Sho didn't mind the scars on his body.

There were the pinpricks that climbed up and down both sides of his arms, the scar that took up almost his entire leg, the thing on his stomach, the tree on his back, all of it. These weren't bad scars, no, they were more like battle scars. It had felt like a battle, getting those scars, and getting his powers. He had never been in a real battle though, dad said that he was too young, but now he could. Like those guys he had seen, before, with all of those scars on their faces. They fought dad and lost, they were called Scars.

But he was not a Scar.

No, he was the Awakened Child. The Awakened had scars, the same ones that he did, that was why their uniforms had long pants and long sleeves. But he was not one of the Awakened. He was the Awakened Child. There was a difference, dad had said so, and the difference was that he was the only kid to ever go through the whole Awakening thing. Also he was way more powerful than all of the Awakened put together.

So he had no reason to mind his scars.

"No. You are not wearing that. Go change your clothes." Said Dad. He barely even looked at him when he said that. Dad still hardly even looked at him even though he was bringing him to work all the time. How could dad have said that his clothes weren't right if he wasn't even going to look?

"But you barely even looked." Said Sho. Dad looked up again. His face was still but his aura got a little more mad. Whatever. He was always mad about something. Sometimes it seemed like he went around looking for things to be mad about.

"Change your clothes. I won't ask you again." said Dad. He would ask again, though, because that was how it went almost every single morning.

"What's wrong with my clothes? I'm dressed normal." Said Sho as he pulled on his shirt to show dad just how normal he was. Maybe dad wanted him to dress like him…and he was not dressing like dad. Nope. He never dressed up and for good reason. Too many layers, too much itchy fabric, and those clothes looked way too boring.

"You know that you cannot dress like that. Long pants and a long shirt." Said Dad

"But it's summer." Said Sho. He and dad argued like this almost every day. It was too hot out to dress like dad did. Even if they spent most of their time inside it was way too hot out to dress like that.

"I don't care. You know that you can't go outside like that. I am not going to have this argument with you every single day, Son, now either change your clothes or spend the day with your sister. It's your choice." Said Dad. He was starting to get mad. Sho could tell by his aura. He was the one getting himself all upset over nothing. So he had a few scars, big deal. They were cool looking. Also they told people not to mess with you. It was like how the most powerful characters in fighting gams always had a whole bunch of scars like that.

"But it's hot out." Said Sho. Maybe if he tried to make sense then dad would see that there was no point in making Sho dress like it was still wintertime outside. If anything more people would notice him because he was the only kid who was still wearing long sleeves and long pants even though it was summer outside.

"What did I just say?" asked Dad. He was mad but trying to be nice. He was only trying to be nice because big sis was still home. He may have been taking Sho with him and teaching him about how running Claw worked and all, so far it involved a lot of people trying to kill you and also boring meetings, he still liked big sis best. That was why he was always getting her presents and watching TV with her and letting her get all cuddly with him. Also dad hugged big sis now. That was the most unfair part of it all…not that Sho cared. No, he was much too old for hugs and stuff like that. He was eight and eight was much too old to be hugging your dad and stuff.

Of course nine was older than eight.

But the rules were different for girls. They were allowed to get hugs from their dads and stuff because they were girls and they hugged everyone all the time. That was just the way they were. Sometimes Sho wished that the rules were different, that boys could want hugs too, but then he remembered that at least the rules for boys weren't as restrictive as the rules for girls. At least he never had to wear dresses and got to cut his hair short. Also he got to go to work with dad and watch dad or Shimazaki, it was mostly Shimazaki he was so cool, beat people up and stuff. All big sis got to do all day was play dolls with Minegishi and stuff like that.

And he was not hanging around with big sis and Minegishi all day. He'd end up dead of boredom.

"You said that I couldn't go outside dressed like this even though I look like everyone else." Said Sho

"Son-" said Dad

"All of the other kids are wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts so why can't I? People are going to think that I'm weird if I go around dressed like it's wintertime. Dressed like this I look like everyone else." Said Sho

"You do not look like everyone else and you know it. You know that you can't dress like that out in public because then people will see your scars and ask questions." Said Dad

"Or maybe they'll look at my scars and think that I'm someone that shouldn't be messed with." Said Sho. Dad shook his head. Sho could still see his aura and he was still mad. Normally dad would have either pushed him or hit him or just left. He had been nicer lately and it was only to do with big sis…and that was not fair at all. A lot of things weren't fair at all.

"That's ridiculous." Said Dad. Sho could see his own aura now. That was not ridiculous! Dad was the one being all ridiculous! He was the only one who cared about this! So what if all of his scars did look kind of gross? Gross didn't mean uncool! He looked really cool and he liked his scars and if he liked his scars then that was all that mattered! Like his hair. Mom said that as long as he liked his hair then it didn't matter what the other kids said. His hair was a part of himself like his eyes were a part of himself and his freckles and his scars, too. He was all of those things and all of those things came together to make him, Suzuki Sho, and so long as he liked himself then there was nothing wrong with the way he looked.

"Is not. I don't mind my scars so-" said Sho. He knew that it was stupid, getting mad at dad like this, and he knew that he was probably going to get slammed down to the ground or something, but he didn't care at this point. Sometimes he didn't care, sometimes he just got so mad that he just didn't care, and he knew that he would pay for it later but right now he just did not care.

"Stop this." said Dad

"Why? I don't mind my scars and I don't know why you mind my scars even though you keep on saying-" said Sho. He would have told Dad that he didn't care if people noticed his scars and asked questions. Let them notice and let them ask questions. What was the worst that they could do? For someone who was always talking about when they ran the world and stuff dad sure did care a lot what other people thought.

"Daughter, come here." Said Dad. Sho crossed his arms. No. No way. He was not letting big sis dress him. That was what dad was calling her over for. That was how this usually went. Dad got mad and then called big sis over and then she picked out different clothes for him and chased him around their room until he got bored and let her catch him and then he changed clothes and then that was the end of it.

He didn't need his big sister to dress him.

Mom didn't even dress him anymore. Well she had stopped dressing him before she left. She had been letting him dress himself for a while before she left….and she never told him what to wear, either, unless it was school time. He didn't need someone to tell him what to wear. Not when he was little and not know, either, even though he was covered in scars now.

"Yes dad?" asked big sis. She had been in their room. She was dressed, now, but she had been laying down. She had a headache, she said, she woke up most mornings with a headache. Dad said that it was because she was drinking too much milk and not enough plain water. She didn't listen to dad and kept on drinking milk instead of water. Dad never yelled at her or punished her for that even though she didn't listen to him one bit about drinking more actual water and less milk.

"Dress your brother in something else." Said Dad. He wasn't even looking. If he had been looking he would have been able to tell that big sis was wearing something even dumber than what he was wearing. She wasn't even wearing normal clothes. She was wearing a costume. She was almost always wearing one of her costume dresses. Dad never said anything to her about the way that she dressed. It was dangerous ground telling a girl she was dressed dumb. Dad had said so.

That was a dumb rule.

Why did it matter if it was a boy or a girl who you were saying was dressed dumb? It was still mean no matter who you were talking to. Sho wasn't a girl, he didn't spend hours and hours picking out what clothes to wear, but it still hurt being told that he was dressed dumb. That was just how dad was. He was a mean jerk. That was why Sho was a mean jerk sometimes. He came from his dad after all.

"Yes dad." Said big sis. Her eyes were all squinty and she was holding her head. Sho wished that he could have felt bad for her but he was mostly just mad. He was mad at dad for being mean to him and he was mad at her for trying to boss him around again. She was only a year older than him. It wasn't fair that she got to be in charge. She was always trying to be like mom. She wasn't mom. Mom was mom and mom never would have made him change his clothes and she would have made dad change his mind too, maybe….or maybe not. He couldn't remember, actually, if mom ever mad dad change his mind about stuff….

"I don't want to change clothes." Said Sho. Big sis was pulling on him now. She was holding his hand and tugging on him but not very strongly…even though with her powers she could have grabbed him and dragged him away. Even now even though her head was killing her and maybe her eyes, too, because her eyes were all squinty like there was something stuck in them.

"Then stay with your sister. I don't care either way." said Dad. Sho felt like someone had stuck him in the bellybutton with the end of a wire hanger and stirred his insides around before pulling them out like in that movie he saw. He didn't know how dad could even say that. Dad must have liked having him around at least a little…right? Because otherwise he would have taken big sis around even though the stuff he did in Tokyo was not the kind of stuff that was for girls….

So when they left Tokyo dad would go back to only spending time with big sis.

The thought hurts. The thought hurts so much that he wants nothing more than to hit big sis, to fight her, to push her down and….and other mean stuff. Stuff that he isn't going to do. It's easier because dad is there. He's a lot more afraid of dad than he is mad at big sis.

"…I don't want to stay here with her, it's boring." Said Sho. He looks at her when he says that. She's been so boring lately. She either just wants to play with Minegishi or to play dolls or just to sit on the couch and either nap or watch TV or both. That was even more boring than sitting through dad's long and boring meetings, the ones that didn't end in people being shot at or blown up.

"The come on, Sho, you can wear something else. Your shirt with the lizard scales is clean. Also the one with the wings on the back. You like those. Come on." Said big sis. Dad was looking at him. Big sis was looking at him. Too many people were looking at him. He wanted to yell and scream and kick and break something…or something….but he couldn't. Dad was watching him and dad would punish him and also big sis was watching him and she'd get upset and then when she got upset she got even more tired than she usually was.

He didn't want that.

So he let himself get led back to his room. No, not his room, the room that he was sleeping in. He had the bed on the left, big sis had the bed on the right, their wardrobe was in the corner, there was a dresser between their beds, he had his toys on his side of the room, she had her toys on her side of the room. That was how he and big sis had set up each and every room that they had ever stayed in. That was because their real bedroom had been set up like that.

This was not their real bedroom.

And she was not their mom.

"OK, lift your arms." Said big sis and she tried tugging on the bottom of his shirt. He pushed her hands away and tossed his shirt up over his head. She was holding another one of his shirts in her hands. The green ones that made him look like he was a lizard. She had been about to dress him in the shirt like mom had dressed him when he was a little kid.

She was not their mom.

"I'm not a baby, I can dress myself!" said Sho. He pushed her away with his powers. She was knocked against her bed. Her feed hit an empty milk bottle. She just sort of left them everywhere when she was done with them. Dad never told her that she was being gross even though she totally was. Dad let her do whatever she wanted. Dad was always nice to her. Even when he got mad at her and pushed her or hit her or dragged her by her braids he always got her a doll or something afterwards to say sorry.

He never said sorry to Sho.

He never said sorry to big sis either, never with words anyway, but he still at least got her something that she liked to show her that he felt bad. He never felt bad for punishing Sho. That was because he liked her best. Either that or because you weren't ever supposed to hit girls. Either way Sho would have liked for dad to have at some point said sorry or bought him something to say sorry or something like that.

Dad had hurt him way more than he had ever hurt big sis.

"I never called you a baby, Sho, so you didn't have to push me. You know that I would never call you names or anything like that." Said big sis. She reached out and handed him his shirt. He took it from her with his powers and threw it on as fast as he could.

"You were too calling me a baby. You know that I can dress myself. You don't need to dress me." Said Sho. Big sis walked past him towards their dresser. He took a step back so that he didn't end up pushing her again. He wanted to. He wanted to because dad was mad at him and he'd be mad for the rest of the day but then he'd come home and give big sis a new doll and then they'd hang out and he'd be laying in his bed listening to them hanging out and…and that was the way that it was going to go. That was the way that it had been for so long….

It wasn't fair.

"Dad told me to dress you, Sho, and you know that we both have to do what dad says. He's the boss of us because he's our dad." Said big sis. She handed him a pair of his pants. He liked these, he had drawn on them with magic marker and it still hadn't washed out. He wasn't about to tell her that he liked them, though, because he was a big kid now and he could pick out his own clothes and dress himself and all of that.

"Well you are not our mom, big sis, and you don't get to dress me. Ok? You're not the boss of me." Said Sho

"But dad said-" said big sis

"I don't care what dad said! You're not the boss of me! You're not the boss of me just because you're older and you're not the boss of me just because dad likes you better!" shouted Sho

"Don't yell, little brother, you know that dad hates yelling." Said big sis. That just made him madder. He had just told her not to boss him around but there she went bossing him around again like he hadn't even just gotten done telling her not to be so bossy all of the time.

"Shut up already!" said Sho. He pushed her again. This time she ended up being pushed against their dresser. The stack of his drawings that he had up there went fluttering to the ground. She caught them with her powers and stacked them back up even though she was sitting on the ground.

"I'm sorry." Said big sis. Sho was still mad but…less mad…because she had at least said sorry. That was way more than dad did. He reached out to her. She closed her eyes and scooted backwards. He grabbed her hand and helped her stand up. Maybe he shouldn't have pushed her. He shouldn't have pushed her, there was no maybe about it, because you were not supposed to push girls…and he shouldn't have pushed her…because that was mean and wrong…

And he was a lot like dad.

But at least he said sorry. Dad never said sorry to him but at least he could say sorry to her. He was mad at her, he was always a little mad at her, but she had just been doing what dad had told her to do…and he shouldn't have pushed her. He should have pushed dad. He wanted to push dad. He wanted to push dad as hard as he could. He wanted to push dad and hit him and slam him into the wall and push him down on the ground…but he couldn't. He wasn't strong enough. He wasn't even strong enough to be pushing big sis around.

But she let him push her around.

She was always nice to him like that. She was always letting him push her and yell at her and use her for target practice and stuff like that. She was always making sure that he got breakfast and dinner and lunch when they were together. She always made sure that his clothes, the ones he liked, were always clean and she always put his toys away so dad wouldn't get mad and she made sure that none of his drawings got lost…well she tried to but they still went missing sometimes….and she did a whole lot of other stuff….and she liked his scars, too. Especially his tree. She was always trying to touch his tree because it looked cool, she said, and she never made him change clothes when they were just hanging out together…she was always so nice…even about stuff that made dad mad at him about….

And that was why he said sorry.

Because she didn't mind his scars.