizawa’s hand on her shoulder as well, same as Reigen. Even Ekubo gets to rest on her head.
Truly, Tome is so blessed. Even after all of these years, after all the distance she created between herself and them, they still care and cherish her so much.
She should start making more of an effort to keep in touch with everyone. Perhaps that’s the real gift Shigeo gave her this Christmas, after all.