Mob had never spent a night away from her little brother before.
Well that was not entirely true. She had been born before him so there must have been plenty of nights which she couldn't' remember because she had been a baby at the time. This was different though because she wasn't a baby, she was ten, and he hadn't even existed when she had first been born. He existed now and he as miles and miles and miles away from her. The bed across from hers was empty. The person who was supposed to sleep in it was gone.
Sho was gone.
Was this how he felt when she spent the night next to dad? When she went to sleep in dad's bed and he went to sleep on his own? Did he ever roll over and look at her bed and wonder where she was or if she as ok or how she was feeling? Well probably not because he knew that she was in the house and he knew that she loved him. She would always love her little brother. She would do anything for her little brother. She wished that she could have gone on the mission. She wished that she could have gone in his place and he could have stayed home and-
She hadn't thought that one through.
If she had been picked to go on the mission then he would have been the one at home with dad, which was dangerous, and also he would have still been sleeping alone and she would still have been sleeping alone. She didn't want to change history so they had switched places, changing history in general was a very dangerous thing to do because you could end up making it so you were never born, she just wanted her little brother back. Even if he had been very distant lately she still wanted him back. She wanted to hold him tight and never let him go.
Everyone she loved left.
"It won't be forever." Said Mob to herself. She needed to say it to herself because there was no one to say it to. She had been the one to tell him, back when dad had left, that it would not be forever and she had said the same thing when mom left…but that had ended up being forever. But a mission was not forever. A mission was not forever and he would be back to her…when it was done.
She wanted her little brother back now.
But that was not an option…and she needed to go to sleep. Yes, she had two options. The first option being going to sleep so she would not be tired in the morning. The second option was staying up all night staring at Sho's bed and wondering when he would come back…and missing him…and also crying a little because he was so far away. Was he asleep right now? Had he remembered to brush his teeth and take his multivitamin? He had remembered to put his dirty clothes in the hamper and not leave them on the floor? Had he remembered not to drink liquids after seven p.m. and also to make sure that he went to the bathroom before bed? What would he do if he wet the bed? Well he was staying with Fukuda and Fukuda would take good care of him.
She felt a little better.
He was fine…but she was not. She decided that since she would not be able to sleep that she would, instead, take option two and stay awake. But she would not be staring at Sho's bed all night because that would have just made her sad. She wanted…she wanted him back but she also wanted to be with other people. She could feel dad's aura. He was asleep…and she did not want to wake him up…and also she didn't really want to be near him. He was…he was her dad and she loved him but he had also beat her friend up. Shimazaki was fine now but…but dad had still hurt him. That hadn't been good and part of her…part of her was upset with him…and she did not like that part of herself. The part that was afraid of what he did to people…and upset with him for what he did to people….
She was supposed to be a good Daughter.
But being upset with her own dad was not being a good Daughter. She was a bad Daughter but….but she could be a good friend. Minegishi was up and so was Shimazaki…and it would be ok to go over there because their auras weren't tangled together. That meant that they weren't kissing. Well she had never had confirmation that their auras tangled when they kissed but what else could they be doing? Not that gross thing that adults did to make a baby. Minegishi said that they never wanted to have babies and besides, only married people could do that…or people who were in long term committed relationships which was sort of like being married but with no rings.
Minegishi and Shimazaki were neither of those things.
Even though they should have been. Everyone needed someone. Mob wanted everyone in her life to find love and to be loved, too. There was no better feeling in the world than being loved. Both the family kind and the doki doki kind…oh! And the friend kind too. That was how she felt about Minegishi. She loved them so much but she didn't want to kiss them or anything. No way. There were so many different kinds of love…
She loved her little brother and her dad.
But she was going next door to spend time with her friends. She decided that she was going to do that so that was what she was going to do. She put on her hoodie because it was a little bit chilly outside and she grabbed her vape pen, too, so she could share like Shimazaki had shared with her last time. She walked very quietly through the house so as not to wake dad up, nothing good would come of that, and then she went out the door and right next door.
It was a very short trip.
She didn't know if it would have been more rude or less rude to let herself in. Shibata liked to sleep on the couch, he couldn't fall asleep without the TV on, and if she knocked she would have ended up waking him up….but if she didn't knock she would have just been strolling in like she owned the place…but strolling in was a lot nicer than waking people up when they were trying to sleep. So that was what she did. She opened the door slowly and closed it just as slowly. She slipped off her shoes, carefully so they didn't light up and was Shibata, and then she tiptoed through the house.
It smelled weird in there.
Sort of like Shimazaki's vape but…stronger. Sort of like…wait, she knew this smell. Minegishi was smoking inside the house again. They had a rule about smoking and vaping in the house. Vapes that didn't smell like candy were ok and so were the cigarettes that they grew themselves but everything else had to be smoked outside because they didn't want the house to stink…even though it sort of did already…but Mob was going to be polite and not say anything about that. Besides, she brought her vape and it was the coconut kind that Minegishi liked and she would share with them, and Shimazaki too because they were better friends now, and it would be a good night and she would forget all about how much she missed Sho and how alone she had felt in that big, empty, room and also how upset she felt about what dad had done and how upset she was at herself for making dad do that and also how upset she was at herself for being upset with dad because that was being a bad Daughter and she wanted to be a good Daughter but it was all ok because she would hang out with her friends and-
-and maybe she should have knocked first.
She had been excited to see her friend and have fun and not feel bad. Also she had just let herself in the front door. Letting herself in the front door had made her forget the rule about knocking. She also didn't have that rule in her house. She never knocked on her and Sho's bedroom door and dad never knocked and there was never any need to knock on the bathroom door because it was only closed when someone was in there and they could all sense each other anyway and that was how nobody ever ended up seeing anything that they were not supposed to see.
Like that. Mob figured that she was not supposed to see that.
"Mob?! What the hell!?" said Minegishi…and their aura seemed mad…and they had every right to be mad. Mob really should have knocked. She should have knocked because if she had knocked then she wouldn't have seen Minegishi kissing Shimazaki, well she had seen that before, but they were kissing…different. Sort of like how they kissed in the dramas that mom watched late at night after Mob and Sho went to bed…and the ones which mom had told her that she was not allowed to watch…and for good reason.
She was not supposed to see people kissing like that.
"I'm sorry!" said Mob. She closed her eyes. That wasn't enough. She turned around. That wasn't enough either. She wanted to run away but she couldn't. She just could not get her legs to listen. She could feel her legs, they felt cold since she had turned around fast enough that her nightgown had spun out around her. The spinning had been too much. Now they weren't listening. She frozen in place. That last thing that she had been able to do was spin around and cover her eyes and she had spun around too fast because not only was she stuck but he had felt her vape pen fall out of her pocket and now it had probably broken and-
And she felt the energy around her shift. She kept her eyes closed and her hands over her eyes. She felt her vape pen slip back into her pocket. She smelled…she smelled that same weird smell but also cologne, too much of it, and also dirt…which was what Minegishi smelled like…and that was not been Minegishi who had put her vape pen back into her pocket…and she should have said thank you…
But she couldn't.
She couldn't get the mental image of….of what she had just seen…out of her head. She had seen them kissing before. She had seen Shimazaki teleport in and give Minegishi a quick kiss before going off to wherever it was that he went. She had seen Minegishi pull him in for a quick kiss, too, and then pushing him away even though it had been their idea to kiss. She had seen this stuff before but…but it had never been like that before. She had never seen them kissing together like they were trying to eat each other. She had seen…well they had been under the blanket so she had not seen much. Mostly Minegishi's back…their bare back….which meant that….
"Hey Toshi? Who's clothes are who's?" Mob pulled her nightgown up over her eyes and then went back to covering her eyes with her hands even though that was not enough layers at all. She wished that she could have run away…and she managed to get her leg to move…
"Just give me whatever and then go somewhere else. Mob and I have to work on her listening skills because I know for a FACT that we've talked about knocking MANY times before." Said Minegishi. Mob stopped trying to walk away. She knew that she was in for it now…and she knew that she should have knocked…because that would have been the polite thing to do….
She wished that she could have gone back in time and rewrote history so she had knocked on the door even if it ran the risk of making her never exist…which would have been preferable to existing right there…and hearing Shimazaki walk around behind her…and knowing that she had seen…
She wasn't sure what she had seen, actually.
Well Minegishi and Shimazaki kissing and also Minegishi's bare back…which meant that they were not fully dressed…unless they were a boy. In that case it would have been ok because the rules said that boys could walk around without shirts on because they didn't have breasts…which made no sense because Mob didn't have breasts either but she had to wear a shirt and an undershirt all the time but Sho could walk around without a shirt on and that would be ok.
She wondered if Minegishi would rather talk about the different set of rules that boys and girls had to follow instead of…whatever it was that Mob had just walked in on.
"You sure you have to talk about this now? Right now? Because-" said Shimazaki
"Ryou, the mood is dead. It's dead and it's not coming back, ok? So go to your room or something." Said Minegishi
"Fine…but can I finish that joint?" asked Shimazaki
"Hell no. I need it more than you do." Said Minegishi
"…fine. But let the record show that I still had my boxers on which means that she did not see my dick which means that I am not a creep." Said Shimazaki. Mob wished that she had enough hands to cover both her eyes and ears. She now had verbal confirmation that they had been doing….stuff. Naked stuff. The kind of stuff that people did in the movies. The stuff that she had to cover her eyes when it came on and Sho's eyes too. The stuff that dad changed the channel when it came on because it was 'vulgar, obscene, and crass' and sometimes other words, too. The stuff that Mob wasn't even too sure about.
The stuff that Mob had never wanted to see her very best friend doing.
"Ok, fine, you're not a creep. Just give me my clothes and get the hell out of here. Mob, keep your eyes closed." Said Minegishi. Mob did as she was told for once and kept her eyes closed while she heard Minegishi getting dressed. She heard cloth stop rustling, which meant that they were done, but she still kept her eyes closed just to be safe. She heard a deep inhale and then an exhale followed by coughing.
This repeated three times.
"Ok, open your eyes and get over here. We need to talk." Said Minegishi. Mob didn't want to open her eyes and go over there or talk but she did what her friend said. Maybe if she just sat there and listened and did as she was told then…then Minegishi wouldn't be so mad at her. Their aura still felt kind of mad…
They were patting the side of the bed. That meant sit here. So Mob sat next to them…but as far away as possible.
"Mob, is this an emergency? Did you come here because there's some kind of emergency happening and you didn't have time to call or text or email or send a messenger pigeon?" asked Minegishi. Their eyes were red and they seemed sort of…sleepy….but also mad, too, which they had every right to be since she had walked in on them doing….stuff.
"Um…no….and I don't even know where I would find a messenger pigeon…but I can go outside and look for one right now. I can find-" said Mob. She wanted to go away, far away, and catch whatever birds they wanted her to catch. Anything would have been better than talking about….about what she had just seen.
"Mob, sit yourself right there and don't move until I say you can." Said Minegishi before they smoked some more. Mob sort of wished that they would share…but it did not feel like the time to ask.
"Are-are you mad at me?" asked Mob
"Of course I'm mad. How many times have I told you not to just let yourself into my bedroom?" asked Minegishi
"Four." Said Mob…but then started to feel like she wasn't supposed to answer that question.
"If I've told you four times then why did you let yourself in again?" asked Minegishi
"I'm sorry. I just…forgot. We never knock at my house, ever, even when my mom was around. We don't even knock on the bathroom door, we just close it when we're not supposed to come in, but we always just go into bedroom and I missed you a lot and I was lonely and I wanted to hang out with you and I was missing Sho a lot and please…please don't be mad at me and hate me and not want to be my friend anymore!" said Mob. She felt like she was going to cry. She didn't know what she would do if Minegishi didn't like her anymore.
She wouldn't have a best friend anymore.
Nobody to spend all day reading and drinking coffee or playing dolls or smoking or just…just hanging out. Nobody to tell her that sugar is poison and smoking was bad for her. Nobody that she could go to when she was up late and feeling lonely….and she just…didn't know what she would do without her very best friend in the whole wide world…especially since her brother was gone now…and she felt tears in the corners of her eyes…and her hair was starting to float….
"Mob…come off it. I don't hate you. You know that I don't hate you." Said Minegishi
"I don-don't want us to stop being friends, too. You're my best friend and I love you so much and I don't want us to ever stop being friends and I'm sorry that I let myself in and I saw you guys kissing and stuff and…and I just don't want us to stop being friends and-" said Mob. She would have said more but she was pulled into a hug. Minegishi almost never hugger her…and she hugged back because this was very rare. They smelled weird…oh, this wasn't their shirt. They never wore black. This shirt was black and also too big, but not the normal too big of Minegishi clothes.
Mob enjoyed the hug but she did not need to be reminded of what she had just seen.
"Mob, I love you too, now stop crying. I'm mad at you but not enough to stop being your friend, ok? I will never be that mad at you. Even if came in here and smoked everything I had, drank everything I hate, cut up all my clothes, and salted all my plants I would still never stop being your friend. Ok? We're cool." Said Minegishi. Mob nodded and wiped her eyes.
"Ok. I really am sorry. I'll go now and then you can…not be mad at me anymore." Said Mob. Minegishi shook their head. Mob stayed put. She didn't want to talk anymore. They were still friends and that was what mattered. Now Mob could go back to her own room and then they could go to sleep and wake up and then she and Minegishi could pretend that nothing had happened. Like how when dad punished her and Sho they were supposed to go to bed and pretend like it never happened.
"Mob, we have to talk about this. About why you can't let yourself in here." Said Minegishi
"I know why. Because I can accidentally see stuff like that." Said Mob
"Exactly. These doors don't have locks…but fuck it I'm getting a deadbolt….and you need to knock. You saw something that you were never supposed to see. Ok? And as bad as you feel right now I feel worse because I'm the one you saw. Ok? It's embarrassing for both of us but violating for me. Ok? Very violating." Said Minegishi
"I-I didn't mean to make you feel like that. I-I didn't know." Said Mob. She felt bad now, even worse, even though she didn't really know what 'violating' meant.
"Well now you do, ok? And tell your dad and brother to start knocking, too, and you need to start doing the same. Ok? Normal people knock before they enter someone's bedroom otherwise they see things that they were never meant to-" said Minegishi
"She did not see my dick! Let the record show that-" shouted Shimazaki from the other side of the wall. Mob pulled her knees up to her chest and then buried her face in them. She did not need to be reminded that she had seen them doing….stuff. Things. The sorts of things that adults did…to make a baby…
Had they been trying to make a baby?
Did that mean that Minegishi was a girl? Also why were they trying to make a baby? Minegishi didn't like babies at all. They said so. Also they weren't married or in a long term, committed, relationship. Also if Minegishi had a baby of their own would they still want to be friends with Mob? Also what would they name the baby and what would it look like and-
And Mob had a lot of questions.
"Shut up! I heard you the first time! You're going to wake up Shibata!" shouted Minegishi. They made one of their plants grow giant and bang on the wall. Mob wanted to tell them to stop before they woke Shibata but she also wanted to ask them why they were trying to make a baby with Shimazaki of all people…or at all, even….
"Minegishi?" asked Mob. She wondered if this was ok to ask. She wondered if she was overstepping, like dad called it sometimes, by asking this…but she was already as embarrassed as a human being could possibly be so she decided to just jump in.
"That idiotic….yes? What is it?" asked Minegishi
"If you don't want kids then why were you and Shimazaki making a baby? I mean…I mean that's what you guys were doing, right? My mom says that when a man and woman love each other very much they do a thing together and then they have a baby…and if you do have a baby can we still be friends? I'm…I'm worried that if you have a baby then you won't want to be my friend anymore." Said Mob. Minegishi stared at her for a moment before they sighed and started smoking again.
Mob didn't say anything. She just watched them finish their cigarette.
"Ok, I am now in the right state of mind to have this conversation with you." Said Minegishi
"Ok." Said Mob. Minegishi took a deep breath, started coughing a lot, and then sighed.
"Alright. First of all, Mob, what do you think that you saw?" asked Minegishi. Mob felt her hair floating up behind her and her face turning red. She went back to hiding her face in her knees. She wished that she had worn her pink nightgown instead of her white one. Then her face could have blended in better.
"I saw you guys kissing…under the covers…and also you weren't wearing clothes…but I only saw your back…well Shimazaki wasn't wearing a shirt but he doesn't always wear a shirt…but that's all that I saw of both of you guys." Said Mob. She wondered if she could sink down into the bed if she tried hard enough. Even if it didn't go anywhere cool she still wanted to sink down to the bottom of it.
"That's all?" asked Minegishi
"That's all." said Mob. She didn't know what more there was to see but she did know that she did not want to talk about whatever more that there was to see.
"Ok. Well at least you won't be scarred for life…hopefully. Ok. I can do this." said Minegishi. They sighed and started bouncing their fingers against their legs. Mob wondered what 'this' was….and if it was something that they had to get themselves all pumped up for then maybe it would have been better to skip the whole thing.
"Do what?" asked Mob
"Talk to you about…you're only ten. I'll tell you what a ten year old should know. Yes, good plan. That's a very good plan." Said Minegishi
"What do I need to know?" asked Mob
''Ok. Listen. You saw…something very private and intimate. The most private and intimate thing that two people can share…keep it simple, she's ten….and it can make babies but it won't in this case because of precautions…that I am not up to talking to you about right now….just….ok, listen." Said Minegishi
"I've been listening this whole time." Said Mob…even though she didn't want to talk about this. She knew what two people did when they loved each other. Mom had told her when she was little. When a man and a woman loved each other very much they kissed each other and then they did more than kiss which was take off all their clothes and then they fit together like puzzle pieces and then the boy did something while they were stuck together, Mob didn't know what but since they were fitting together like that it must have been gross, and then a baby started to grow in the mom's stomach….but that only happened if you did it a bunch of times.
Mob didn't need to be told where babies came from, again, it had been hard enough to hear the first time.
"Well then keep on listening before I forget what I'm going to say. Ok. Two people…when they care about each other or love each other or are attracted to each other or just bored or whatever they…they can chose to come together and that's called sex and it's something that you are way too young for and-don't preach, Minegishi, get off your soapbox and stick to the facts….ok. Two people do this and it's intimate and private and not meant for anyone else, especially kids, to see. Ok? And it doesn't always end in a baby and that's not even always the end goal. Sometimes people just want to have fun and feel close to one another." Said Minegishi
"….what….?" asked Mob. That…what? People took off all their clothes and mashed their privates together….for fun? What the….what the H-Word was WRONG with adults? She could understand doing something gross to make a baby, babies were cute and fun and you could love them and also the world needed new people, which was also a good reason….
But for FUN?!
"I don't want kids, ok? You're enough of a kid for me and I will never stop being your friend and I still care about you but right now I think that we both need some sleep. Ok?" asked Minegishi
"….you do gross things like that…for fun?" asked Mob. Something had been said but she didn't know what. She was still focused on the fact that….that Minegishi….their very best friend in the whole world….was doing things like that….gross things…..for FUN?
"You're ten. You'll change your mind in a couple of years. I mean, objectively, it's disgusting but then again so is kissing when you think about it…and this is the last that we're going to talk about this for tonight, ok? If you have any questions about love or sex or guys or whatever you can ask me and I promise I'll answer them to the best of my ability….got to be responsible….but right now I am in no state to be answering any more questions and I think that we both could use some sleep, ok? How's that sound? Please say it sounds good." Said Minegishi.
Mob did not need to be told twice.
"That sounds good. Thank you for still being my friend…and…um….goodnight. Also please tell Shimazaki that I didn't see his…that I didn't see him naked so he can stop worrying about that and…and goodnight. Sleep tight. Don't let bedbugs lay eggs in your ears." Said Mob. She walked out of the room normally…and then ran all the way back to her house. She ran as quietly as she could to her bed and threw herself into bed as quietly as she could and then tried to calm down as best as she could.
That had been the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to her in the whole history of her life. She made a vow, then, that for the rest of her life she would knock on every single door she saw just in case there were naked people doing gross things on the other side of it. She had no idea that her best friend in the whole world could be so…could do something like….could think that it was a good idea to…to do things like that…
Adults were weird.
Mob…she didn't know if she wanted to be an adult. Not if it meant doing gross things like that. Kissing was not like that. Mouths were gross and spit was gross…but Mob had never kissed anyone with her mouth opened like that and….and now that she knew it was an option…well it was gross and she was never going to do that! Ever! So much grossness…adults were so weird. She didn't understand them and she never would. How was she supposed to look Minegishi in the eye after this? Shimazaki always had his eyes closed to she didn't have to worry about him…but Minegishi was their best friend…and now Mob knew that they did gross things like that…she would be up all night embarrassed now…
But at least she wouldn't be up all night missing Sho…so that was a good thing….right?
She hoped that wherever Sho was he was having a better night than she was.