Crap, Reigen thought, I'm almost out of cigarettes.

It was cool December evening, and he was stuck in his office as the radio blared out warnings of some rebel tanks running down East Paprika street, the fastest route to his apartment. He could probably take a side street and make do if he really booked it, but by the time he'd finally cleaned up enough to check the reports before getting home the sun was already setting. Even The Great Arataka Reigen wasn't prideful enough to think he could survive the nighttime streets unscathed. So instead he grumbled, turned the Spirits and Such office sign back on in case he could get another customer before dark, and started chain smoking.

It had been less than twenty minutes since then. He lit another cigarette as the radio droned on about an explosion the southwest part of the city. As he stood up to dump out his ashtray he caught a brief glimpse of nearly dark sky and saw a cloud of smoke rising up, along with a couple flashes within it a few seconds later.

"Oh shi-" His eyes went wide and he dropped the whole ashtray into the can, scrambling closer to the window. "Is that..."

They hadn't bombed Reigen's apartment building, but the adjacent one was starting to collapse already from the shockwave. His eyes were glued to it in horror as it teetered over, while the announcer's voice on the radio began to panic and cloud with static. As it fell, an even larger dust cloud billowed up from it, obscuring his view of both buidings entirely. The cigarette dropped from his lips onto the cold tile floor.

It was official. The rebels were targeting civilians now. Those fuckers!

Reigen didn't bother watching the rest of the shitshow unfold. He went into autopilot, stomping the cigarette on the floor out and pulling down the black curtains over the windows. As he jogged over to the side of the room to switch of the sign off, the bells on his door jingled.

"Excuse m-"

"We're closed!" Reigen bellowed, and turned his attention over to the offending voice to shoo them away.

Oh.

"I...I saw your ad...in the newspaper ..."

It's just a kid.

An elementary school boy with a bowl cut stood at the door, hands awkwardly clasped in front of him. He stared at Reigen with frightened eyes, before averting them to the ground.

"What do you want, boy?" Reigen prompted. Why the hell was a kid his age out so late?

"Oh-I'm an esper..."

"Huh?"

"Sometimes I can't control my powers, and it's scary..."

Reigen scoffed at that. Walking the streets at night was scary. Food riots were scary. Hiding in a bomb shelter was scary. Being greeted by a strange kid with a paper-thin excuse for being there and a suspiciously large backpack was scary. Whatever ESP nonsense this kid had been fed didn't even make the list.

"I thought...um, if you were the same as me, maybe you could-"

"Who told you to come here and tell me this?" Reigen had stepped, straightening his back and leered hard, looking as intimidating as possible. As far as he could tell the kid didn't look too dangerous, but looks were deceiving and he would take no chances.

"N-nobody..." the little boy squeaked, shrinking back a little. "I haven't been able to tell anyone about this..." An explosion cracked in the distance, and Reigen didn't miss how the kid jumped a little.

"...Alright," he said after a few seconds of pause. "Lemme see you empty out your bag. Then you can come in."

Reigen watched the boy neatly remove all the items onto the table from the corner of his eye while he brewed tea. Now he understood why it was so large; the kid had managed to cram an entire bento box and a small first aid kit in along with numerous papers, books and at least two boxes of crayons. He brought over a cup for each of them and sat, flinching a little bit at the way he stared expectantly.

"Uh, listen..." He began. "Just because you have psychic powers doesn't make you any more or less of a person." Stopping to gauge his reaction, he continued: "It's just a characteristic, like with people who can run fast, people who are good at shooting, and people who can fart quietly. Just embrace that part of you," he stood up and patted the boy's shoulder, "and live as a good person. That's all."

The child in front of him looked awestruck. "May I come talk to you again?"

"Ah, I dunno..." Reigen peered through a crack in the curtains, noting the darkness. "You should probably stay here for tonight, but I'm usually pretty busy..." he took a sip of his tea and stood up to turn the radio channel, only for his knee to bump the table and knock the other cup falling towards the kid.

"Whoa, don't get bur-"

The tea didn't get a chance to spill. Like magic, it poured itself back into the cup and stood back in its place. A faint glow surrounded the boy as it happened.

"Hey...could you see ghosts, too? And exorcise them?" When the kid nodded both times, he grinned. "Alright. We can start tomorrow."

"Really?!"

"Yeah. I'll teach you how to use your powers!"