If someone were to ask Sho ten years later how he took the sudden appearance of Mukai he would have said 'well' and if pressed 'very well' or even 'extremely well'.

"You get a baby for your birthday but I can't even have one little hamster?! How is this fair?!" said Sho. He did not shout even though he wanted to. Dad told him to be gone for the house for the whole day and he had been happy to go, he had been petting dogs and climbing trees all day which beat hanging around dad any day, and at the time he had thought nothing of it. Dad was just being mean and stuff.

Turns out that he was conspiring to give big sis the best birthday present ever.

"I didn't ask for her, Sho, she just came…and please don't shout! I finally found a movie she likes." Said Mob. She had practically gone through every Disney movie ever made until she found the Black Cauldron in Korean. It was a scary movie with fighting and monsters and also the princess didn't even sing but Mukai liked it and that was what mattered. She did not need Mukai to start crying again. Mob had mostly gotten a handle on the crying. There had been some pacifiers in her bag and whenever she cried Mob just put it back in her mouth.

Unless she needed to be changed. That was something that could not wait…and also was very gross.

"If you didn't ask for her then where did she come from!?" asked Sho. This was not fair. He had been wanting a pet for his entire life but dad always said 'no'. She asks for a little sister and then there, on her birthday, a little sister. She could lie all she wanted to but Sho knew the truth about all of this. She had asked for a little sister and now she had one but there was no way that he was getting a little brother…not that he wanted one that badly….and he certainly was not getting a hamster!

Life was unfair.

"Well you see when a man and a woman love each other very much, or the man has a lot of money and power and the woman wants a piece of that, as can be seen here they-" said Shimazaki. Toshi was right, he was getting a kick out of this. Suzuki had another kid. Suzuki, their boss, this cult leader, the guy who always smelled vaguely of ketchup had knocked some poor woman up. This defied logic. It was absurd. It was hilarious in it's absurdity.

He loved it.

"Don't tell him about that! He's only nine, Shimazaki, he's got his whole life to be worried about…that." Said Shibata from the circle of the room he was confined to. There was a circle of vines around him and if he put even a toe over the line they would suck the life out of him. Minegishi's exact words. He wasn't mad at them, he couldn't be, considering that he'd almost had a repeat of why he got fired from Wee World…hopefully it wouldn't have progressed into why he got fired from Pet Palace if nobody had intervened….

"Tell me about what?! What can't I know about!?" asked Sho. He was not shouting even though big sis was doing the 'shut up' motion a lot. The baby was fine. She was watching TV and sucking on her sucking thing. She was fine even though her face was starting to scrunch up a little and it was turning red and-

-and Minegishi picked her up and handed her to big sis.

"Hey morons, the baby and I are trying to watch the movie. Take it somewhere else." Said Minegishi. It had gotten dark, the idiot brigade had assembled, a pizza had been procured, and Suzuki was still missing in action. The healer was gone too which meant that it was probably a work thing. Those idiotic traitors had picked a terrible time to start whatever ill-advised uprising they had in the works or whatever.

Unless of course Suzuki decided that fatherhood wasn't for him so he abandoned his kids to be raised by the bunch of miscreants he called his entourage. That was always possible.

"Sorry." Said Mob

"No, not you. I was talking to those morons…and before you say anything that includes your little brother. It is utterly moronic to start shouting in here when we JUST got this baby quiet." Said Minegishi

"I'm not a moron. I think that it's moronic to um…to ask dad to give you a baby sister for your birthday. You should have asked for a cat or a dog or a hamster. Yeah, a hamster would have been perfect. It would have stayed in it's cage and not cried and-" said Sho

"No, hamsters can get pretty loud at night. They're mostly nocturnal. I remember that this one time I was doing the overnight cleaning back at Pet Palace and I heard this squeaking, well first I heard the rabbits and they could be loud too-" said Shibata

"Hey. What part of 'the baby and I are trying to watch the movie' don't you understand?" asked Minegishi. They felt the energy around them shift. They didn't move. They knew what that was. Shimazaki was sitting on the couch next to them without a care in the world, it seemed, even though his incessant teleporting combined with everyone else's incessant talking had finally pushed that baby over the edge.

"Mukai, please don't cry. Look, the movie is still on. You like this, right?" asked Mob as she bounced Mukai up and down like she liked. She tried but Mukai was still crying. Maybe she was hungry again. The internet said that she should eat every three to four hours. Well Mukai seemed to want to eat every three to four minutes. They were running low on bottles last she had checked…

But it was ok. They could always get more.

Everything was ok. This was a baby and a baby was a living thing and all a living thing needed was food, water, and love. Well for a baby food and water were all together in her formula so they had that covered and everyone loved Mukai so much and therefore she would be fine. They also needed formula, which was like milk substitute but for babies, and clothes and toys and diapers…

And the Awakened were not good at buying things like that…but that was ok because Mob could do this and she would do this and she was doing this right now.

"Maybe she's hungry again." said Sho. The baby had been eating when he came home and it had eaten again a little while later. He didn't know how something so small could eat so much. He didn't know how much babies were supposed to eat. They weren't like pets. For pets all you had to do was fill the pet bowls and then you were done. Babies were more complicated.

So it made no sense at all for dad to have gotten them a baby sister instead of a pet.

"I just fed her…and also we're running low on bottles. The Awakened…I sent them out for baby formula and they came back with powdered milk…and the internet said that we should never under any circumstances give Mukai anything other than baby formula or human milk until she's at least four months old. Six months would be best, it said, but the earliest was four months and she's only three months old anyway." Said Mob

"For the puppies we would give them one ounce of puppy formula for every eight ounces they weighed." Said Shibata. This was kind of…not good…of Suzuki. To leave the baby with his daughter like that without telling her what to do. Shibata knew what to do for baby animals but baby humans were very different. Also she was way too young to be babysitting her little sister…if that even was her sister. Suzuki was married, that was what the ring was for, but he never mentioned a wife….also Shimazaki had said something about that being Suzuki's love child but that was crazy.

He couldn't imagine one woman being interested in Suzuki let alone two.

"Well how many ounces does Mukai weigh? Let me do the math, I'm better at it than you are." Said Sho

"The note didn't say…and also you don't know if you're better at math than me because you never do your schoolwork." Said Mob

"I do it some of the times…and I am too better at it than you are." Said Sho

"You're both making it worse." Said Minegishi. They covered their ears but it didn't work. If anything it just felt like it was getting louder and louder. The sound of a baby crying….this was worse than a dentist's drill. Worse than a police siren. Worse than nails on a chalkboard….

They were going to go crazy. Yes. They had been teetering near the edge for a while now but this…this would be the thing that did them in.

"Or, depending on your perspective, better." Said Shimazaki. Truth be told he was in hell. That baby…that baby cried with it's voice and it's aura and he wanted to take it and teleport it into somebody's crib so some other baby's parents could wake up and think that they had magic twins or reverse changelings or something. He could not listen to this for much longer…but he could not get rid of the baby because that was Suzuki's kid and Suzuki would literally end him if something happened to one of his kids. He could go anywhere either because it was pointless seeing as how he would have to come back since all of his stuff was there…and also Toshi was there too and it always got boring being away from them for too long.

"You aren't helping." Said Minegishi. They could hear their pulse in their ears but it could not drown out the sound of the crying baby. Not screaming this time, not so badly, but still making noise. Mob was trying her best. Minegishi did not feel like trying their best anymore. Besides, they had the twenty seven year old baby beside them to deal with.

"Am too. I'm here for moral support." Said Shimazaki. The crying was making him crazy but Minegishi always made him feel better. They got him and right now he needed someone to get him…because right now he was about to teleport that baby onto someone's doorstep and damn Suzuki and the punishment/execution that he would bring down on Shimazaki's head once he realized that Shimazaki had been the one to get rid of his screaming love child.

"And how will moral support make this baby stop crying?" asked Minegishi

"No clue. How about the power of friendship? Any effect?" asked Shimazaki

"Shimazaki has used 'the power of friendship'. It is not effective." Said Minegishi

"Toshi has used sarcasm. It is very effective." Said Shimazaki

"Shimazaki has used my given name. It is-" said Minegishi

"The baby is trying to watch TV. You should leave Shimazaki alone." Said Sho. He did not like how they were talking to each other there. It made him feel like stomping a hole through the floor. He was made and also…some other weird stuff…and maybe he was just upset because his ears were getting sore. How could something so small have so much air inside of her lungs? Had he cried like that when he had been a baby? Had big sis?

He didn't know. All he knew was that he wanted this to stop before he went crazy.

"It's ok, little Suzuki. Why don't you let them deal with the baby and you play or draw or something?" asked Shibata. He took a step out of his circle, just a step, and vines curled around his leg. He could feel himself getting weaker…and Minegishi had been serious.

"No. I don't want to play or draw or something. I want my little sister to stop crying." Said Sho

"Pretend. She's our pretend sister. Mom and dad didn't make her." said Mob

"You don't know that." Said Sho. He knew that he sounded crazy, there, but there were crazier things that he could have said. Maybe mom and dad had gotten back together and that was where Mukai came from. She looked kind of like dad. She had his hair and eye and aura color. Sho had been all over the world and he knew that most people did not have hair or eyes like his. Mukai even had freckles on her cheeks sort of and Sho knew for a fact that dad had freckles just like he had freckles. Maybe mom had come back. Maybe she and dad were-

-that was crazy. Big sis was right. She was just their pretend sister. Dad must have bought her at an orphanage or something.

"Sho, you know that's not true. I want it to be true but I won't lie to you." Said Mob. She had found the right combination of bouncing, shushing, and giving Mukai her pacifier. Now she was quiet again. She wished that what Sho had said was true. Then mom could have helped her out…even though she didn't need much help at all. Dad had trusted her and no one else with this job…but she did kind of want her mom…

People needed other people.

But she had her brother and her friends. People needed other people but they didn't need specific people. She did not need her mom, her brother and her friends would do, because this was only taking care of a baby. She could take care of a baby. Dad had been right to tell her to Google it…and also people had been taking care of babies since the beginning of time. If cave people thousands of years ago could figure it out then so could she.

"Well you don't know for sure." Said Sho. He sat down next to big sis and crossed his arms. Mukai reached over and touched his hair. He felt better, instantly, and maybe that was his power. He didn't know if she was his for real sister or his pretend sister, or if he even wanted a little sister, but she did make him feel better. Maybe that was a part of her powers. She had an aura and he had never seen a baby with an aura before.

Maybe she was a prodigy like big sis.

He didn't want that. He didn't want dad to put her in an Awakening machine but he always didn't want to have to live in the shadow of another prodigy. That was what it felt like, sometimes, like dad was the sun and big sis was blocking out the sun and he had to live in her shadow and stuff. Because dad liked her so much better than him just because even after he went through the awakening process her powers were still better than his.

Dad didn't even call him impressive anymore.

"Since none of us know for sure then we should all start up with our crazy speculations. I, for one, think that this baby is S-" said Shimazaki. He felt it before it happened, Minegishi jabbing him in the side, but he let it happen just to make them feel like they had gotten one over on him. They were stressed, he could tell. Their breathing, their heartrate, how tense they were…he hated it when Toshi got like that.

"I, for one, think that you should teleport to a baby store or something and bring back some essentials. You're a moron but you can't be a bigger moron than the Awakened. Powdered milk my ass…" muttered Minegishi. They did not want to start up the speculations about where this baby had come from. It would just get the two kids that they were sure were Suzuki's upset and then that baby would start up again and nobody wanted to deal with that.

Especially not them.

The sound of a crying baby did not drive them into the arms of the opposite sex because, gasp, they were wasting their best reproductive years having amazing but also utterly fruitless sex. They did not suddenly feel their biological clock ticking or whatever. They could hear their pulse in their head, feel it in their teeth of all place, and they did not like it. The only reason that they didn't go to their room and mess with their brain chemistry so they could get some sleep already was because they knew that the minute they got comfortable Mob would be there asking them for help.

It was hard being the only competent adult in the room sometimes.

"I would love to, Minegishi, I would but they don't make the labels in brail. You can't even trust me to pick up soda let alone baby formula. Also I know absolutely nothing about babies or baby formula or any other essentials." Said Shimazaki. He was not shirking work, ok he was, but he was also telling the truth. He had no idea what the little crotch goblins needed. He had lived his life up to this point care not to get anyone pregnant. It wasn't hard. Just don't let your genetic stuff come into contact with her genetic stuff and if your genetic stuff did, on accident, come into contact then you stole her some of those 'no baby for you' pills and you lost her number. Simple.

Suzuki, at some point, had not learned the facts of life. Either that or he hadn't been paying attention when someone had explained contraception to him.

"Take Shibata. I'm assuming that he knows how to read." Said Minegishi. They weren't in Japan but English was pretty much universal and not that hard…and even then he could always try Google translate. There were too many people around and they were all so loud and they just…they needed quiet. They needed to think.

"I can sort of read English…"said Shibata. He didn't want to leave the kids and the baby alone. Even if he was confined to his circle, and for good reason, he didn't want to leave them. They were just so small and cute and helpless….

"There. It's settled." Said Minegishi. They nudged Shimazaki with their shoulder. He knew how stressed they were. He could tell. He could always tell. This would be the part of the night where he incessantly bothered them…which it was…but it would not end in any kind of a fun way. Minegishi was just too damned tired.

Suzuki's kids, all of Suzuki's kids, were so draining….

"Come back with chips and pudding!" said Sho as Shimazaki and Shibata teleported away. Mukai smiled at him again. Big sis was smiling too but little sis', pretend little sis', smiles were better. It wasn't that he had disliked her, no he knew that he hadn't, he just…it wasn't fair that dad had gotten big sis a baby but he wouldn't let Sho have a pet. Maybe it was because dad pretty much only cared about Claw and since the baby was an esper she would be able to join Claw when she got older.

When he inherited the world he would make sure that pretend little sis got a good job with lots of fighting and action. Her own division, maybe, the Ninth Division…or whatever number they were up to by then.

"She's happy now…nobody do anything to make her unhappy…and also someone rewind the movie to the part she missed." Said Mob. The baby was happy and her little brother was happy and now she could be happy…even though she had no idea how long this happiness would even be able to last for. She didn't know. All she knew was they it was quiet now and later…she would fix what went wrong when it went wrong.

Little fires everywhere.

That was what mom had said, before, once when she had been talking to Fukuda. She hadn't known that Mob was listening when she said it. Fukuda asked her how she was doing and she had said that there had been little fires everywhere. At first she had been confused because nothing had caught on fire that day but now…now she understood. The baby cried and it needed things and then Sho would need things…and all of those needs came up fast like fires and were urgent like fires…but she was a good big sister and she would take good care of everyone around her.

Even if she had no idea when she would have time to take care of herself.

She wanted dad to come back but she got the feeling that he would be gone for a while. She had sent the Awakened to the Claw base to look for him and they hadn't been able to find him. They even dug holes in the ground looking for him…a lot of them weren't that smart...but the point was that dad was gone. Totally gone. He was gone and…and that made Mob the one in charge. She was the oldest Suzuki now. Their family had been split again…no. Dad had not run away. Dad had to come back, all of his suits were here, and he did not go places without his suits. Also there were so many things that had happened that he could have punished her and Sho for. So he would come back. He had to come back.

Things would be easier, maybe, when he came back.

"I'm Sho. That's my hair. It's red, like yours. See? Red." Said Sho. He picked one of his pencils up off of the table to show little sis the color red. She didn't know her colors yet, probably, she was too little to know things. She didn't even know how to talk. Big sis said that the only thing she could do was eat, sleep, cry, hold her head up for a little bit, and also pee a lot. That was all baby stuff. He would teach her how to be a kid.

If she even stayed that long.

Big sis had said that dad had said that she would be there with them forever if something else could not be found. Sho had no idea how long that meant. Part of him wanted her to go. Part of him wanted to tell her that there just wasn't enough room in the family for another kid and that she would need to find another place to live. The other part of her kind of liked her…when she wasn't crying. She was alright. She was little. She looked like him, too, and it would have been nice to have another person in the world who looked like him. Red hair and blue eyes just like him…and dad….but he knew that she could not be his real sister.

Because their mom was gone.

And you could only have babies with the person that you were married to. That was why people got married, to have kids. That was the only reason Sho could think of not only to be married but to do that sick thing that moms and dad did to get a kid. Mom was probably a million miles away and dad would have said something if he had found her. He would have punished her like he punished all of the traitors, not had a secret baby with her. No, this baby was just is pretend little sister. But even if it was just for pretend he could still do his best to be her big brother. That is until they found her a family of her own…because competition in his family was steep enough as it was.

She was ok, though, for a pretend little sister.