[ The thing is, Gen's not wrong. Reigen is a liar; he's the kind of liar who rewrites his own perception of events in order to change them, adjust them, come out on top or at least at a net-zero. He doesn't lose arguments ( he doesn't choose arguments he can't win, either ).

It's telling, that closer a threat gets to him, the calmer he feels. It's like that thing fighters talk about, where their perception of time begins to slow down -- or like, when people talk about seeing their lives flash before their eyes as they're dying. Reigen works best when he feels like he's dying. ]

Yeah, it surprised me!

[ He feels the shelves bite into his shoulders, and stifles the grunt as he briefly loses his breath. ]

-- I'm not afraid. I'm serious. I've seen some scary shit in my life, and you're not scary at all. You're angry, and upset you're not in control.

[ He pauses and wonders: ] If you lose control, what usually happens to you?

[ ( He thinks of Mob. Of that warm little shard that is all that's left of his apprentice, sitting calm and quiet and protected against him. Mob loses control, and cities are leveled. But what happens to Mob, is that his heart breaks. What happens to Gen? What happened to Gen? ) ]