Mob woke up alone.

Which was weird. So weird. The most weird. She never woke up to an empty house. Sometime when she woke up dad was already gone but Sho was always there. Sho almost never woke up before her and when he did he never just…left. Sho and dad left without her sometimes but never when she was asleep.

For a moment she thought that, maybe, everyone was mad at her.

But that didn't make sense. Dad and Sho were both the sort of people who always did something when they got mad. When they were mad at you they made sure that you knew it. Mob never let anyone know when she was upset with them. She tried not to ever be upset with people, it seemed mean, but when she was she just stayed away from them. Like when she and Sho had been very little. Mom would separate them when they fought. Mom said that when you were mad at someone the best thing to do was to leave them alone and cool off. Dad didn't believe in that. He was a firm believer that when you were mad at someone it was their fault and you had to make them pay.

So he was, most likely, not mad at her.

Mob was actually sort of glad that he hadn't been home when she got up. She didn't much like waking up to an empty house, she missed her family a lot, but she was glad that she didn't have to talk to dad anymore…which as a very mean thing to be glad about. He was her dad and she loved him and stuff…but also he had been asking her a lot of very personal questions last night and she didn't know why but didn't want to repeat the experience. So, even if it did make her a mean person and a terrible Daughter, she was sort of glad that dad wasn't home.

She missed Sho a lot, though.

She missed him even though he had been very mean since Baby Mukai went to her new family. That was not Mob's fault. She had nothing to do with Baby Mukai getting adopted and she hadn't had any way of stopping it from happening. If anything they should have been happy for her. She had a mom that loved her. Mob was happy…she missed Baby Mukai so much but she was happy for her. Baby Mukai was going to have a happier life than she'd had…even though she had plenty of reasons to love her life. She had a little brother who she loved and a dad who she loved and friends who she loved and sometimes people treated her nice, well her friends were always nice, and also she got unlimited milk and screen time and stuff so she was happy with her life. She really was.

She was even a little bit happy that Sho wasn't home because it meant that she got a turn with Mukai's little baby sock.

He kept it inside of one of his socks, the black ones with the flames on them, and Mob knew that going through his things was wrong but she wanted that sock. Just to hold it and look at it. That was the only thing that they had left of Baby Mukai that wasn't pictures. Pictures were all well and good but they weren't real…well they were but they weren't real in the way that they were something that Mob could reach out and feel. Not like the little baby sock in her hand. It was so soft, Mob had used fabric softener when she washed Baby Mukai's clothes because that was what the directions on the washing machine said and Mob thought that it was best to follow all the directions, and Mob never wanted to put it down. Holding it was sort of like holding Mukai…but if she were sock sized…which she had not been. She had been three month old sized. Now she would be four month old sized…or maybe even bigger because she was closer to five month old sized. She wondered if her new mom had started feeding her baby food yet. She wondered what Baby Mukai's first solid meal had been. Sho and her had planned to give Baby Mukai congee because it was easy for babies to eat and also ice cream because she deserved something tasty…even though Minegishi said that sugar was poison. Everything good was poison, it felt like, but things were ok in moderation. That was something that Minegishi had taught her about. That was why when you drank you had to use tiny little glasses so you didn't end up overdoing it. She wondered if Baby Mukai's mom would teach her about moderation. Hopefully she would. That was something that Mob was glad that there was someone else to teach her about.

She was kind of bad at moderation.

She was learning, though, not to drink enough to get sick and not to smoke so often…or at all…even though she really wanted to. She really wanted to do a lot of things. She really wanted to smoke and to not want to smoke and also she wanted to be with her dad and brother but also to be away from them but most of all she did and did not want to be with her little sister…pretend little sister. She knew that Mukai wasn't her sister, she didn't come out of mom's stomach, but it was nice to pretend even if only for a little while.

Not long enough.

"I miss you more than anything." Said Mob. She knew that she looked crazy, sitting on the floor of her room in her pajamas talking to a sock, but she just…had to do it. She just wanted to…to feel like she was talking to Mukai again. She knew that this was all in her head but it made her feel better so what was so bad about that. It wasn't like anyone could see her. They were out of her passive range. Everyone but Minegishi was out of her passive range…but she wasn't going to go over there now since it felt like they were asleep….and also it had been a while since she had gotten a turn with the sock.

"Happy another month of being alive. I hope you're having a good time wherever you are. I hope that your new mom is nice and that your new dad, if you have one, is nice and I hope that your new brothers and sisters are nice, too, if you have any. Things haven't been so nice around here since you left. Dad's been kind of weird, which is normal for him but don't ever call people weird because it's mean, and also he's been kind of nosy which is new. Sho's been really mean but I think that it's just because he misses you and also I got a promotion. Oh, right, I didn't tell you. Ok, so families have ranks too just like jobs and now I rank the same as my mom but I'm not my mom but I have all of her power…which I never asked for…but I have it…and I wish that I'd had it when you were here…but that's just me being selfish. I'm happy that you have a family now who's nice to you and…and you're lucky. That people are nice to you." Said Mob. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Even though nobody was around she had to make sure that she stayed calm and her powers stayed calm. She needed a cigarette but she had quit. She wished that she had something to drink but she had nothing in the house and she wasn't going to wake Minegishi up to ask them to share.

So she stayed in her room and tried to do it on her own.

The little sock in her hand helped. The sock reminded her of Mukai and if she focused hard enough she could even imagine that Baby Mukai was right next to her. She had never once lost control in front of her. She had never let herself lose control because Mukai didn't need to see that. She deserved so much better than what Mob could be. Mob may never have lost control but she also…also had to work at it. Keeping control didn't come naturally to her. A power that was as big as hers came with a very big expense, dad had said, and she knew that she would be paying it for her whole life. It wasn't fair. She never asked for these powers…not that she was mad at dad for giving them to her. She had gotten them from him and…and that was just how it was. Dad had done the gross thing with mom and then she and Sho had come from him and they both got powers and that was just how it went.

She hoped that Baby Mukai never had these problems.

"I'm glad that your new mom is an esper. That way she can help you with your powers. You might have big powers like mine when you get older. Most people aren't born with auras like you were so there's a big chance that you'll be like me…but that's ok. I wish that I could have been there to help you but…but that's not the way it worked out. You're somewhere else and I'm somewhere else and…and that's good. You deserve so much better than what I can be…everyone does. I'm just…I don't know what's wrong with me. I feel like…like I was born wrong and everyone else was born right…and I don't like these feelings so I do things to make myself feel better that I know that I shouldn't be doing…but I just…I don't know. I'm sorry that I put all of my problems on you like that. It was mean of me. I'm the adult…the almost adult….and you're the kid…the almost kid….and you're supposed to tell me about your problems and I'm supposed to fix them for you. That's how this works…and also never start smoking. Ever. It's very hard to stop…not that you can…hear me. Sorry. I'm sorry." Said Mob. She drew her knees up to her chest. The room was silent. The only thing that she could hear was the sound of birds outside the window. She didn't know what she had expected to hear. She knew that nobody could hear her, she knew that she wasn't talking to anyone at all, and she knew that having just a sock was not the same as having Baby Mukai with her…

She was just sitting on the floor in her pajamas talking to a sock like a crazy person.

She knew that she had to get up and get dressed and brush her hair and her teeth and then…she didn't know. If dad needed her for something he would have taken her…and she didn't have anyone to play with because Sho was gone and Minegishi was asleep…and she was not allowed to wake them. She was not allowed in their room without their permission. That was bad manners, just letting herself in places, and she wished that she had known that before Minegishi got upset at her…but it was ok because she knew better now. She would wait until they got up and until then she would…um….

She did have schoolwork to do.

So that was what Mob did. She put Mukai's little baby sock back in it's hiding place and got on with her day. She got dressed and brushed her hair and teeth and ate some cereal, not from the box because dad hated that, and then did some of her pile of schoolwork. She and Sho used to have people who came and taught them things but now that they were older they mostly just worked from workbooks. Mob sometimes missed that she was in real school. She had liked it even if people weren't so very nice. She sometimes wished that she could have school adventures like in anime and manga. A bunch of friends and a club and also there would be boys there…not that she was supposed to think about boys like that. If she thought about boys like that then she would…get distracted from her schoolwork! Yes, that was it, she couldn't stop working. It had nothing to do with the very weird and nosy conversation that she and dad had last night….why he wanted to know about that stuff she did not know.

She didn't go asking him those questions.

Well he and mom were married so, of course, he didn't like any girls…and girls could not like him. Mob couldn't imagine a girl acting like she liked him. Chasing him around and trying to kiss him and hold his hand and asking him to push her on the swings and stuff…probably because adults didn't do that. Yeah, it was different from adults. She had been reading a lot about love. When adults, or at least people older than her, liked each other then they went on dates to do things like watch the cherry blossoms or go to fancy dinners where every was all fancy or other stuff like that. The girl didn't chase the boy around and try to kiss him, that was for kids, when you were older you went out for a very long time and then both decided to kiss…or sometimes people kissed on accident..

But girls were not allowed to even think about kissing dad.

Boys were not allowed to even think about kissing mom.

And Mob did not want to think about kissing anyone…but she did. She had always thought about it, for as long as she could remember, but now it was…worse. Maybe because she finally knew what it was like. She wanted to…to know what it would be like again…and again…but that was a dumb way to feel. She didn't even have anyone she liked. Well liked in that way, the doki doki way, she liked everyone. That was what nice people did, they liked everyone, and she wanted to be a nice person. She liked everyone…most everyone…even if they were annoying.

That was one good thing about being home alone.

She didn't have anyone sitting on the edge of her desk, well she was at the table but a desk was kind of like a table, and annoy her. Touch her hair and hands and say things just to make her feel weird. At least she got to be alone for a little bit. Not that she didn't like him! She liked him a lot. He was…nice. She liked him a lot just…she also didn't like him all that much…but that didn't mean that she didn't like him a lot! Besides, he was friends with her friend and that made them friends. So everyone was friends and everything was ok…

But she was glad to have some time to herself.

There was something peaceful in having time to herself. She could do her schoolwork without having Sho complain and kick and scream and run away. She could put her music on in the background and nobody complained about how many times Let it Go was in her playlist…six times was not that much…and she could work so much faster when she was alone….and she could drink as much milk as she wanted without anyone accusing her of being a milk hog…

It was a nice time.

But that didn't mean that she was upset when dad came back. She felt his aura long before she saw him. He took a car. He liked to ride in cars. He liked watching the world go by, he had said, and she agreed. She preferred cars to being teleported because riding in cars didn't make you feel as scared and motion sick. She had enough time, since dad was coming by car, to clean her stuff up off the table and turn her music off and rinse out her milk glass. She had enough time to give the house a look over to make sure that the mess wasn't too bad. He hated messes.

And also he hated coming home in the middle of the day.

Well it was more like late morning or early afternoon…but it was still weird that dad was coming back so early. Sho wasn't with him, either, which was also weird…but Sho might have just been playing with Shibata and Shimazaki or something. Maybe they were in the chair jousting tournament…she hoped that he wasn't. Fukuda could regrow people's eyes for them but it took a lot of energy. Also Sho would have had to go through the pain of losing an eye…she stopped thinking about this. She knew that he would be fine, he could put up a barrier, and also he was with Shimazaki and Shibata. They would keep him safe.

So she had nothing to worry about.

She wasn't worried at all when dad came in through the door. His aura was…tired. She wondered if he had gotten up early. Maybe something had made him mad. Maybe he was the reason for the ripped up bits of paper that had been everywhere and also the dents in the fridge and walls….he did get upset sometimes…

But she didn't ask. It was none of her business.

"Hi, dad." Said Mob. She smiled when dad came in the door. He liked it when she greeted him, he had said so, and she liked to make him happy. He needed it, too, since his aura seemed so…not mad. Just…tired.

"Hello Daughter. Have you been well this morning?" asked dad. He must have been very tired. He was talking to her like he talked to everyone else. Dad didn't have a lot of tones when he talked but he had this way of talking to her…and now he wasn't doing it. She wondered what had happened. She wondered if she could ask…or if it would have been none of her business.

"I've been fine. I did some school work and I cleaned up the kitchen...um…is it alright if I ask you how work was? I mean I know that I shouldn't bother you but it's just weird that you're home in the middle of the day." Said Mob. She stood still and kept her aura still…she did have to hold her braids down, though, because her hair was always the first thing that she lost control of.

"Work was fine, just tiring. Why have you been here all day? I assumed that you would have come with your brother." Said dad

"Sho…went without me?" asked Mob. That was…why? It would have been one thing if dad had woken him up early and told him that he had no choice but to come with…but it was another for him to just leave her…

"Yes. Your friends…he came with your friends this morning. Shibata and Shimazaki. He came with them." Said dad. He wasn't looking at her. Not with his eyes or his aura. She could see his aura getting kind of…fidgety. She didn't know why his aura was like that….well it had been like that last night when he had been asking her all of those questions….and she really hoped that he didn't start asking her a bunch of weird and personal questions again.

"Oh. Ok. I would have come if someone had woken me up. I'm sorry dad." Said Mob. She hoped that he either told her what to do or dismissed her. She really hoped that he wasn't thinking up some new, weird, and nosy questions to ask her…even though she knew that she should not have been calling her dad weird and nosy even in her head. It wasn't very nice at all.

"I accept your apology Daughter. Actually it was for the best that you didn't come in today. Nothing of interest happened….nothing of work related interest. I spoke to Shimazaki, though, about…about you. About how I want him to keep his distance from you from now on." Said dad. Mob nodded. She was glad that he had talked to Shimazaki for her. Maybe then he would listen to her, now, and stop annoying her all the time.

"Ok." Said Mob. Dad was still looking at her, though, and she had no idea why. She wished that he would have just dismissed her already. She wanted to watch Frozen again and also drink another glass of strawberry milk.

"Daughter…are you angry with me?" asked dad. Mob shook her head. She had no idea why she would have been mad at him. He hadn't done anything lately…that she knew of. She was upset a little bit about what happened with Baby Mukai…and also she was always unhappy about how mean he was to Sho…but she couldn't think of anything that could have made her mad that had happened lately.

"No. Why would I be mad at you?" asked Mob

"Because…because I know how much you care for him…and I know that you're probably upset with me about making him stay away from you…but I am your father and as your father I've decided that you're too young. I am your father and I have the power to decide these things for you and I am deciding them right now." Said dad. Mob was confused. She had no idea what dad even meant…and that was just because she was being clueless as usual.

"He's my friend….and I guess you can tell me who to be friends with but…but it makes me sad….because I don't have a lot of friends." Said Mob slowly. He was taking her friends away? She may not have liked Shimazaki all that much but it wasn't like people were lining up to be friends with her. How could dad do that? Why did he have to be like that? He was so….bossy!

She forced herself to stay calm. She did not want to be punished.

"You can be friends with him. Just friends. Nothing more." Said dad

"So we can still be friends?" asked Mob

"Yes. But nothing more. Not at your age." Said dad. Mob hadn't ever been this confused in her entire life. She wished that Google had a dad to daughter translator because she was so lost right now…even worse than that one time when Sho had run away when they were in Shanghai that first time.

"I don't understand. Dad, I'm very sorry but I don't understand." Said Mob. Dad still didn't look at her. He closed his eyes and then opened them. He was thinking really hard about something. She could tell. She could always tell when he was thinking really hard…and that could have been a good or a bad thing depending on what he was thinking about.

She wished that he would have just dismissed her already.

"You're too young for him. You're too young for all of that…I've decided…because you're ten. When you're older…wait until you're older." Said dad. She had no idea what he even meant. She could have friends. She had friends. She didn't want dad to tell her who she could be friends with…or maybe he meant something else. She didn't know. She really hated being this clueless. She wished that he would just….well he was being all weird again and…and it was all so confusing.

"Too young?" asked Mob. She didn't think that she was too young for anything. She had run all of Claw, before, and she had been promoted in to mom's rank in her family. What, at this point, was she still too young to do?

"Yes. Ten is too young. Wait until you're older." Said dad

"Older?" asked Mob

"Thirteen. That's how old I was and that's how old you will be." Said dad. Now Mob was even more confused. She knew that she would be thirteen in three years and she knew that he had been thirteen at some point. She wished that he would just get to the point already. She was so confused…and she really wanted to watch Frozen…..and drink milk….and also smoke…but she couldn't do that last thing anymore.

"Old enough to do what?" asked Mob. Dad looked at her. She looked at him. He looked away. That was so weird. He stared. She got her staring thing from him. He never looked away…what was…she didn't even know.

"To see him, to see any man, romantically. Ten is just too young for all of that. Alright? When you're thirteen or older or twelve or…we will revisit this at a later date." Said dad

"….what?" asked Mob. Had she forgotten Japanese? That was the only explanation for it. She had forgotten Japanese and that was why it sounded like dad thought that she LIKED Shimazaki. Like she wanted to be his girlfriend or something…which made no sense. He may have been tall and stuff but there was more to liking a boy than him being tall. He wasn't nice enough. He was too annoying. Also he kissed Minegishi sometimes and she could not just go off and kiss the boy who her friend kissed! That was not being a good friend at all even if they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend…or boyfriend and boyfriend….or whatever! She was not going to kiss the person who her friend had kissed! Was that what her own father thought of her? That she would kiss someone like that?!

Conceal, don't feel.

"At a later date we will revisit this discussion. Right now I am very tired. It has been a long day and I need rest. I apologize to you for…for the judgement I have passed…but you are very young. God willing you find another man who you care for even more than him. Understood?" asked dad

"No. No I don't understand. I don't understand anything? Do you think…do you think that I wanted to be his GIRLFRIEND? Because that's what it sounds like." Said Mob. She stared at dad. Had he hit his head on something? Had he been drinking from the pretty bottles in his office? Had he lost his mind? Did she need to call Fukuda? Maybe she did. Dad was talking crazy talk.

Why would anyone in the whole wide world have ever wanted to be Shimazaki's GIRLFRIEND? That was worse than being single for the rest of your life.

…that was mean but that was just how she felt.

"I had assumed that you were, I apologize for making him leave you, and I understand the pain you must be in. I'll leave you to get yourself sorted out, Daughter." Said dad. He walked past her quickly. She wanted to grab him with her hands and her powers and just…just take him and shake him and say 'Explain. Dad. Explain.' Because she just could not begin to understand.

But she didn't tell him to explain. She couldn't. Not after she saw the…the blood looking stuff…on the cuffs of his sleeves…and his collar….

"Dad? Are you…why do you have blood on you?" asked Mob. Dad stopped walking and pulled at his sleeves.

"Shimazaki and I had a talk." Said dad. She knew what it meant when he said that…and she hated it when he lied to her like that…because talking did not involve blood….

"Did you hurt him?" asked Mob softly. She wanted him to lie to her. She hated how he lied to her when he said 'talk' but she also…she also….she wanted him to lie to her. She wanted him to lie and say that…that he hadn't hurt anyone….but she knew that he did not tell lies…

"Yes. I hurt him but you don't have to worry. Fukuda fixed him up. Now I need rest. Get back to your day. You are dismissed." Said dad. Mob…she had no idea what she was supposed to do. She had no idea what she could do…someone was hurt because of her …she was responsible for someone bleeding…even Shimazaki did not deserve that….

Even with dad home, now, Mob still felt so alone.