Gardening was best done around sunset.
Minegishi did enjoy gardening from time to time. It was a great way to experiment with their powers as well as a great way to get seeds. The seeds were good for carrying in their pockets. They helped them feel better on long flights, for one thing, and also they were like tiny little weapons they could carry in their pockets. Yes, gardening served it's purpose.
Also it was a good way to relieve stress.
"So, care to explain to me what this is?" asked Minegishi as they held a wilted stem in their hand. Nope. They had not given permission for any of their plants to wilt. These plants were Minegishi's plants that they had taken the time out of their life to cultivate and grow and nurture. And now this plant just went and betrayed them.
Well then.
"So you think that you can just die whenever you want to? You think that you have the right to choose when your life will end? Well you don't." said Minegishi as they forced their power into the offending plant. They were not going to lose this one. This one was going to turn into insanity flower…Minegishi had not been the one to name them. These flowers were not easy to get right. They could easily become too weak and produce nothing at all…or they could make you think that shadow people were after you if they were too strong….or they could just lock you up in your own head so you thought that you were seven again and….
And they did not know why they did these things something.
"Are your plants misbehaving or are you just losing your mind?" asked Shimazaki as he appeared behind them. Minegishi closed their eyes and let him pull them back against his chest. They knew exactly why they did these things.
"A little from column 'A' and a little from column 'B'." said Minegishi. They exhaled slowly. They made sure that he heard it, that he felt it, just to torment him. He had a thing about breathing. Specifically their breathing. Well probably other people's breathing, too, but they never asked about this. He never asked about them and they never asked about him.
They weren't like that. Neither one belonged to the other.
"Well if they're going to misbehave why not make an example out of one of them? To keep the rest in line." Said Shimazaki Minegishi knew what he meant. God, this man was a fiend sometimes. He had a vial of acid and yet he was still bothering them about this. The acid would work better and would have had less of a chance of breaking his mind….what was left of it.
"They're not done yet. Every day since I planted the damn things you've asked me and every day I've told you that they aren't done yet. These things take time. Go drop acid if you want to hallucinate so badly." Said Minegishi. They fell back a little as he teleported away…to right next to them. He rested his head against their shoulder.
"Toshi, you know that it's better if you make it. It's full of love that way." said Shimazaki. Minegishi shrugged him off. He was a master at saying the wrong thing. The 'L' word. Love. Not the mind rotting show. Love was something that he knew they despised. That feeling…there was no point to it beyond bringing two people together so that could raise a baby and since Minegishi had no intention of ever having babies then there was no point to it. So there.
"Shut up. Why are you even out here?" asked Minegishi. They glared at him. He had killed the mood, possibly for the whole night. Unless the two of them got messed up together again…but Minegishi had been going way too hard lately. Their tolerance was going up and they didn't want that. Also Mob had seen them at their worst…
Well not their very worst but…but not in the way that she should have ever seen them…and not just because she had walked in on them in a compromising position either.
"Do you want me to shut up or do you want me to answer your question. You can't have it both ways, Toshi." Said Shimazaki
"Shut up and tell me why you're out here." Said Minegishi. They were not going to fight him about the whole 'Toshi' thing anymore. He wasn't going to stop and they had to work with him so they had might as well not make it into a big thing. Not when there were much bigger fights to be hard between them.
He had better not have been teasing Mob again.
"What? I'm not allowed outside?" asked Shimazaki. He took his hand rested it on theirs. He began to trace the path of their fingers from knuckle to nail. Next to them a flower bloomed…that was not supposed to. Goddamned Ryou making them lose control…
"For the good of humanity, no." said Minegishi. They took their hand away and rested it on their lap. The wind picked up and they caught a nose full of his cologne. Too much, as usual, though in his defense he had said on numerous occasions that the world stank. Well Minegishi would have rather dealt with the smell of a summer breeze than the smell of whatever cologne he was wearing.
They knew exactly what type of cologne he was wearing.
Because they were the ones who took him shopping. They had only gone because it was easier for him to shop with another person and also they had needed a few things. That was all. They had only gone to the perfume department because he said that he felt like excessively sampling things even though it was murder on what senses he had. He had only picked out the one he drowned himself in because he liked it. Not because Minegishi had said that it was the least obnoxious.
"You just want to keep me locked away all for yourself." Said Shimazaki. He was invading their personal space again. He had found a piece of their hair, they were cutting it down short again soon, and he was playing with it. He had it between his fingers and he was telling it bob and weave while he twirled his middle and index finger. They batted his hand away like he was a pesky mosquito.
They were getting a haircut soon.
They didn't like it when it got this long. Bad to a pixie cut, maybe, or at least down to just below their ears. It was getting longer now, long enough that they could pull it back, and that meant a lot of extra work when it came to grooming. They hated any and all extra work. Plus long hair was just too tempting for him. He had this compulsion to touch everything like he was a child or something.
"Like you'd have a problem with that." Said Minegishi. His hand was back in their hair now. They were too hot to stop him. They could feel their body temperature rising. That was just because what little sunlight that was left was hitting them right across the face. They turned to the side. They were facing him now but it didn't matter. He knew that he'd had their attention since the beginning.
And they knew what he wanted to do with it.
They didn't want to keep him locked away for themselves. He could go out and fuck half of Tokyo for all they cared. They just wanted…part of him. Enough of him for a night, anyway, but anything more would have been too much of a commitment. Minegishi didn't try to make these commitments anymore. They were twenty seven, now, they were old enough to know what they were and were not capable of. The relationship thing went right in the 'not capable of' category.
They were not going down that road with anyone ever again.
"Maybe I would and maybe I wouldn't. Let's try it for a few days and see how it goes." Said Shimazaki. He was closer, now, they could feel his breath mixing with theirs. He smelled like…lime Jell-O. Well then this was certainly going to be pleasant. He had better brush his teeth if he was planning on doing what he had better have been planning on doing. They were not getting another yeast infection just because he had to eat way too much sugar and then not brush his teeth afterwards.
Also they did not want to taste lime Jell-O.
But they did. Of course they did. They were an idiot of the highest order when it came to him. They let him kiss them. They let him burying his hand in their hair, pull them close, and kiss them. There was a desperation to it, like he was trying to consume them, and they let themselves be consumed. It must have been a very boring day if he was being this desperate.
"Like I could ever hold you." Said Minegishi after they broke apart for air. Thank God that this area was nothing but upper level Claw personnel. Anyone else would have had words with the two twentysomething making out in the back garden like a couple of horny teenagers. They didn't need him forever, just for tonight. They were finally ready. Most of the residual embarrassment and violation of having been walked in on had passed. Yeah. They could do this.
Not for forever, no, they wouldn't keep him forever. Only for tonight.
"You could if I let you." Said Shimazaki. He went for their jugular now. They could feel his teeth pressed against their throat and they offered themselves up to him like in a certain vampire novel they would not admit to having read and enjoyed. They always offered themselves up to him. He was just so…much. He was so strong and so much bigger than them and…and they fit together so nicely like this. Them arching back and him going to town…really going to town….thank God there was a healer. Yes, even if he left marks like the horny teenager he was on the inside this still would have been so perfect…
But then he had to go and ruin it.
Let them. A challenge. An offering. Let them. Let them hold him. Let them hold on to him and never let him go. Let them become trapped there with him. Let them become…what? What exactly did he want form them? And what exactly was he not getting? They did a lot for his stupid ass, a lot more than they did for most everyone else, and what else could he want? They put up with him, they slept with him, they told him when his clothes didn't match….hell! They even read him to sleep some nights? What else did he want? And why was he trying to ruin a good thing that they had going?
"Like you'll ever let me." Said Minegishi. They tilted away from him. They were done offering themselves up. If he wanted them then he could come and take them. He could come and take them and shut up about…whatever it was that he had been carrying on about before.
"You never know until you try." Said Shimazaki. He got closer to them. Minegishi closed their eyes, expecting his lips to meet theirs or some other exposed skin, but instead they felt the soft glide of the pads of his fingers against their forehead. They felt their bangs getting brushed away from their forehead before he went down across the spaces where their eyebrows should have been, down over the bridge of their nose, and then over their closed eyes. He had always been fascinated by their eyes. Wanting what you didn't have and all of that.
It felt weird.
They were used to his curious fingers. He got curious and lost what little inhibitions he had when the two of them came together and decided to alter their brain chemistry. These were not curious fingers, though, not. He wasn't poking their closed eyes like he was trying to guess what the mystery prize was, no, now he was going slow…like he was trying to read them. Like they were one of the books in his eclectic collection and he was trying to puzzle them out.
Minegishi felt one of their eyelashes land on their cheek.
"What are you doing, Ryou?" asked Minegishi. He must have felt, or even 'seen', that eyelash fall because he reached down and brushed it away…and then let his fingers linger there. Minegishi opened their eyes and saw him looking back at them. Well at least he would have been. His eyes were opened now. That didn't scare them. It had never scared them. It hadn't even startled them, not the first time. It had been nice of him to warn them. 'By the way, I open my eyes when I finish sometimes.' And that had been that.
This wasn't scary or startling.
There was a sort of…they didn't want to be clichéd and say that there was a beauty to the darkness. To the empty spaces where the windows to his soul should have been. The eyes may have been the windows to the soul but the aura was the soul. Since he wore his aura on the outside then he didn't exactly need windows now did he?
"Looking at you, Toshi, just looking at you." Said Shimazaki. He followed the path of their cheekbone across their face and back to the bridge of their nose. He didn't linger there, no, he followed the slope of their nose down to the bow of their lips. They could have done something juvenile like bitten him or they could have done something seductive like taken those probing, curious, fingers of his into their mouth and sucked, a promise of things to come, but they didn't.
Instead they let him linger there.
They offered themselves up to him just as they always had. Since that first night this had been it between them. They had offered themselves up and he had taken them. He had taken them and he had given in return. If they had been alchemists from a certain manga that Minegishi was not about to admit to reading it would have been an equivalent exchange.
It would always be an equivalent exchange.
"And? You've done this before, you know what I look like. What's the point of this, exactly?" asked Minegishi. Their lips parted when they spoke but he didn't take when he was offered. Instead he let his hand drop lower until he was tracing the path of their jaw. The stayed still, very still, aside from allowing their toes to curl in their shoes. That was all that they could allow themselves. Their aura told the whole story anyway. Their aura and their garden which was becoming rapidly more and more overgrown by the second.
They'd deal with it later.
"Sometimes I forget how pretty you are, Toshiki." Said Shimazaki. Minegishi couldn't help it. They laughed. Just…what else could they do?
"Did you get that out of a book or something?" laughed Minegishi. Shimazaki pulled his hand away and pouted. He actually pouted. That did nothing to stop the uncharacteristic amount of laughter that Minegishi could not stop displaying.
God, he was so ridiculous sometimes.
"….a movie…but that doesn't mean that it's not true. You really are pretty." Said Shimazaki
"Uh-huh. And how many people actually let you touch them like that?" asked Minegishi
"Honestly a lot of people offer to let me touch their faces….and it's not even sexual a lot of the time." Said Shimazaki
"But I take it this was?" asked Minegishi
"Yeah. I came out here to see if you wanted to fuck when you were done gardening. It's fine if you don't want to, no pressure, I can always just go and vape with Her Ladyship if you're not up to it." Said Shimazaki. Minegishi compulsively looked behind themselves…and into the yard next door. Her aura was too damn bright. She was out there watching something on her tablet and vaping…..Minegishi was going to have to put a bell on that kid or something.
"So your big plans for tonight were to either sleep with me or vape with a child….and you wonder why people think that you're a creep." Said Minegishi
"It's not creepy to hang out all night in my room getting stoned with a ten year girl. It's only creepy if you make it seem creepy and you're making it seem creepy, Toshi, and that says a lot more about you than it does about me." Said Shimazaki. Minegishi shook their head. This moron...wait…
"You said vape….and I know that you don't vape. You only vape to blow clouds of smoke in people's faces and then when you get enough people pissed off at you then you put up you're innocent blind guy routine. You're going to smoke up a ten year old….why? Did she have a bad day?" asked Minegishi. They didn't have to be there for Mob, they had no obligation towards her, but they should have been there for Mob. She was just a kid and there were no boundaries in her family, she might have even still been taking baths with her brother even, so she could be forgiven.
Minegishi really should have gone next door and forgiven her so this awkwardness could come to an end already.
"Technically this a vape pen…there's just a hash oil cartridge on the end of it." Said Shimazaki as he pulled one of those godawful pens from his pocket. Minegishi wanted to murder and then process into fertilizer whoever kept on giving him those. He was stinking up the house with that shit and Minegishi could not take it any more.
Also he was going to end up running Mob's life…or at least her tolerance….with that.
"I'm not stupid. That's not a vape pen because it wouldn't be powerful enough for that thickness of oil and yes, I do know about that stuff, and I know to stay away from it. That's going to ruin your tolerance and you have no idea what else is even in there…and you're not getting Mob stoned for no reason! She's ten." Said Minegishi
"Yeah, she's ten. She's ten and we have non sexual fun together. I cannot stress that enough, the fun we have is non sexual and I am not attracted at all to anyone under the age of consent in whatever country we're in." said Shimazaki
"You are so lucky nobody can hear you right now….and you are not getting her stoned. Not unless she's had a crappy day or something." Said Minegishi
"Well she misses her brother a lot so..." said Shimazaki
"That's not good enough." Said Minegishi
"Who made you emperor of getting stoned? Come on, she's a fun kid….well at least she was. I think that she might still feel awkward because she walked in on me getting you off the other-" said Shimazaki
"Do you HAVE to call it that? Really, Ryou?" asked Minegishi
"What? That's what I was doing. We both know that it's better if you-" said Shimazaki
"Just….quit while you're ahead, ok? You're killing what little mood that there was with all of this…and go back inside and take your shitty pen with you. I have to talk to Mob about some stuff." Said Minegishi with a sigh.
"So does that mean that we're going to-" asked Shimazaki. His aura was lit up like the fireworks compilation videos Mob's little brother kept on showing them. Who needed eyes when he had an aura that told Minegishi all that they needed to know?
"Maybe. That depends on how thoroughly the mood has been killed. Maybe next time don't tell me that option 'b' is getting a ten year old high." Said Minegishi
"You know I hate keeping secrets from you." Said Shimazaki
"Well maybe you should get over that, ok? Now go inside. I've got to talk to Mob." Said Minegishi. Shimazaki seemed to be weighing it in his mind. Keep on defending himself or go inside and wait for possible sex. Possible sex won out.
It must have been a boring day.
If he had come begging to them it must have been a boring day…for him, anyway. Mob could have had any kind of day at all. That brother of hers was still gone, praise God, but that changed the already fucked up dynamic of her family. Who knew what Suzuki was like without his son around to take his bottomless well of anger out on? Well Mob, obviously.
She seemed fine.
No bruises but her father rarely harmed her in that way. She was sitting on the grass with her tablet in her lap and her vape pen in the other hand. Real vape, the godawful bubblegum stuff, which was a relief…and they'd have to talk about why she shouldn't hang out in Shimazaki's room getting stoned all night. How had Minegishi not noticed? Well they had been going way too hard lately…
Time to take a short break.
But first, Mob. Minegishi made their way over the fence and across the yard. Mob didn't notice. Something had gotten her attention to thoroughly that it was a little scary. They had never seen her so focused on anything before. Her aura was still and she hadn't blinked in a while and she was biting her lower lip like it had personally offended her.
Minegishi sat down.
"Oh!" said Mob as Minegishi sat down beside her. She quickly closed her tablet…which was odd…but Minegishi was not a nosy person. They had enough of their own business to deal with in life without getting all involved in someone else's.
"Hey." Said Minegishi. This was…slightly awkward. Just slightly. Not awkward enough that they weren't going to make up with Mob, of course. Nothing could ever be that awkward.
"H-Hi Minegishi….I wasn't watching you and Shimazaki kissing! I mean I knew that you guys were kissing and I know that I should have gone back inside but dad's in there and if he finds me he's going to make me watch documentaries about Japan and we've been bingeing this series for a few days now and it's sort of boring and also I had to do….research…for work and….um….how are you?" asked Mob. She was nervous. She always held on to her hair when she was nervous. Minegishi didn't blame her one iota no they did not.
"I'm fine and that's on me if you were. We should not have been doing that outside where God and the neighborhood could see." Said Minegishi
"I still shouldn't have been nosy. I've been working on that! I've been knocking on every door I see even if I know that there are no people at all on the other side of the door. So that way if I ever come to visit you then I won't ever…be nosy again. I really am sorry about that." Said Mob
"I accept your apology and I'm sorry too. For maybe being too hard on you and also…I'm sorry about how messed up I got. You shouldn't have seen me like that." Said Minegishi
"Like what?" asked Mob. Minegishi wondered if she was just playing or….Mob didn't play. Not like this. She played dolls and she played videogames and she also played a very good game of Chinese checkers but she did not play like this. She honestly saw nothing wrong with Minegishi getting so stoned that they couldn't even remember what it was that they had said to her exactly.
Goddamned Ryou.
There was a difference between giving Mob something to help her through her truly terrible life and getting Mob messed up just for the sake of getting Mob messed up. Shimazaki never thought anything through. He couldn't think anything through. If not for his powers he would have died long ago due to his own stupidity.
Suzuki had just kicked his ass for TALKING to Mob. How, exactly, did Shimazaki think that their boss was going to react to his ten year old daughter hanging out all night in a grown man's room getting stoned?
"I was way too stoned and….and I don't know what I said to you…well I have a vague idea but I'm sorry that you had to see me like that and I'm sorry that you saw…whatever you saw. I'm not angry at you…anymore…and I hope that you're not angry with me." Said Minegishi. There. They could be nice. They had interpersonal skills. They could talk about things that they would rather not have talked about but had to for the sake of their friendship with a ten year old girl.
So this was their life.
Eh, could have been worse. The breeze was nice, their shirt was clean, the grass was soft, and they had good company. Sure that company felt sitting next to a lightbulb and smelled like a candy store had burnt down but they didn't care. This whole thing was pretty decent all things considered.
"I was never mad at you. I wanted to hang out with you for so long but I didn't because it felt awkward…and it still does a little….but not as bad as before. I just can't look right at you right now. I'm sorry." said Mob
"No, don't be. You saw a lot of things that you should not have seen. Take all the time you need. Or just walk around with your eyes closed for the rest of your life. It's your choice." Said Minegishi
"Um…I don't think that I can do that because I'd have to learn brail and it's complicated. Also I like to watch TV. I'll just try to make it less awkward…and it's not as awkward as before…and I'm trying…" said Mob
"Mob, seriously. Take all the time you need. You saw me naked. That's never not an awkward thing." Said Minegishi. They were telling the truth there. There was never anything not awkward about being walked in on. Also there was some awkwardness on their side, too. They were somewhat protective over who saw them that vulnerable. Not that Mob was a threat…well she was very unstable….but not malicious. Still, though, they had never planned on Mob ever seeing them in that state.
"I just saw your back. It was more awkward because of um….stuff. But it's less award but still kind of awkward…but we're still friends so it's ok." Said Mob
"Good. Glad we could have this talk. Well I'll just leave you to whatever it is that you're doing." Said Minegishi as they got up. There. They could still be reasonably assured that their ten year old best friend still wanted to hang out…and at some point Mob had gone from unwanted charge to tagalong kid to friend to best friend. Huh. Well what do you know?
"Um…ok….but do you….you know people, right?" asked Mob. She was nervous about something. She was holding her hair down. Well of course she was nervous there was a lot of awkwardness there still. Well they'd probably be even at some point in Mob's teen years when she figured out what guys were for and also that none of the doors in the houses they stayed in had any locks.
"I know a few people. Why?" asked Minegishi
"Just…today I met someone….and I want to be his friend so I've been going through the Claw database but it doesn't say a lot about him. Just when he joined and what he can do and when his birthday is and if he has any allergies. He joined four years ago and he can control technology…which is a cool power…and his birthday was last month…I missed putting him on the birthday list…and I sort of want to get to know him better and…stuff." Said Mob. Minegishi rolled their eyes. This again?
What was it with Mob and guys?
Maybe she was just looking for love since she grew up with Suzuki as a father and his shrieking demon child as a brother. Maybe she had just been watching too many movies and they'd given her an unrealistic portrayal of love and romance. Maybe she thought that she could fill the voids in her life with a boyfriend. Or maybe she was just starting puberty and in a couple years they would have an overly emotional and horny monster on their hands.
Either way she was way too into…all of this…for a ten year old.
"What's his name?" sighed Minegishi. Mob needed to talk to some people her own age. She was going to get someone thrown into traitor's hole or off traitor's ledge or planted in traitor's garden or any of the other creative things that Suzuki did to people he considered to be traitors. Poor Mob. She was going to die a virgin since obviously Daddy Dearest was going to make sure that he was the only man in his precious little girl's life. Poor Mob.
And poor subject of her prepubescent affections.
"Hatori Nozomu." Said Mob. Yup, she had a bad. The smiling and the blushing were a dead giveaway. Poor guy. Minegishi knew OF him. One of the rare teenage espers Claw recruited. That had been the talk of Claw for a while a few years ago. It was always something when you found an esper that young of skill. Minegishi had no clue how young, though. Not young enough for Mob, obviously.
"I don't know him but I know of him…and I know that he's closer to my age than yours." Said Minegishi. Mob was way too young for all of this…and they were sort of being a hypocrite. They'd had crushes when they'd been her age…and on people older than them…and they'd done something about it…but Mob was smarter than that. Mob was smarter than that and Minegishi was smart enough to protect her from that.
From her own stupidity/proto horniness.
"Um…he's nineteen and I'm ten so he's not that much older than me….or younger than you I guess since you're twenty seven….about the same. I don't think that he's too old to be my friend." Said Mob
"Uh-huh. Sure. Your friend." Said Minegishi. They could see right through her.
"Yes. I really, really want him to be my friend." Said Mob. At some point Minegishi was going to have to teach Mob about guys and why you should be careful, especially when you were young…but not tonight. They needed to mentally prepare for that talk…which would probably end up being THE talk since Suzuki refused to do any real parenting.
"Do you know anything about him at all besides his name and age and power set?" asked Minegishi
"He wears nice sweaters." Said Mob. Minegishi stifled a laugh. Mob would take it the wrong way if they started laughing at the sheer adorableness of what she just said. Well there were worse ways to pick men. Sweaters, that was what did it for Mob. God, Shimazaki was going to get such a kick out of this…or maybe not because he was pathologically incapable of keeping his mouth shut. Yeah. Best not to let it get back to Suzuki that his little girl was starting to have not so little feelings about the opposite sex.
They didn't know Hatori Nozomu but they did know that unless he was shamelessly flirting with the boss' daughter he did not deserve to get his ass kicked.
"That's as good of a reason as any I guess. Who the hell am I to judge? Just…you have fun with this and all but remember…you're ten." Said Minegishi
"….I know what age I am. How could I forget my own age?" said Mob. Now Minegishi laughed. Just a little bit. When had Mob ever acted her age? They'd known Mob since she had been eight years old and never once had she acted her age. She was somewhere between an adult and a child. Someone who drank and smoked, Minegishi's fault, and commanded the entirety of Claw but also someone who wore costumes everywhere and thought that strawberry milk was a viable substitute for water.
Mob…
Watching Mob grow up was a little but like gardening. You did your best and hoped that you didn't mess up and end up killing her. Not that Minegishi would mess up that badly. If anything they were keeping Mob from messing her life up in some great and terrible way like Minegishi had. Well they were also messing Mob's life up but they were not a parent. They were not a parent and they were doing the best. Plus their own messed up childhood, too, had probably ruined whatever nurturing skills that they'd ever had.
So maybe not entirely like gardening them.
Something else? They didn't know. All they knew was that they had made up with their youngest and best friend…at some point they had become best friends with a ten year old…and now they were going to go inside, lock their new deadbolt, and just relax…or whatever. They had made up with Mob, gotten rid of some of the awkwardness, and now had a whole new potential problem dropped on their head…they had earned this. Finally.
A lot of things were best done at sunset.