Sho was not a picky eater.

There were just a lot of things that he would not eat. He couldn't have citrus because it would kill him but he also wouldn't eat broccoli, cauliflower, cashews, steamed carrots, strained pears, buckwheat pancakes, wheatgrass juice, tomato juice, anything food with a lot of liquid in it, rhubarb pie, flan, grasshoppers, locusts, sweet breads which were not bread at all but meat, soft cheese, hard bread, and spam.

But the worst of all was cucumbers.

"Sho, please eat your salad. You need all of your food groups." Said big sis. She was always on him about his food groups. She was still trying to be mom. Well she was always trying to be mom but now dad had promoted her, he said, which made no sense because they were a family and not a job, and now big sis had all the power that mom did.

It just was not fair.

He didn't need a sister for a mom, he needed a mom for a mom, but his mom was not there. She had run away. Everyone he loved left. Even baby sis had gone away…and she had let Fukuda take baby sis away. Even though he knew that he should have been happy for his pretend baby sis. She was in a better place now, not like she was dead at all, she had another family and that family loved her. Her new mom was a super cool fighting lady and a Scar so she could keep little sis safe and help her with her powers. Also she wouldn't ever leave because she loved baby sis. She had picked her after all.

Baby sis was in a better place because she wasn't a part of this family anymore.

"I'm not eating the salad. There's cucumbers on it and I am not going to eat cucumbers. They're gross." Said Sho. Baby sis had a new mom and her new mom didn't make her eat anything that she didn't want to. Her new mom took the best care of her ever. That was what Sho believed, anyway, because that was what Fukuda has told him. He talked to baby sis' new mom, Tsuchiya, sometimes. So Sho knew that she was happy.

Happier than he was, anyway.

He had forgotten how it was like when dad was around. How everything he said and did was wrong. How nothing he ever did would ever be ok. How even with his full powers, even with being the Awakened Child, dad would never love him as much as he loved big sis. That was why he had promoted big sis and not him. That was why she was mom ranked but he was still Sho ranked.

He didn't even understand how that was even supposed to work.

"I've seen you eat pickles and all pickles start out as cucumbers." Said big sis. She thought that she was so smart just because dad told her so. Dad only told her that she was smart because she always did their homeschool work. She only did their homeschool work because she wanted dad to tell her that she was smart. Well Sho didn't need anyone to tell him that he was smart. He knew that he was smart already.

He had been able to take care of baby sis.

Big sis had taken his job, running Claw, and left him to take care of baby sis. He had done it and he had done it better than she had. He had keep baby sis quiet for most of the day and got her to throw up less and even taught her how to hold her own head up. If big sis hadn't let Fukuda take little sis away from him then he could have taught her to crawl and walk and run and jump and climb and all of that important stuff. But she had let Fukuda take-

No.

He can feel himself getting mad now. He needs to calm down. Dad isn't at the table anymore. He said that big sis was supposed to handle this and that he would be working in his room. That had been the first thing to get him mad. The second thing had been her getting on him about eating his salad. Her getting on him like he was a baby made him think about baby sis…and now he was sad…

He reminded himself that he had nothing to be sad about.

She wasn't gone forever. She was at the Seventh Division. That was in Japan and he was in Japan. He could have gone to visit, the Seventh Division was in Seasoning City and there was a train that went from Tokyo to Seasoning City, but Fukuda said that it was a bad idea to visit while baby sis was getting used to her new mom. He said that he would pass along pictures and messages, though, he just had to keep it a secret from dad.

He could keep a secret just fine.

He still had big sis in his life, just far away, and it was perfectly ok to love someone from far away. Fukuda had said so. Fukuda said that his mom loved him from far away, too, even though he had no way of knowing that…and now Sho was starting to get mad again. He could see his aura flaring and he could feel his heart beating and he just felt…not good. Not good at all. He was mad and…and he always turned into a jerk when he was mad.

"Shut up." Said Sho. She needed to shut up before he got mad at her. That had been happening more and more lately. Dad had said, even, that he was getting worse. Well he had said 'Daughter, your brother is getting worse. Fix this.' That had been…not even mean. Dad hadn't said it to be mean…he had said it like he just didn't care anymore. Big sis was the only one he cared about.

So it was easy to get mad at her.

"Don't say that, it's not nice…and also it hurts my feelings. I don't care, not really, if you hurt my feelings but one day you're going to say that to someone who isn't me and then they're going to get very upset with you and I don't want that. Ok? So please don't ever say shut up." Said big sis. She was always so bossy…and he wished that she could have been mean, too. That she could have been mean and bossy at the same time. That way it would have been alright for him to get mad at her. That way it could have been alright for him to push her out of her chair with his powers. To tip her back and-

He was not his dad.

He shouldn't have wanted to hurt his big sis. He shouldn't have wanted to hurt anyone. He should have been…been gentle. Mom had wanted that for him…and she wasn't there. She was gone and now big sis was and was not mom and the whole thing was just confusing and unfair and-and-and he just didn't like it. He wanted things to go back to the way that they were before. Before baby sis left. Before they had left Japan for the first time. Before mom left. Back when he had been a kid and he and big sis had been friends and he hadn't been such a jerk to her all the time…

Things had been so much better back then.

"I can say whatever I want to say. You're not dad or mom. You can't just boss me around." Said Sho. He wanted to go back to the days when dad was the one who bossed him around. When things made sense. Dad may have been mean and he may have hit him but at least that made sense. Big sis being promoted…it didn't make sense at all and he didn't like it one bit.

It made him mad.

Fukuda said that it was ok to get mad sometimes. That anyone who had spent a day in Sho's shoes would have been as mad as he was. That it was understandable and that meant ok. Sho could get as mad as he wanted and it was ok so long as he didn't hurt anyone and if he did hurt someone it was ok so long as he said sorry. That was why Fukuda hadn't been mad at him even a little bit back when he had been taking baby sis away and Sho had lost control over his power…baby sis was gone…and it had been a lot for him and that was why it had been ok.

Fukuda had said so.

That was why, too, it had been ok when he jabbed big sis with his pencil while they were on the plane. She was being a bother, Fukuda had said, by trying to act like his mom. She was only a year older than him and she had no right to boss him around…but that made no sense, her not having the right, because dad had given her the right. Dad was the one who decided who was allowed to do what and when. That was why he was the dad and they were the kids.

Fukuda hadn't had anything to say to that.

But he had said that Sho's drawings were very nice. He had let Sho sit with him for the whole plane ride back to Japan. He had wanted to sit with Shimazaki and the others. He was so cool! He had been on the wing of the plane like it was nothing at all! Dad had said that Shimazaki was a moron of the highest order and Sho…well he had disagreed. Dad hadn't hit him, though, he had just told him to go be with big sis…but then Fukuda had wanted to hang out and he was not going to pass up a chance to hang out with Fukuda. Even though he'd had a chance to hang out with Shimazaki and he was so cool…and he would have probably held onto Sho if they had gone to the wing of the plane…and he was really strong and stuff…

But hanging out with Fukuda had been fun, too, more fun than hanging out with big sis and her friends anyway.

"Sho…dad put me in charge of you permanently. You know that. He told you. That means that…that I'm supposed to teach you right from wrong and it's wrong to be rude to people like that just like it's not right for you not to eat all of your dinner. You need all of your food groups to grow up big and strong." Said big sis

"Dad never makes me eat everything." Said Sho

"Dad isn't at the table right now and even if he was he would have told you to do what I say." Said big sis

"Well if you want me to eat this then go and get dad and have him make me." Said Sho. He didn't know why it was so important that he eat a slimy, gross, cucumber. She didn't eat cilantro and nobody got in her business about that. So what if he had a bunch of foods that he didn't like? It wasn't like he was ever going to get sick. Not with Fukuda around. Sure he could maybe go on another mission but Fukuda promise that he would do everything in his power to stay by Sho's side and to keep him safe. He said that he had been doing a poor job of it lately but aside from being gone for a long time he did a pretty good job of healing Sho up. No concussions, contusions, or abrasions.

"You and I both know that bothering dad while he's in his room working is a very bad idea. You know how mad he can get. You know what happens to us when he's mad. Please just…just eat your food so you can have all of your food groups and grow up big and strong. That's all I want for you. I love you." Said big sis. Why did she have to go and say a thing like that? She loved him. He knew that she loved him. She was his big sister, of course she loved him, and that wasn't the thing that you went around saying to a person.

It could make them feel bad.

It made him feel bad and he didn't even know why. He loved her and she loved him and…and he had been so mean to her. He knew that he was a jerk but it was ok because he had said sorry and was sad about it. As long as you said that you were sorry it was ok…and she knew that he was sorry…and he would have been such a jerk to her if she wasn't always being so bossy. He had been the older sibling, before, to baby sis and he had never bossed her around. He fed her when she was hungry and put her to sleep when she was sleepy and played with her when she was bored and put all of her favorite shows on TV in Korean even though he was supposed to be teaching her Japanese.

He knew how to be the older sibling.

She wasn't being the older sibling. She was being the mom. It was like they were playing house and he had to be the kid even though he liked being the dog much better. This whole thing was just…not fair. Fukuda had said so, too, and that had been nice even though there was nothing at all that Fukuda could have done about it.

He wanted to have dinner with Fukuda.

He wished that this was one of those times when she was with her friends. They were more her friends than his friends. People just liked her better for some reason. Because she was a girl, Fukuda had said, people were a lot nicer to girls. Sometimes people could be too nice to girls. Like Shimazaki. He said that the feeling he got when Shimazaki talked to big sis and touched her hands and her face and her hair and stuff were Sho wanting to keep her safe. Sho had said that sometimes when someone liked a girl a whole lot they acted like that and that it was normal for him to want to keep big sis safe.

But it was not his job.

Fukuda said that he was nine and his job was to grow up. He said that if big sis had a problem with Shimazaki acting like he liked her, even the thought made Sho's insides feel like he had swallowed a two hamsters and they were fighting, then she could have easily made him stop. Fukuda also said that if dad had a problem with it then he could have easily made Shimazaki stop, too, because he was the president of Claw and the most powerful man on Earth. Fukuda said that Sho was a good little brother for wanting to protect his sister from someone that much older than her who liked her but it was not his job to keep her safe. Fukuda also said to tell him if anyone older than him ever acted like they liked him so Fukuda could keep him safe.

Sho didn't need anyone to keep him safe.

Nobody acted like that with him and even if they did he would have been able to keep himself safe. Also he should have been the one to keep big sis safe….even though the person that she had to be kept safe from was her own little brother. Sho hated that about himself. He hated how mad he got and how he lost control when he was mad. Dad…dad felt the very same way about himself and his powers. He said that feelings were dangerous because you could end up being controlled by them and that when your feelings controlled you then you were liable to lose control.

Which was what happened when he got mad.

It felt like it was going to happen now. It felt like he was going to lose control of his feeling and get mad and then…he didn't even know what. Flip the table over? Shove big sis out of her chair? Throw his soda in her face? Tug on her hair? Smash his plate? Smash all the plates? Put holes in the walls? Rip the heads off of her dolls? Break some windows? Any of the other stuff that he had done in the past when he lost control?

He hated losing control.

And he hated being dad's son. If he hadn't been dad's son then he wouldn't have had problems keeping his feelings under control. He hardly ever lost control of his powers but his feelings…it was like they took over and put his body on demo mode. That was what big sis said that it felt like when she lost control, too. Like she was a game on demo mode and no matter what buttons she pushed on the controller her character just kept on acting on it's own. Sho hated that feeling. He wondered if it was the same way for dad.

He wasn't going to ask.

And he wasn't going to explode, either, even though she was being bossy again. He was…he was going to be better. For himself and for little sis too. He had kept his feelings under control when she had been there and…and he needed to keep it up for her. He needed to be a good big brother for her even if it was all just pretend and he was keeping her warm for her new family. He could still be better for her. He knew that if she took after him, if she saw that he was the way he was, then she would be…she would have all the same feelings that he had about himself….and he could not let her feel that was about herself.

He had to protect her from that because, even if it was for pretend, she was still his little sister and he was still her big brother.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love you too." Said Sho. He used his powers to pick the cucumbers off of his salad. She didn't say anything. He also picked out the lettuce and tomato that they were touching, too, because they had all been contaminated by the disgusting cucumbers. They were so gross and bad, just vegetables that were too lazy to become pickles, and he would not eat them or anything that they touched…

But he also didn't want to act like a jerk…he didn't want to lose control.

So he drowned what was left of his salad in ranch dressing even though he knew that it was bad for him. He wasn't a picky eater, there were just some foods that he didn't like, and everything tasted a million times better covered in ranch dressing.