It was called the Treasure Room because it was full of treasures.

Well not everything in the Treasure Room could have been considered a treasure. There were a lot of boxes full of boring stuff like pictures of strangers and fancy plates and table cloths and stuff. Those were not treasures unless you were some kind of adult or something. There were things that only Mob considered treasures, like the pretty hat she had found or the box of jewelry, and there were also things that only Sho considered treasures. Like the bamboo sword.

Mob was not a fan of the bamboo sword.

"Sho, be careful. You could get hurt." Said Mob as Sho swung the big bamboo sword around. She didn't get what was so neat about it. It was big and heavy and gave you splinters if you weren't careful. Boys were so weird sometimes.

"No I won't and if I do then mom can just call Fukuda." Said Sho as he swung the sword around some more. Maybe he wanted to get hurt. He didn't want to hurt his big sis, he would have been a terrible person if he'd had, but maybe he wanted to accidentally hurt himself so bad that mom had to call Fukuda and then he could come over and they could all hang out together like they used to.

It would have had to be something more than a splinter.

Because big sis could take those out on her own.

She had taken all of their splinters out and it hadn't even hurt. She had used her powers, not tweezers like mom would have, and Sho was grateful to her. Really he was. Those had hurt…and if mom saw that their hands were covered in splinters then she would have told them that they had to go some other place to play. This was the best place in the house. It was far away from dad. He didn't like to play near dad because dad hated fun. Big sis liked to be near dad and since Sho didn't like to be on his own he had to be near big sis...which was why they were in the Treasure Room to begin with.

Even though this was the only treasure that they had found so far.

He swung his new sword around and it hit the stack of boxes behind him. The shook for a minute but stopped. He hit them again. Those wouldn't have been enough to kill him…right? He didn't want to die, he had too much stuff left to do, but he just wanted to get hurt enough that Fukuda had to come over. Then they could show him all the junk they found and he could help mom make dinner and then they could all play together…it would have been nice…

He hit the boxes again.

But they didn't move.

"Sho, I said to be careful. You could get really hurt." Said Mob as she steadied the boxes that Sho kept on hitting. She didn't get it. He must have known that he was doing something dangerous…right? Dad said that Sho never thought before he acted but Mob thought that was a mean thing to say. Sho thought…he just sometimes didn't think right. Like right then he was probably just thinking about how much fun it was to swing his sword around. He wasn't thinking about how all of those heavy boxes could have fallen on him and flattened him into a pancake.

"You're not the boss of me." Said Sho. If he wanted to get hurt then he'd get hurt. She didn't get to tell him what he could and could not do. She wasn't mom or dad even though dad liked her the best. She didn't get to make up new rules whenever she wanted.

"I know that I'm not the boss of you but I'm worried. I love you and I don't ever want anything bad to happen to you." Said Mob

"I'm going to be fine, big sis, now why don't you go and look for another sword so we can have a sword fight?" asked Sho. He wouldn't get too hurt from this. It wasn't like the time he had broken his arm when he had been little…and even then that hadn't been that bad. He hadn't even cried once even when it started to turn all kinds of colors. Girls were such worrywarts. He needed to distract her so he could do what he had to do.

"But I don't want to have a sword fight." Said Mob. Nothing about a sword fight appealed to her. She didn't want to get hurt and she didn't want to accidentally hurt Sho. She wished that Sho liked Chinese checkers. She had tried to play with him but he just kept on tossing the marbles around because he thought that the game was boring. Mom thought that Chinese checkers was boring, too, and also she had gotten mad that she and dad had stayed up late playing together…even though dad had been the one to say that it was ok so, really, he was the one that she should have been mad at.

"Then go and play with dad." Said Sho. He was lying, of course, because he didn't want her to go. The house was scary when they were separated. Not that he was afraid of anything. He was just being ridiculous like dad had said. He had lived in this house for his whole life, he had nothing to be afraid of, certainly not how big it was and how it went on forever….

"I don't want to do that either." Said Mob even though she kind of did. If she was with dad then she could make sure that he didn't get mad at Sho. She could distract him from all of the things that Sho said and did that dad considered to be bad things even though they really weren't. Like talking too loud or laughing too loud or breathing too loud. She liked dad and all but…but sometimes he could be mean to Sho when he didn't really deserve it…even though Mob knew that it was not her place to decide whether or not Sho deserved it…dad had been very clear on that…

"Then go and look for another sword." Said Sho with a shrug. Well as best a shrug as he could manage while he was holding a giant sword. He wondered where it had come from. Not the people who had lived in this house before, of course, because they had always lived in the castle, but maybe one of the Suzuki's from the pictures had been a famous bamboos swordsman or something. Or maybe it was just a random sword. He didn't know. He'd ask mom, later, when Fukuda came over.

"Ok." Said Mob even though she really did not want to. When she found it she would only half sword fight. She'd go down easy and let him win. She didn't care if he accidentally hurt her, she just didn't want to hurt him. He had been hurt enough already in his life. She was his big sister and it was her job to keep him safe and make sure that he was ok.

And also to make him happy.

So she looked for another sword. She went over to the wall where they had found the box for the bamboo one. She hoped that she found another bamboo sword and not a katana or something. Sho used to have a plastic katana until he put a hole in the wall on accident when he got mad and then they had to hang a picture over the hole and then mom took it away and said that now nobody would have a katana or any other toy weapons…but they weren't breaking any rules because that was a real bamboo sword. It was a real sword used for kendo, which dad said was the only sport that was worth following, and mom had never said that they couldn't have any real swords….though Mob really hoped that she didn't end up finding a katana and then they would have to have katana fights.

Maybe those counted as knives.

Mom said that they weren't allowed to play with knives. Real knives, not butter knives, because they could get hurt. Well the rule was that they weren't allowed to touch knives. Dad let her used her powers and chop things up with a knife…and mom had gotten upset then too even though Mob hadn't broken any rules…and then she had gone to lay down when Mob pointed out the fact that she had, indeed, not touched the knife. She didn't get mom sometimes. Mom and dad. How they had different rules and Mob was, somehow, expected to follow both sets of rules at once. It was hard.

Lots of stuff was hard.

Like going back to where they had found the sword. She had to crawl under some boxes, she and Sho had also tried to build a fort, to get to the far wall. There was a box with kendo clothes in it. The box said Suzuki Shigeru. Mob wondered if that was one of her ancestors. Shigeru. That was kind of close to Shigeko…kind of. Maybe she had been named after him. Maybe he was even one of the people in the pictures…not that she had any way of finding out. Dad had been kind of upset lately, well his colors looked upset, and he had said that there had been an attempted coup, which meant that someone tried to steal his job from him, and that he was still cleaning up after what happened…even though mom was the one that did all the cleaning.

She didn't want to make dad mad.

She couldn't ask mom either because mom had been snapping all the time, lately, and Mob had no idea what it was that she was doing wrong. She had been sticking close to dad, mostly, and doing everything that he wanted her to do but it just didn't seem to help make mom any happier. She hoped that whatever was wrong would pass. She hoped that mom was just in a bad mood or that she kept on getting up on the wrong side of the bed…though Mob had no idea which side was the right one and which was the wrong one….maybe they were both wrong and mom just needed a new bed.

Or maybe she needed a new daughter.

Mob didn't know what she could do to be any better. She made sure that dad didn't get mad at Sho…as often…and she made her own bed and cleaned her side of the room and brushed her own hair and got herself dressed and she would have cooked her own meals and done her own laundry, too, if mom had let her. Mom was always talking about how much work she had to do around the house…well she was always telling dad that she needed help…but then when dad said that he'd hire staff and maids and servants and stuff mom said no.

Mob didn't get why.

If dad hired people then mom would have been less tired. If mom was less tired then she would be less snappy with them. If mom was less snappy then they could have come and played with them, there, in the Treasure Room. Then she could have played with Sho and said no to the swords and the sword fighting and whatever else Sho was planning on doing with that stupid bamboo sword. Mob really hated that thing. She wished that Sho would just put it down and go back to what they were doing before. She didn't think that the box of lacy tablecloths was dumb. All the needed to do was find a table and where they had put the box with the fancy tea service and they could have a tea party like the used to when they were little.

Mom might have liked that.

She had liked that when they were little. Well they were milk parties because Mob and Sho hadn't liked tea back then. She didn't much care for tea these days, either, and neither did Sho…but they drank it when dad had tea. Well she drank hers. Sho just swirled his tea around in his cup and complained. He could be such a complainer sometimes…not that Mob would ever think something so mean….and she had and she was just the worst big sister in the whole, wide, wor-

A crash.

Mob didn't even think, she just lifted the boxes around her up so she could go and save Sho…who had saved himself, it seemed….he had saved himself. There was a sword on the ground in front of him and a box hanging just above his head…and it was suspended in a red aura…but not dad's red….

"Sho! I'm so happy for you!" said Mob. She clapped and jumped up and down. She couldn't help it. Sho was doing it! He was lifting something with his powers! Something heavy! He had used his powers to save himself! Mob didn't care if her braids were floating or that the boxes were still floating or that she wasn't supposed to jump up and down in the house or that her dress was flying up or anything like that. She was just so happy for Sho!

"Shut up! Leave me alone!" shouted Sho. He couldn't even get hurt right! He was supposed to get crushed by a box and break his arm or his leg or one of his other bones and then Fukuda was supposed to come over and then-then-then-ugh! He couldn't do anything right! Even when he tried to do something wrong he couldn't even do it right!

He box spun around.

It stopped.

And then something hit him on the head.

"Sho!" said Mob. That box was obviously way too heavy for him. It made sense, he was still so very little, and now stuff was hitting him on the head…a book. Mob took the box from his grasp and tried to put it gentle on the floor beside him.

She tried.

But he wouldn't let go.

"I said leave me alone!" said Sho. He didn't know how he did it and he didn't know why he did it but he pulled on the box with his powers…and then more stuff fell out and hit him…and that just made him madder. He was mad…he was so mad….he was so mad that he could just-

"Hey!" said Mob as she fell down flat on her back. She wasn't hurt, at least she thought that she wasn't hurt, but she wasn't ok either. Sho had pushed her…and that had hurt her feelings…but to be fair he had told her to shut up and also to leave her alone. She should have just listened to him. She should have just done as he asked…but if she had done as he asked then he would have ended up getting crushed by…she sat up.

Manga.

Manga and…toys?

Huh?

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" said Sho. He got up and ran to big sis. He pulled her up really hard…and he might have been hurt her then….and he was just so sorry! He hadn't meant to! He pushed his sister! Only the biggest losers in the world went around pushing girls!

"I'm ok, I forgive you. It was my fault for making you mad." Said Mob as she was helped to her feet. It felt more like he was trying to rip her arm off like he had done to her Elsa doll but she didn't say anything about that. He didn't mean to hurt her. He never meant to hurt her. He was her little brother, he would never have done anything to hurt her.

"I was a jerk, too." Said Sho. Well she had made him mad…but he had made himself mad. He couldn't do anything right. No matter what he did, even if he had used his powers, it didn't change the fact that she had been born right and he had been born wrong. He couldn't even come out of mom the right way. She had a big scar on her stomach from where the doctor had to chop her open and yank him out of her.

Mom and dad should have stopped at one kid.

Maybe they had just had him because they needed a boy. Boys were more important than girls when it came to families, dad had said, because girls don't add to your family like boys did. Girls joined other people's families and boys brought people into the family. That was why he was going to be the one to inherit the world and not big sis. Her kids wouldn't be Suzuki's, dad had said, they would be whatever her husband's family name was. That must have been the reason that mom and dad had chosen to have him, because they needed a boy, and they never would have had him if big sis had come out a boy.

He used to want a brother, before, but he didn't now.

Big sis was hard enough to have as a sibling. She was so perfect all the time. Dad liked her because she was just like him. They were both quiet and didn't know how to have fun and they both made mom say bad words under her breath when they did something clueless. Dad liked him a little, apparently he had told big sis so, but that was probably just because he was the only boy. He hoped that mom and dad didn't have another kid and he hoped that if they did then it would be another girl.

Even if girls were so boring to play with sometimes.

"Sho, look. There's toys." Said Mob as she looked through the stuff that had fallen out of the box. She picked up a little white car with a five on the side of it. It had a wind up key. She tried to turn it but it didn't do anything.

"These aren't ours…" said Sho as he walked over to the stuff on the floor. He picked up a mech with only one arm. It was weird looking. It had a weirdly human face and was blue and just…weird. All dinged up, too, and scratched up. Some of the scratches looked like writing….he looked closer…and he knew that named.

Suzuki.

"This one says our name on it." Said Mob. She showed Sho the toy car. On the bottom someone had written, in magic marker, Suzuki.

"It says our name on this one, too." Said Sho handing her the mech. She ran her fingers over the scratches.

"You're right…these toys aren't ours. I would have remembered it if we'd ever had these toys." Said Mob

"Yeah, and if they were ours then they would have been in the room with our old preschool stuff in it." Said Sho. Mom sometimes said that they had too many toys and she made them box up the stuff that they weren't playing with and then she put it into storage….those were always sad days….but he did not remember any of this stuff. He didn't even know what half of this stuff even was.

"What's a 'Game and Watch'?" asked Mob as she picked up a weird rectangle looking thing. There were black stick drawing guys all over it. She turned it around. Someone had written their family name on the back of it, too.

"It looks like a DS but with only one screen" said Sho as he took it from her. He tried to turn it on but nothing happened. Maybe that was why it was in there, because it was broken…some of that stuff was broken…and maybe he had broken it. Like the yoyo that was broken in half or the Godzilla with no tail…and other stuff looked like it had been broken a long time ago. Like the glider with it's wing all taped up or the slinky that was all tangled up.

"And this looks like a tablet." Said Mob as she picked up red tablet looking thing. It might have been broken. She tried turning the knobs but all that happened was a black line started moving.

"I think it's for drawing." Said Sho. That looked like fun, actually. He took it from her hands even though he knew that he was supposed to say please first. He'd say sorry later. Right now he wanted to play with this…whatever it was. It was ok even though it could only go in straight lines...wait, no, he figured out circles…

This was pretty fun.

He didn't know who this Suzuki kid was but he had pretty good taste in toys.

"There's so much stuff in here." Said Mob as she crawled inside of the tipped over box. She wondered if this all belonged to some kid who lived in the house before. A boy, probably, because these were all boy's toys. Sometimes boys could play with girl toys and girls could play with boy toys, mom had said so, but no girl would ever have been so rough on her toys. She picked up a toy firetruck with no wheels. Yup, a boy had done this.

She would never understand boys for as long as she lived.

"Maybe his mom mad him get rid of all of his old stuff like mom makes us do sometimes." Said Sho as he drew some circles. He didn't know what this drawing would be, yet, it would come to him later. Maybe a cat or something. Maybe a princess. Maybe a cat princess. Something that big sis would like…since he had been such a jerk to her. He'd draw her something nice. He could at least do what right.

"Maybe. I wish we have known about this stuff before. We could have been playing with this stuff the whole time.." said Mob as she crawled out of the box. Her hat got caught on the outside but she held it on with her powers. She loved this hat so much…and she kind of wished that there were more pretty hats instead of all of these boy's toys. Well, there were other things in the box, too. There were books, too. School books. She opened one up. It was a writing primer like hers. This one said that it belonged to Suzuki, too, and that Suzuki was in the first grade like she was. He had good strokes, this kid. Kind of mad looking though…and his doodles were kind of mad, too. A lot of people getting stabbed with swords and crushed by cars and being on fire and other mean stuff like that. Boy's drawings. She put the school book down and picked up a manga.

"See? I told you that there was treasure in here." Said Sho as he crawled over to see what big sis was reading. Manga. Something called Galaxy Express 999…and it was in color! Wait, no, someone had just colored in all the pictures…which was so dumb. It wasn't a coloring book. There was hardly any space to even do the coloring and you couldn't decide what color to even make the stuff because it had all been decided for you on the front cover.

"I never doubted you, little brother." Said Mob as she flipped through the book. This was Suzuki's book. He had colored in all the pages…and he was really good at coloring in the lines…and he had even written notes on the sides of the drawings. Mostly about the planets and…and also he was mad at someone named Yuta…and also he liked some girl called Suki…well he certainly wrote about her a lot. About things she'd said, what she'd had for lunch, what she got on tests, and one page had even had what looked like a total report on everything that she had said that day on it. He had written over the drawings to write all of that down…

Mob wanted to be liked and all but that seemed to be a bit much.

Though it would have been nice if someone called her their most perfect person.

"Where'd all of this come from, though? I mean who would just leave a box of toys here and not tell us about it?" asked Sho. He leaned in closer to big sis and felt…something. The hairs on his arms and the back of his neck were standing up and he was getting all cold and shaky.

"Dad." Said Mob. She could see his colors…and he was getting nearer. She used her powers to put the stuff back in the box…and to stack the other boxes back up like they were supposed to have been. Dad hated it when they were messy. He'd said so a thousand times.

"Nah, dad didn't have any toys when he was a kid. He hates fun stuff." Said Sho with a shrug. When dad was their age he probably spent all day at school waiting for tomorrow to happen. The idea of dad having fun…it did not mesh well in his mind. Dad just…he was not a fun person.

Not one bit.

"No, I mean dad is coming." Said Mob. Sho sat up straight beside her. As soon as she said that the door to the junk room slid opened…and there he was. Mob made her aura calm. Dad didn't like it when she felt upset…or when she felt anything at all. He was kind of like the dad from Frozen accept he didn't give her gloves or die on a boat on the ocean. He still believed in the whole conceal don't feel thing even though you were supposed to feel whatever you wanted to feel. Mom had said so…but then dad had said that mom didn't know what she was talking about because she was a normal person and as smart as she was there were some things that she could never understand.

"Son. Daughter. Explain." Said Suzuki. The children had Masami worried. He had just been annoyed. That had been far too much noise…but at least he had seen Son's aura…so maybe something of note had happened.

"A box fell down but Sho caught it. There were books and toys inside. We're reading a book now." Said Mob. Maybe dad would have liked it, too, this book. He had said that he had liked Galaxy Express and that he liked coloring in his manga…a crazy thought. This could have been dad's stuff…but that wasn't possible. This was dad. She couldn't imagine him ever sitting down and just…playing with his toys like a regular kid.

"That's all?" asked Suzuki. He kept his aura calm. There were…so many emotions. That hat…that book…Boy's powers….all of it. He needed to stay calm. This was…this was far too much…

He knocked the hat off of Daughter's head and threw it across the room.

"Yes. That's all. A box fell and Sho caught it. He caught it with his powers. I tried to help him but it spilled. There were books and toys inside." Said Mob. She didn't let herself react when dad knocked he hat off of her head. She had liked that hat and all but dad was, obviously, mad at them. He was obviously mad at them for making a mess and making noise and stuff like that…

But he didn't have to go and knock her hat off like that.

What was wrong with boys? Why did they always have to go around hitting everything?

"Those are…were…mine, you know." Said Suzuki. He had to say something. There was nothing…there was nothing wrong there. Son and Daughter had just found the junk from his late parents' house, that was all, and those were just objects. Simple objects and nothing more. That hat…it was just a hat. Nothing more. Those toys were just toys. Nothing more. That kendo sword at boy's feet….was just a kendo sword. Nothing more.

He remembered the day it had been given to him. He was had finally been deemed old enough to have it. His father's old kendo sword. He had been thirteen years old and he needed it for kendo at school…which he had excelled at. He hadn't even needed to use his powers. They had been so proud of him…there was a kendo trophy in that junk room somewhere….and a picture of him receiving it…and that hat…mother's hat…

He exorcised his emotions.

"You're Suzuki?" asked Sho incredulously. He hid the red tablet thing that he had been drawing with behind his back. Dad…that had been dad's toy. All of those toys had once belonged to dad…when he was a kid…he used to be a kid…a regular kid….

Does. Not. Compute.

"Last I checked." Said Suzuki. Boy was good for pulling him out of those emotional spirals, if anything, even if he was annoying. He felt…less bad, now. There was no use feeling the way he did. The past was in the past. What was done was done. These things were objects. Nothing more. Not windows or doors or whatever into the past. It didn't matter that he could remember how many hours it had taken to color in that book…he had done it during classes…they had always been so easy…and a…he remembered now. A girl had sat in front of him…a light haired girl…and the sun had risen and set with her as far as he had been concerned…and this had been decades before he had even met Masami….and now he didn't want to remember anymore. He did not want to remember the pain of rejection…how she had called his powers 'weird' and 'creepy'…it was of no consequence. It had happened thirty years ago.

"We're sorry, dad, and we'll try to be more…better…in the future….and we won't touch your toys anymore." Said Mob. Dad hated it when they were loud, and messy, and quarrelsome, and also when they touched his things. They were lucky he only flipped the hat off of her head. She was lucky. He could have so easily flipped Sho across the room.

"It's fine, children, it's perfectly fine…and you can have those toys…I suppose. They're of no real use to me now." Said Suzuki. The children thanked him profusely even though they had no reason to. It wasn't like he was going to be getting much use out of them. Better they go to someone who could enjoy them instead of collecting dust in one of the many junk rooms….

"Thank you, dad." Said Mob. She said it once, like dad liked, but Sho said it a bunch of times. She was glad that he was happy, at least. This was a good day. They had found so many treasures. Dad's old treasures, even….though she wished that he would have stayed and played with them.

But dad never played with them…and he had seemed mad…madder than normal…anyway.

Even if they had a whole box of treasures to play with.