A Secretary's Plight

A Real Psychic

This place looked cheap. What was she thinking going to a place like this for an internship? Two towns over and she could have been working with a guy who actually worked out of a real temple. One with a history of talented and acclaimed psychics. But this was just some run-down office building in a fairly sketchy part of town. Well whatever, she was already here.

Kei knocked on the door and heard a soft voice say "come in," a little boy was sat in a comfy-looking blue chair reading. He couldn't be older than ten. "I'm sorry, my master is out but he will be back soon if you'd like to wait."

"Yeah, I think I will wait around if you don't mind." The boy was staring at her in an odd way. Maybe she should introduce herself? Explain why she was here. "My name is Kei Sato by the way. I'm looking to possibly intern here. Are you an intern?" He looked a little young for that...

"No, I'm an esper. Reigen Arataka is my master," the boy explained.

"No kidding?" Kei asked, sitting across him. "I've never actually met an esper before. How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Can't you sense it?" his monotone voice made it hard to read what he meant.

"Sense what?"

"You're an esper too, aren't you?" The boy asked. "I can sense your psychic abilities. It's similar to how you can sense a spirit but different."

"Is that so?" Kei asked leaning back. "Well I do have some psychic abilities, I guess. That's kinda why I wanted to intern here. But it's not like I'm particularly good. So no, I can't sense your abilities." The woman stared at the boy. "You're not messing with me, are you kid?"

"No, I swear," the boy pointed his finger and all the objects on the table before him floated upwards and danced through the air effortlessly. "I've been able to do stuff like this my whole life."

Kei's jaw was on the floor. Watching in complete awe as the boy returned the objects to their rightful position. She had made a damn good choice coming here! If this kid was the disciple of this Arataka guy, surely his Master must be even more powerful! "What's your name kid?"

"I'm Shigeo Kageyama."

Kei held out her hand for the child to shake. Timidly he did so and the girl grinned from ear to ear. "Kageyama, I am really glad I got to meet you!"

The little boy's face fell into a shocked expression and a blush came across his face. Oh my lord! she thought. He's so cute!

"It's nice to meet you too Ms. Sato," he again said with almost no inflection in his voice.

The door to the office slammed open. "Yo, Mob. They didn't have your favorite flavor of Takoyaki, so I just got traditional. I hope that all-" Reigen cut himself off. A customer? She was awfully pretty, he couldn't help but think that it was a bit strange to see a girl like that in his office. "Who's this?"

"Oh, Master," Mob started, gesturing to Kei who was quickly fixing her appearance. "This is Kei Sato. She says she's looking to intern here. She's also a psychic."

Kei stood and presented herself with the best posture she could. Man... this dude was ugly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm sorry I didn't schedule an appointment."

Reigen cleared his throat. There was a lot to unpack here. "Reigen Arataka, Greatest Psychic of the 21 century." He introduced, holding out his hand and the girl shook it with a smile. He tossed the Takoyaki to Mob and motioned for Kei to follow him to the raggedy desk and shaky folding chair for her to sit. She did so, but Reigen remained standing, leaned up against his desk, looking down on the girl. "So where should we start hm? Why are you looking for an internship?"