Suzuki sure could make world domination sound boring.
This was another one of his long winded speeches about their glorious future. They were used to it. He loved pontificating about his dreams for their future, about how great things would be when he was the lord and master of the world, and Minegishi was sick of it. They'd heard enough of these speeches back when they had joined. Back when they had been an aimless, directionless, early twenty something with nothing better to do than follow a maniac's crazy vision of their new and glorious future. Well now they were a late twenty something and they still had to sit there and listen to their boss go on and on and on….
God. They needed a drink.
No drinking until the toast. Once the toast was over then the champagne could flow free like water. There was an open bar at this thing, too, at least that had better have been an open bar. They needed a drink so bad. Parties were just so…draining. They would rather have been doing literally anything else, even sitting there and listening to a high off his ass Ryou tell them about things that had happened in a land called his own fucked up imagination. They would rather have been watching Frozen over and over again on a loop with Mob. They would rather have been sitting there trying to read while Shibata sat perched on the edge of the couch with his notebook taking notes from the cooking channel. Hell, they would rather have been listening to Hatori try to stammer his way through small talk with them….
Ok, maybe not the last one.
If they hadn't had such a soft spot for Mob, if their whole head hadn't been a soft spot, then they would have had words with Mob about asking her dad to just add Hatori to the group like that. She really could have at least asked. There wasn't enough room for him, he had Shibata's room since he mostly just slept on the couch, but now the living room was a bedroom. Also there was one bathroom for four people and Minegishi needed to take their baths. They hoped that the next play they lived had enough bedrooms and bathrooms and also just…enough space so they could ignore the pimply faced nerd that had some kind of an idea in his head that something could happen between them!
It couldn't.
Nothing would ever happen. They had made themselves perfectly clear. They did not have feelings for Hatori Nozomu. They would never have feelings for Hatori Nozomu. They would never have feelings for anyone. They might have gone to bed with Hatori Nozomu if he had been older and less…himself…but they would never have feelings for him. They were done with that. Nothing good had ever come of that. Not for them, anyway, and not for anyone that they had ever known. They'd hurt, they'd been hurt, and they knew that the cycle of hurting and being hurt would never end so why not just step away from all of that? They knew what they wanted, what they were capable of, and what other people were capable of giving them. That was why they had no interest in what Hatori Nozomu wanted from them.
Also he was nineteen, thought lynx was a substitute for bathing, stayed up until all hours screaming at his computer, and also for some reason he had managed to steal the heart of Minegishi's ten year old best friend.
So, yeah, there were plenty of idiots at this stupid party and Hatori was better off making eyes at one of them. Really it was just too much. What was even the point? No matter how much staring he did, how many hours he frittered away on hopeless pining, there would be no way to change the outcome. Minegishi had said no and no meant no. No meant no, not sit there and pine for the rest of his life. Honestly. Teenagers. This was why Minegishi had never had any use for teenagers even when they had been a teenager. They tended to skew older. Not as old as Mob skewed, and at some point Minegishi would have to look into that, but they did tend to skew slightly older.
Chronologically, anyway.
They smelled citrus and shame. Shimazaki. Again with that damn pen. This stupid party hadn't even really started yet but he was already going. He had one of his stupid weed pens slipped into his inner pocket and he thought that he was being so sneaky….well he wasn't. He wasn't and Minegishi wished that he could see the disapproving looks that Shibata was sending him….which he may have been able to. Minegishi still had no idea how much facial expression he could sense. They knew that he wouldn't have cared either way. He was such a child like that. He never thought things through. Their boss was, most likely, a sociopath and he would mess them up if not kill them if they did something to embarrass him…like get stoned out of their minds at this big Claw shindig….
And also Mob had been very excited for this party.
They could see her, there, front and center mouthing along to her father's speech. They were cool again, her and her dad, and Minegishi had no idea how they were even supposed to feel about that. On the one hand Mob loved her dad for reasons that Minegishi could not begin to understand. On the other hand her dad was possessive, creepy, and may have been trying to replace his most likely dead wife with his living daughter. Not something that Minegishi would have wanted to encourage. Not something that they wanted to encourage at all…but on the other hand Mob was happy again. As happy as she could be, anyway. Minegishi did not like how she was eyeing her glass of what had better not have been champagne.
She had better have had a glass of sparkling juice in front of her.
And she had better not have had one of those goddamned mother fucking cock sucking weed pens in that Frozen bag of hers. Minegishi had nothing against the occasional pick me up. A power that big game with a bigger expense. Mob had better control over her powers when she was a little drunk, or a little stoned, or a little…well she was only getting drunk and stoned. Minegishi hadn't lost control of the situation THAT badly yet. They still…they still had some control over the situation. Some. Ryou was trying his best to take control of the situation, he seemed to think that giving Mob carte blanche to do whatever she wanted was the best idea that anyone had ever had, but Minegishi knew better. Controlling your powers through chemistry, controlling your emotions through chemistry, was like walking a tightrope. You needed to be careful or your next step could be your last. That was why, baring their late childhood and teenage years, they had always tried to practice some form of moderation.
Ryou on the other hand…it was a miracle that he hadn't died yet.
He was going to die if he kept that smoking up. He was going to get himself either killed or beaten up and Minegishi had no idea why they even cared. Let him ruin his life. Let him piss off the boss. Let him get himself beaten up so badly that he had to see their pathetic excuse for a human being they called a healer. Minegishi had no reason to care. Ryou was his own man. He was a grown man and he could be responsible for himself. They were responsible for themselves. In Claw it was every man, woman, and person of neither gender because the male/female dichotomy was idiotic, for themselves. Not every little girl for themselves, though, because Mob needed them. She needed them and she had grown on them and they were involved, now, so instead of wasting precious mental space on Shimazaki Ryou of all people they should have been more worried about Mob. She seemed fine now sitting there in her little blue dress while her father droned on about his plans for world domination and her little brother sat there beside her trying to crawl out of his skin….and maybe she was fine. Maybe this whole night would go off without a hitch. Maybe this would be a calm and peaceful night and Minegishi could just sit there and be a wallflower until this whole thing ended and then they could go home and rest and wait for the New Year to happen….
Shimazaki downed his champagne before it was toast time.
Minegishi didn't know why they even cared. Better him getting drunk and making an idiot out of himself than Mob. Better him turning into a stoned moron than Mob. Better him ruining his life than Mob. Better him incurring the boss' wrath than Mob. Mob was the person that they had to worry about. They didn't particularly want to have to worry about anyone but if they had to they would rather worry about the naïve ten year old than the thirty year old who acted like a ten year old.
He stole Shibata's champagne glass.
"You are such a drunk right now I can't even." Said Minegishi. Shimazaki shrugged and downed Shibata's champagne glass in a way that would have been impressive if they hadn't seen it a thousand times before. So he could drink. Big deal. The only people who would be impressed by that were nineteen year old pizza faced nerds.
"That was so…should you be doing that?" whispered Hatori in what looked like equal part horror and awe. If there had been a table then Hatori would probably would probably have been hiding in the corner or something. He had long ago made the mistake of paying attention to Shimazaki Ryou. He had brought this on himself, all of it, the constant torment that Shimazaki put him through time and time again.
Not that Minegishi had even the first idea of what he was on about.
Well they had their own crazy theories. Ryou was….not like that. Ryou was not someone who got attached, who caught feelings, who wanted more than they had originally agreed on. They had agreed upon, ages ago, that this was just…what is was. Neither of them did the relationship thing for their own reasons that neither of them had gone into. Not back then. No. Those talks had come later. Why Minegishi couldn't sleep without chemical help. Who that woman was on Ryou's arm. How Minegishi had gotten that scar above their hip. What that list of dates tattooed onto Shimazaki was about. Why it took them so long to find a good sleeping position. Why they always…why they never….
A lot of why's had been answered over the years.
So, really, there were no more why's between them. There were no more why's between the two of them and…and there was no way for them to…to start all of that up again. They why talks. Why Ryou was acting like this. Why Ryou seemed to hate that pimply faced nerd even though he knew for a fact that he was in no way shape or form Minegishi's type. They had a type and Ryou knew it. Pansexuals, or at least bisexuals, who didn't a disingenuous bone in their bodies. He couldn't stand it, disingenuous people, because they just did not have time for that shit. They did not have the time or the energy to deal with that shit. No, all they needed to be happy was a non-disingenuous pansexual….or bi sexual since finding other pan people was like trying to find the hay in the needle stack. They knew what they liked and Hatori Nozomu was not that.
That wasn't even counting the fact that Mob was madly in love with this guy.
"The question is, Hatori, should you be doing this?" said Shimazaki. He reached over and handed Hatori his glass of Champagne. They hoped, they really hoped, that Shimazaki hadn't done something stupid and put something in his champagne. He liked to dose people without them knowing it. Not Minegishi, no, they'd kill him if he even considered it. Other people….young impressionable idiots who were about to piss themselves whenever he got too close…well that was another story.
Whatever. Not Minegishi's problem.
"Uh…." Said Hatori. God. Was it so hard to just tell him to fuck off already? He should have just told Ryou to fuck off and then just…acted like the adult he kept on trying to be. He was in charge of himself and if he didn't want to drink then he should have just told Ryou that he didn't feel like drinking. It wasn't exactly complicated.
"Come on, it's a party." Said Shimazaki. He was getting close, very close, to being much too loud. The clapping was starting up. Not the end of the clapping, no, the beginning of the clasping. The beginning of the clapping was marking the end of the speech and the beginning of this…thing that they called a party.
"But…I'm only…" said Hatori. Minegishi rolled their eyes so hard that they were in danger of going blind. Seriously? He was going to bring up the age thing? They were sitting there, in the middle of a cult party, listening to their boss go on and on about his plans to take over the world. Obviously nobody in this room gave a fuck about the underage drinking laws.
If they did then someone would have gotten that glass of what was most likely champagne away from Mob.
"What? You think I poisoned it or something? You think that I just, I don't know, get my kicks from drugging people without their knowledge or consent? You think that that's the kind of man I am? You really think that about me. Hatori?" asked Shimazaki. Minegishi shook their head. He was too easy to manipulate. Hatori's skin was so thin that there was no point what so ever in trying to get under it. There was no sport in it. It was like taking candy from a baby or shooting frozen fish in a bucket or setting off Suzuki's shrieking demon child. What was even the point of upsetting this kid? Ryou knew that they had rejected him. Ryou knew that they wanted nothing to do with him?
So why was he acting like this?
"Shimazaki, leave him alone. Come on, it looks like the boss needs up. I think public speaking freaks him out." Said Shibata. Now the last of the clapping was done with. Good. They could get this party started…and by started they meant over with quicker. Work parties. They so rarely had work parties and even then they so rarely went to work parties. These were a chance to see the upper echelon, the big bosses, and feel important for a night. Well they were in the upper echelon now and they saw the biggest boss of them all every day. They wished that they could have just gone home but they couldn't. They had to be there for Mob…who was talking to her dad about something….something not good based on the way that her demon child of a brother dove under the table. Well then. Wasn't this a nice harbinger of things to come?
"Um….so. This is a party, huh?" asked Hatori. Speaking of harbingers of things to come….this guy. This fucking guy. He was straight, he was nineteen, and he thought that 'covered in orange powder' was a food group. Well then. Whatever. This was a free country, for the time being, and Hatori could talk to whoever he wanted. That didn't mean that Minegishi had to be their usual charming self.
"Yes. It is. Now why don't you go and talk to someone else. Lots of women here." Said Minegishi. They looked around. A sea of dresses and perfume and makeup and perfectly coiffed hair. Things that Minegishi couldn't be bothered to bother with because it was all just too much of a bother. They scanned the room. If they had been younger and less secure in who they were they would have felt self-conscious.
They were twenty seven and long past that.
"I wasn't hitting on you. I mean I wasn't trying to. You're just…ok. I think that you've really got it going on and I think that you're an interesting person but that doesn't mean that every time I talk to you I'm hitting on you." Said Hatori
"You say that while you tell me how attractive and fascinating you think that I am." Said Minegishi. He was being disingenuous, most likely. They knew that they weren't what he was into. Not compared to the people around him. No, they had not put on a dress for this occasion and they were never going to put on a dress for any occasion ever again for what remained of their life. They were in slacks and a shirt and they had combed their hair and put on a fresh coat of nail polish. That was what they were wearing and they did not feel anything at all about this. About who they were as a person. They didn't care if they were getting looks, a lot of looks, they were used to it. People were always looking at them in either curiosity or disgust. They were used to it. They hardly even noticed anymore.
Which was why when someone looked at them in a way that was the direct opposite of curious disgust it was something to take note of.
"Well…you are. I mean I know that you are but I also know that you're with Shimazaki and…yeah. I know that you're with Shimazaki." said Hatori. They knew how he was looking at them. He had been looking at them like that since the day that they had met. Through Mob. The person who was constantly making those same eyes at him. The person who…huh. She was, for once, not giving Shimazaki a ten year's best 'take me now' look. She was…maybe they should have saved her from that. Now was the Q&A portion of the party…and Mob was taking every Q and giving every A. She was surrounded by people, normal people who followed Suzuki's insanity for some reason, and she looked like she might have needed saving….
Minegishi watched her aura.
Or not. Mob was a big girl now. Well she tried to be, anyway, and she seemed to be handling this whole thing just fine. Fine enough that her aura wasn't flaring or freaking out or anything like that. Fine enough that she seemed almost…happy. Well of course she was. Even with all the extra work that came with it part of her enjoyed being her father. Part of her enjoyed this life. Well Minegishi wasn't going to just swoop in and save her when she didn't need saving. They would monitor the situation, of course, but they knew when to give her some space…and also they didn't much feel like getting up, crossing the room, and drawing any more attention to themselves then they already had.
Some woman in a blue dress was staring at them.
"I'm not 'with' anyone. Me and Ryou sleep together sometimes. The walls are paper thin. I know that you know that we sleep together. That doesn't mean that we're a couple. That just means that we're good in bed together. People don't always have to be in relationships to do that sort of thing but I suppose that you may be too young to know that. Excuse me." Said Minegishi. They downed their champagne glass and then went up to get another. There was a table covered in them. One side for champagne and one side for sparkling cider.
They, obviously, drank the champagne.
They were a wallflower. They found a spot up against the wall and drank from their champagne glass. They had a tiny book in their interior pocket and this was how they planned on spending the night. They were a firmly rooted wallflower. There were so many perks to it that they didn't understand why everyone didn't just root themselves to a wall and read until it became acceptable to leave this parody of a social gathering. Men in their too expensive suits and women in their paper thing but still outrageously expensive dresses. Everyone coifed and perfumed to perfection. Everyone trying their best to put on another face, another costume, for the night. People trying to get close to, to show their appreciation to, the man who promised them the world once he took it over. The man who promised them the sun, the moon, and the stars above so long as they bankrolled this insane dream of his.
So this was their life.
It could have been worse. They could have been Hatori. Every so often Minegishi felt Ryou teleporting. They didn't even need to train their aura on him. The oohing and ahhing gave him away. Really. Normal people….they so rarely spent any substantial amounts of time with normal people. No, they actually spent most of their time with either a ten year old or a thirty year old who acted like a ten year old. Like now. Now he was acting somewhere between twelve and ten and one and twenty. Young. Young and impulsive. Young and stupid and impulsive and not Minegishi's concern.
If he wanted to go around stealing champagne glasses off of other tables and getting Hatori wasted then so be it.
"Toshi, come on. It's a party. Come back to the table." Said Shimazaki. He hadn't popped right in front of them like usual. No. He had walked across the room. He had walked across the room so that he could be noticed. Miss Blue Dress over there seemed to notice just fine. Minegishi had caught her staring a few times. Well that was fine. Lots of people stared at them. They had been an object of curiosity for some years now. They were used to it. Lots of people stared at Ryou too. They were used to it. Let Miss Blue Dress stare all night if she felt like it. Unlike him they did not get jealous.
And they knew for a fact that he was jealous.
They had no idea what he was so jealous of. They didn't have feeling like that for Hatori or for anyone. Especially not him…and it wasn't like him to have those sorts of feelings either. That was what they had agreed on when their paths had first crossed. They were two people who had agreed to sleep together whenever their paths crossed in this crazy mixed up world of theirs…and that was how they had carried on together since they had met…but for the past few years their paths had done nothing but cross…because they lived together. Sure, fine, their paths crossed every single morning while they waited in line for the bathroom together. That didn't mean that their lines would have to cross.
That didn't mean that Minegishi would be crossing any lines for him.
"I'm aware that it's a party." Said Minegishi
"So why don't know, you know, party with me?" asked Shimazaki. He came in close when he said that. They could smell his cologne. It was nice. They could see the strand of his hair that had come down from their spiked prison. He could have fixed them but he didn't. They had said, once before, that they liked him slightly disheveled. That it made him look more real. That was before they had realized that he was incapable of being anything other than real. That he hadn't been capable of being disingenuous. That he literally hadn't even known the meaning of the word…
He still didn't.
"Pass." Said Minegishi. They did not want to go back to that table. They did not want to sit there in the jealousy circle. Shimazaki would be jealous of Hatori, Hatori would be a combination of jealous of Shimazaki and also ready to piss his pants in fear of the man, and then Shibata was going to do his best impression of a mother hen and cluck over them nonstop until someone broke and went off to decompress. Woo. Fun times.
"Come on Toshi. We've done this before and at stuffier parties than this." said Shimazaki
"Define 'this', Ryou. We've done a lot of 'this' over the years." Said Minegishi
"Well I have a little of this and a little of that with me tonight." Said Shimazaki
"Uh-huh. What makes you think thatI'm up for a little of 'this' and a little of 'that' tonight?" asked Minegishi
"Because it's a party and I know that you're bored out of your mind." Said Shimazaki
"No, I'm not. I was actually enjoying myself before you came here." Said Minegishi
"Come on, Toshi, you're not a wallflower. You're a wildflower. So come on, let's be wild plants together." Said Shimazaki. Minegishi tried their best not to smile in any way that he could perceive. They had their aura in close but…he had always been so good at reading them. He was a psychic after all. He wasn't the kind who could read minds, though, because he didn't have to be. He could read their body and their aura and that was enough.
"You're stoned if you think that's clever." Said Minegishi. It wasn't easy to tell when he was well and truly stoned. High, yes, but he was always a little bit high. He was swaying in place a little thought that could have either been drunkenness or…whatever it was that he had been going on about. He hadn't been lying, they had gotten up to some shenanigans of the 'taking party drugs at work functions' variety but that was before the kids…the ones that had come into their lives. Not children that they'd had together. No, Minegishi never wanted kids. Ever. They hadn't had that piece of copper jammed into their innards for nothing. He never wanted kids either, that was something that they had agreed on, but he had been going back on so much of what they had agreed on…
They spent the night together.
They hung out together socially.
He called them Toshi without fear of retaliation.
He kissed them on the mouth just because.
They kissed him on the mouth just because.
He was starting to get jealous.
Too many lines were being crossed and Minegishi did not know what to do. They wanted…they wanted things to just stay the same. The normal way that they had been since….since living with him had become their normal. They wanted idiotic Shimazaki, fun Shimazaki, drunk Shimazaki, high Shimazaki, weirdly wistful and melancholic Shimazaki….
Ryou was becoming someone else entirely.
"And you're too sober if you think that it's not. Come on, Toshi, let's have fun together like we used to." Said Shimazaki
"Things are different now." Said Minegishi. They were still watching Mob. She seemed fine. She had a healer watching over her after all. The man was a piece of burnt toast but he still valued his life enough not to let anything terrible happen to one of Suzuki's kids…and they did miss…certain things. Being able to do certain things. Not that spent hours and hours wishing for their old life back. There was parts of it that they missed, the lack of responsibility over another human being and all of that, but there were some parts that they liked. Being able to see him every day…even when he was being a moron…
What had become of them?
"Are they really? Because as far as I can see it's still just me and you, Toshi, and I know you. You're bored. You're dying. You're wilting. You're not a wallflower, you're a wildflower, so come on. Be a wildflower." Said Shimazaki. He looked at them when he said that. He actually looked at them. He traced his hand down their face. He was trying to actually see them…
Their insides turned to Jell-O.
He was the only person who could do that to them. That didn't mean anything. That just meant that if that coat check room hadn't been full of horny kids he could have taken them right there. That was all. There was nothing to it beside the fact that he was very attractive. He dresses well, well they had dressed him, and even without the cologne he smelled nice and he was in no way disingenuous.
He was their type. That was all.
He was their type but that didn't mean that he was a good person. Well Minegishi knew that they had zero room to throw stones but they, at least, didn't get a nineteen year old drunk for fun. That was what they had come back to the table to find. A very drunk Hatori being fretted over by their very own two and a half meter tall mother hen.
Wonderful.
"You're so pretty….aren't they so pretty? Well!? Aren't they so fucking pretty….God I want to kiss you so bad…" said Hatori. Minegishi downed a glass of champagne. Shimazaki had gone to check on Mob. Hatori was the one who needed to be checked on. There were seven empty champagne glasses in front of him…and they knew that Shibata had not been responsible for all of them. It took three bottles of wine just to get that man slightly buzzed. Economy sized bottles of wine. No, Shibata was the most sober person at this table…
And he looked like he needed a drink more than anyone else in that room.
"Ok, I think that Minegishi gets it. You think that they're pretty. Hey what do you think about….about…uh…this table cloth! Boy our boss sure does like red huh?" asked Shibata. Minegishi rolled their eyes and took another glass of champagne that had been left on the table. Shimazaki was such a magpie. He had thought to stock them up on snacks, drinks, and even fruit salad. He could be thoughtful when he wanted to be.
He could also be a complete and utter moron.
"It's red….red is nice. I like lavender better. Look at their hair…it's lavender…it's so pretty. I think that you're pretty and…and I like you a lot." Said Hatori. Minegishi balled up their napkin and threw it at him.
"Hey, hey, calm down. We all like you Minegishi. I mean you take forever in the bathroom…and also your plants have pretty much taken over the house…and you leave crumbs in the butter…but we all like you." Said Shibata. Minegishi cocked the space that had reserved for an eyebrow that never bothered to show up. Well then. Someone needed to take a long look in the mirror. He took showers that were just as long as their baths, he upended the kitchen every single day with his never ending cooking projects, and as far as taking over the house went, well, it was called a living room but that didn't mean that he had to do all of his living in it.
Honestly.
"Whatever." Said Minegishi. They were glad that they had a chair with a wall behind it. Maybe it they focused they could root themselves to it and become the wall flower that they had been born to be. When they weren't messing with their already messed up brain chemistry they tended to rot themselves to the wall…and they couldn't believe that they had let Ryou make them feel like there was something wrong with that.
Honestly.
They had no idea who they were becoming sometimes. Since the age of fifteen they had known exactly who they were and who they had wanted to be…at least they'd thought so. At least they had thought so back then…and maybe even not back then. If they had known exactly who they were and who they wanted to be then they would not have gotten themselves into this predicament, they would not have joined Claw in the first place, so maybe they had never had even the first clue who they were and who they wanted to be. Maybe they had just been aimless for their entire life. Maybe they had just been going from one thing to the next just trying their best to survive…or whatever…
They didn't know.
"Bathroom….I gotta piss. I gotta piss right now…give me a bottle." Said Hatori. He looked scared, honestly scared, and that was just…not attractive. There was nothing attractive about getting so drunk that he needed to piss in a bottle…or maybe he just regularly did that…which was just…even Shimazaki at his worst had always had the decency to piss somewhere else even if it was just against a wall or onto a tree or something…
"Use the toilet like a functional human being. God. What the fuck is wrong with you?" asked Minegishi
"A lot of stuff…sometimes I stay up all night because I dream about when I came home from school and my house was on fire…and sometimes I cry at night…and also my skin is really oily and I have no idea how to fix it…and I think I have a cavity on my back left molar…and everyone thinks that I'm a lolicon just because I hang out with a kid…which makes no sense! Anyone who's gone through my search history knows that I like pregnant-" said Hatori
"I was curious to see when you'd stop on your own but just…for the love of God…stop drinking. You're bad at it. Hatori, go take a piss. Shibata, go hold his dick for him because I don't know if he can even be trusted with it at this point." Said Minegishi. Wow. How was this guy still a virgin? He was just so attractive….God. Mob had the shittiest taste in men that Minegishi had ever seen. THIS did it for her? This guy right here? This was why she had someone like them in her life. Someone to save her from her own stupidity.
Which was what they had to do right now.
Shibata had been sitting in front of them. The man was two and a half meters tall, actually maybe even taller, and he had blocked their entire view of the room. Well now they had a clear vantage point on Mob…and they could see just how many empty champagne glasses were in front of her…and the one Ryou was handing her…and just…that healer…that human tampon…no! That was an insult to tampons! That human SCENTED tampon…because who wanted a scented tampon?! The man was a living yeast infection! The man was a scented, improperly fitted, off brand, menstrual cup! The man was just….the man was just so…he was just…
Worse than useless!
He was sitting there and staring at Mob like a creeper….which was something that they would address later…but right now he was just sitting there and watching Mob get drunker and drunker and drunker…but wait he was getting up…to get something to eat. Yeah, sure, just watch Mob go way over her limit. Mob needed a little help sometimes. She was more powerful than any kid should have been and she should have been able to, in a more perfect world, been able to control her powers on her own. But she couldn't. She couldn't control her powers on her own. She needed help but…
But not four glasses of champagne's worth.
Minegishi got up. They could move fast when they needed to, or maybe people just had brains enough to avoid them, which as fine by them. Miss Blue Dress's eyes followed them across the room…but she could play the 'what's in Minegishi's pants game all on her own all night. Right now there was a little fire that needed putting out.
"Mob, give me that." Said Minegishi. Her reflexes were slower, she was at least a little buzzed, and Minegishi easily took the champagne glass out of her hand and downed it before she could do anything about it. They were getting looks, they knew that they were getting looks, but really those people should have used those looks when they had been watching a ten year old girl get drunk. What? Did they think the little girl with the two braids, the blue tutu dress, the Frozen cross body bag, and the two mosquito bites was just a very short woman? Well she wasn't a midget or a dwarf or a little person or whatever you were supposed to say. No. She was a little girl and she should not have…
Well Minegishi should not have started her on…
Minegishi had been teaching her moderation. Ryou had been teaching her how to get drunk. Minegishi had been trying to help her. Ryou had been trying to amuse himself. Mob had just been trying to get through this as best as she could…and Minegishi should have been there for her…and they wanted to be there for her. They wanted to be there for her and they cared about her…but looking after another human being was just so exhausting…but they had to do it. They did it for her because she had no one else who could rise up to the occasion and take care of the deeply troubled ten year old that they had seen getting all…
They really hated Fukuda whatever his given name was.
"Alright, show's over folks. Direct any questions, comments, concerns, and death threats to that guy over there. The one making a face like he's sucking on a rotten lemon and hating the fact that he's enjoying himself." Said Minegishi. They glared at Fukuda when they said that. He at least had the decency to look ashamed of himself. As he should have been. What had he even been thinking? He had been sitting there on his ass just…just watching Mob drink way more than she should have been drinking.
"Minegishi…why'd you do that? I was talking to those people…and also drinking that champagne. It's real champagne, too. Shimazaki told me to make sure that they ordered real champagne and not sparkling wine. He says that there's a real difference and that I needed to make sure that they got the fancy kind…so the party would be good." Said Mob. Buzzed but not drunk. Not slurring. She was…her tolerance was going up. She should not have had a tolerance to begin with but it should not have been going up like that.
"Mob, you've been drinking way too much. Pace yourself or you're not going to even be able to remember this party. You're buzzed, good, don't get drunk or you'll regret it. I am not holding your hair back if you get sick. We're regular friends, not vomit friends. Now go and talk to the other kids or something. Try and make some new friends. Talk to them about Frozen or something." Said Minegishi. They scanned the room…and there he was. Ryou. Tormenting Hatori. Well fine then. They'd deal with him as soon as they dealt with this.
"Um….ok. That girl over there…I could talk to her…since I think that Sho made a secret club and I'm not invited…so I'll just get up now…Minegishi can you help me get up?" asked Mob. Minegishi rolled their eyes but lent a helping hand. There. Off Mob went to talk to the little girl who looked to be about ten going on thirty. Well then Mob would have gotten along with her like a house fire considering what it was that Little Miss Suzuki Shigeko had been getting up to…
She was only ten. There was no point in blaming her.
No, Minegishi wasn't going to blame her. They had a bone to pick with the adult in this situation. Well they had a bone to pick with themselves, obviously, but they were not going to play the 'which bathroom will I get less shit for going into' game so they could find a mirror and yell at themselves. No. They were going to deal with the adult who had taught a ten year old that it was ok to get blackout drunk at a WORK party in the first place.
"….trust me. You'll have the time of your life. Have I ever steered you wrong? Don't answer that." Said Shimazaki. He was hand Hatori something small and white and ominous looking. Whatever. Hatori was, barely, a grown ass man. Let him take the mystery drugs. He was an adult and he knew what he was getting into. Mob was just a kid and only knew what the adult that she trusted told her was ok to do. That was…that was why Minegishi never wanted kids…but they had a kid and they had to take care of her and…and as hard as it was they were involved and being involved meant doing things like this.
They grabbed Shimazaki by the arm and spun him around.
He let them do that. They knew that he must have had been able to sense them from across the room. They knew that he could feel them beside him. They knew that he could read their aura. They knew that he might have even been able to tread the look on their face. Pissed off. They were pissed off and they were showing it in every way that they knew how.
"Hey Toshi. Don't freak out there's plenty for you too. Ok, so I'm pretty sure that this is-" said Shimazaki. Minegishi was pretty sure that he would have said more if they hadn't smacked him upside the head.
"I think you pissed her off…them! I think that you pissed them off…sorry. They don't want people to know that they're a girl." Said Hatori. Minegishi took a deep breath and jammed their hands into their pockets and felt the loose seeds that they had left in there for just this occasion. They were not going to murder Hatori because Mob liked him and they were not going to murder Shimazaki because then the house would have been a hell of a lot more boring. They didn't have to murder him. It was truly amazing the sort of damage that human beings were able to survive.
"It's not that I don't want to people to know, stupid, it's just that it shouldn't matter….but that's not what this is about. Shimazaki Ryou! What did you think that you were doing?" asked Minegishi through clenched teeth. A dentist. When all of this was over they would need to see a dentist because their teeth would be ground down to nubs, a doctor because they knew that there were on their way to a lovely heart attack soon, and a psychologist because they knew that there was no way in hell that they were coming out of this mentally unscathed.
"Trying to make the kid's night a fun one." said Shimazaki. He said it with the same lackadaisical attitude he said everything with. Minegishi jammed their hands into their pockets. The seeds started to germinate.
"I-I'm not having…I mean…" said Hatori
"No, this isn't about him. This is about Mob. What are you on giving her that much to drink? She's ten and that stupid healer was RIGHT THERE! How were you planning on explaining that one to Suzuki?" asked Minegishi
"Honestly I hadn't thought that far ahead." Said Shimazaki. Minegishi had never been so angry in their life. Didn't he know what Suzuki would do to him if he found out that Shimazaki had been getting his only daughter and favorite child drunk? Didn't he care? Suzuki had already beating him up once because of his Mob related stupidity. He did not need to get beaten up again!
"Guys…I can-can't think…" said Hatori
"No. You never think that far ahead, do you?" asked Minegishi. How could he be so stupid? Well he was always so stupid…but now it was like he was trying his hardest to set entirely knew standards of personal stupidity!
"I don't. You know that I don't, Toshi, you've known me for years." Said Shimazaki
"Right. You don't. I don't know why I expected anything else from you, Ryou." Said Minegishi. They swore a look of…something passed over him.
"Come on, you love that about me. You even said so. You love how I always just stay true to myself and don't act all disengenous and shit. That's why you like me." Said Shimazaki
"Right now I can't stand the sight of you. You…you have zero sense of self-preservation…and also you're fucking with a kid and she doesn't need that in her life right now. I'm trying to teach her how to moderate and be responsible and you're teaching her how to win herself a one way ticket to rehab just in time for her to turn eleven." Said Minegishi
"Guys…I feel weird." Said Hatori
"You're freaking out over nothing, Toshi. So she had a little to drink? So what? She has a lot going on in her life. Let her have fun. The more fun she has now the more fun she'll be when she gets older." Said Shimazaki. Minegishi was about to slap him into next week. That was his best excuse? That he wanted to party with her when she got older so he partied with her while she was ten? Seriously?!
"I-I think that I need something to drink….it's hot…why is it so hot…why?" asked Hatori. He was trying to rip his coat off. Shibata was helping him and looking like he was about to pass out from sheer worry. Really. That was what he worried about? Hatori was just freaking out over nothing. Whatever Shimazaki had given him should not have been taking effect yet.
"Shut up. You're fine. Whatever he gave you shouldn't be kicking in that fast." Said Minegishi. They gave him their best withering glare. He pulled his shirt up over his head and hid in there like a frightened turtle. Minegishi had a lot more to say than he could probably handle and they would have said it and…and maybe they should have…but they couldn't. There was Mob, there, coming closer…
Minegishi had to calm down for her sake.
"What's wrong with Hatori?" asked Mob as she came up to them. She seemed…her aura seemed closed off. Well then. Apparently it hadn't gone well for her and that other kid that she had been trying to make friends with. Well it looked like nobody was having a nice night. At least she wasn't stumbling or slurring...which was good….
"Nothing. He just went too hard. That's why I try to keep you from going too had. Do you want to be a human turtle too?" asked Minegishi
"No. Not really." Said Mob. She smiled as she looked over at Hatori…and Minegishi would deal with Mob's shitty taste in men later. Seriously, what was it about this guy? He was….Minegishi had no idea what went through Mob's head sometimes. They would try to figure out Mob's head when they figured their own head out…if they ever figured their own head out. Even now they had no idea what they were even supposed to say or do or…or anything…
They were so fucking tired.
"Hey, don't try to talk her out of it. Maybe she wants to be a human turtle. Maybe it's fun." Said Shimazaki. Minegishi wondered if he thought about the words he said before he said them. They wondered why they wondered when they knew that the answer was a resounding 'no'. That would require far too much thought and planning and Ryou was just not capable of that level of focus.
"There is nothing fun about what Hatori is going through." Said Minegishi. He was sweating a lot. He was sweating and trying to unbutton his shirt. They shook their head. He was either in for a good time or a bad time depending on his mental state. OK then. Maybe seeing the stupid prize that he'd win himself would teach Mob not to play stupid games…or have feelings for the sorts of guys who played stupid games.
"I'm not having fun. You're right. I'm not having fun at all. You get me. You get me and I want to get you-" said Hatori. Shimazaki started laughing. There was nothing to laugh about. Thank God that Mob was socially inept. Thank God that Mob was too drunk and socially inept to pick up on anything.
Now to shut Hatori up before he really pushed it.
"Well you'll never get Toshi so maybe you should just come off it." Said Shimazaki. Minegishi took a glass of champagne off the table, they had no clue who's this was and they didn't care, they just downed it.
"You come off it. Mob, come on. Let's go post up somewhere and-" said Minegishi. They were pissed off, they would only get more pissed off, and they needed to extract themselves from this situation and calm the hell down. They would go home when all of this was done. They would go home and go to sleep and then wake up and their whole friend group/coworker dynamic would go back to normal. Hopefully. They just needed to get out of here and put some space between themselves and everyone else before they, or someone else, said something that would come back to bite them.
"Can I post up with you? Please?" asked Hatori. Shibata shushed him. Hatori didn't notice or didn't care. Minegishi wondered if Mob would have minded if they grew some vines and sewed that moron's mouth shut.
"That's probably not a good-" said Shibata
"Sure! That would be great!" said Mob
"No. No it wouldn't. You can stay right here and ride out whatever it is you're on. Ride it out with Shimazaki. He's the one who got you into this state." Said Minegishi
"But-" said Mob
"I said no." said Minegishi. They sounded more like a parent then than they had ever wanted to at any point in their whole twenty seven years of life. Which was not at all. Mob was ten, she had never seen anyone on whatever it was Hatori was on, and she didn't need to deal with that. Also she didn't need to see the guy she liked like that. Also she didn't need to see the guy she liked hitting on her best friend. The best friend bracelet came with a lot of responsibility and Minegishi was going to rise up to the responsibility. That was just what they had to do.
"Why? Why don't you like me? I like you…I mean I want to like you…I mean I want you to like me. I mean I know that you don't do the relationship thing and I know that if you did do the relationship thing you'd do it with Shimazaki because he's…him. He scary but he's got it going on….and I know that I can't even come close to him but…but I still really like you and I think that you're hot and it's not a sex thing…well it's kind of a sex thing because I really want to eat you and I think that I'd be god at it too…I mean I've never done it before but I've seen it done before…so I think that I've got it down…and even if you didn't want to I just….I like you and…and…and I need to take a piss again…like…right now!" said Hatori. If there hadn't been a party going on around them Minegishi could have sworn that they would have been able to hear a pin drop.
Well above Shimazaki's laughing.
"He…he's really drunk. He's drunk and on drugs and…and also he's crazy and…and he really has to use the bathroom…so I'll just take him there…" said Shibata. He, thankfully, picked Hatori up and carried him away. Hopefully forever. Hopefully Shibata would carry him deep into the woods and leave him there.
Not that it would help.
Because Mob's aura was…thank God that she was a drunk as she was. Thank God that she was at least four glasses of champagne in. Thank God that she had probably been hitting that pen of Shimazaki's too. Thank God that…that they weren't about to tall die because Hatori couldn't hold his liquor or whatever drugs he took like an idiot.
"He…he likes…you?" asked Mob. Her voice broke and the glasses on the table beside her fell apart. They didn't shatter, no, they just fell apart. They fell apart as her face fell inwards and…and tears collected in her eyes. Minegishi reached out to her…and she took a step back.
"Mob…come on. I know that this sucks and I know…I know that it hurts. I know that it hurts but you need to know that I don't like him back, I don't want him to like me, and I will never hurt you like that…and I wouldn't have wanted that from him even if you didn't like him." said Minegishi. This was the best that they could do. They were tired, they were more than a little drunk, and they just wanted so root themselves to a wall and just…just rest already.
"I-I-I feel really sad and….and I…you're still my best friend but…but I'm sad and I want to be away from you for now but not for forever…so I'm going to go away now." Said Mob. Minegishi felt like they had been slapped in the face. She had pretty much given them a big, fat, fuck off…and they just…they did not want to deal with this right now.
So they didn't.
They just did not have the mental capacity to deal with all of this. First of all they had just gotten the worst confession in the history of confessions. Second of all they had just been an accomplice to breaking their ten year old best friend's heart. Third of all they had just….well they hadn't done anything. That was the problem. They hadn't done anything even though they knew that they should have, they just let Mob walk away…and then they had walked away too. They had walked away to post up at a wall and just…wait. Wait for Mob to calm down, Minegishi knew that when someone needed to be alone they needed to be alone, and just…wait for their own self to calm down too. The champagne helped…it helped a lot…and they were drinking way too much. No wonder Mob had no concept of moderation….and no wonder she had such shit taste in men too.
What was with them?
Shimazaki Ryou. He was the one who…they were thinking about him. They were always thinking about him these days. Well it was hard to not think about him. He was, well, Shimazaki. He was Shimazaki and he was…he was there. He was always there to pick them up or piss them off and…and at some point they had slowly started crossing all of their lines…just one line after another…without even realizing it they had been crossing line after line after line….just over and over again…..and the whole thing was just….
They drank.
They drank and stared at their book but did not read. They couldn't read. Their mind was a mess. They wanted to go home. They wanted to go home but they couldn't go home. Not now. Not until Mob was ready to go home. She was sitting at a table talking to Shimazaki and eating way too many cookies. She was eating her feelings…which was better than drinking her feelings…and better she talk to him and calm down than unload onto Minegishi….and this was….
Exhausting.
They were exhausted, they wanted to stop being exhausted, and there was no way to stop being exhausted. At least not while their mind was still going in a loop around and around and around over what had happened. This was why they should not have had parties or socialized in any way. They should have all done the smart thing and found spot along the wall and just sat there until their whole lives had passed them by. It was working pretty well for Minegishi.
Or at least it had been going well for Minegishi.
Apparently their 'leave me alone' signals weren't going through…or apparently they were too used to espers. Miss Blue Dress was there. She was there standing right in front of Minegishi. They could smell her perfume and see the glitter on her eyelids…and they wondered if that was itchy, that glitter, or if she ever got sick of that artificially floral perfume. They much preferred real flowers…but they could get used to this…if only for a little while…
They didn't need to read an aura to know a person's intentions.
Apparently Miss Blue Dress made it a habit to pick up strangers at boring work events. She owned some company or other that was in bed with Claw for some reason or other, Minegishi really did not care, and she made it a habit to pick up fascinating strangers and having sex with them. Well Minegishi was fascinating, they were a stranger, and they needed some kind of a distraction from whatever it was, they didn't even have words for it, that was happening in their mind. They had no clue what they were supposed to do about what happened or how they felt about it or how they felt about….about people….a certain person…so they decided to clear their head and do what they usually did at parties.
It was ok.
They had gotten used to someone who knew what they wanted before they even knew what they wanted. They had gotten too used to someone who's body they knew inside and out, literally, and they had gotten too used to being with someone who was so different from them…but they made do. It wasn't as though they were unfamiliar with the anatomy that they were born with and it wasn't as though they had never gotten familiar with someone else's similar anatomy. It wasn't as though they felt guilty, either, because out of all the things that they had done wrong so far in their life this was not even in the top one hundred. Also they knew full well that Ryou knew that they had left with someone and they were not going to feel guilty about that.
Because that was not what they were about.
They were not an anything with Ryou. They were friends who sometimes went to bed together. That was the hell of it. They were friends who went to bed together, had amazing sex, and then sometimes spent the night together. They were friends who sometimes kissed and cuddled for no reason. They were friends who sometimes got jealous…he was someone who got jealous. Not them. They didn't get jealous. They didn't get attached.
They were not going to go back on that.
They were, however, going to tell him off and then reassure Mob and probably spend the whole night up with her playing dolls or watching Frozen or whatever else would make her feel better. Well she'd feel like shit for a while, she was ten and this was one of the worst things that had ever happened to her, and eventually time would pass and then this would just be an embarrassing footnote in her life that they would laugh over in five or ten years or whenever.
They just had to find Mob first.
They hadn't gone far, Miss Blue Dress's room was just in the hotel down the street, but at some point in the five minute walk from there and the fifty six minutes of somewhat pleasurable sex and then awkward conversation on top of that, Mob had vanished….with Shimazaki….off to somewhere….
"Shibata. Sorry to interrupt, I really am, but I need to know if you've seen Mob anywhere." Said Minegishi. They had no idea what was wrong with Hatori and they did not care what was wrong with Hatori. Mob was gone. Minegishi's range was terrible compared to other espers but…but they weren't going to rely on their aura. No, it looked like they were going to have to do some detective work…
Because Mob could have been literally anywhere. Shimazaki had zero common sense, the ability to teleport, and he was fucked up on…whatever. He and Mob could have literally been anywhere.
"Little Sister-sama?" asked Hatori. Minegishi shook their head. They were not going to deal with this…even though maybe it was a good thing that Shibata had dragged him to the healers. That looked like, at best, some pretty serious dehydration…but it served him right for taking random drugs that he didn't even know the names of.
"Yeah, Mob. I haven't seen her in a while….also what did Ryou give you?" asked Minegishi. They weren't concerned, just curious, and also….Mob still cared about this guy and she would have been devastated if anything happened to him. At least Minegishi figured that Mob still cared about this guy. Their information on Mob was more than a little dated considering the fact that they had no idea where she even was! She could have been literally anywhere and-and…and Minegishi needed to calm the hell down. They needed to calm down because they could not freak out even though this was their fault for leaving him alone with her and he should have known that Shimazaki would have pulled some shit like this because they had known him for years and…and….and-
And they had to be an adult here because they knew that nobody else was up to it.
Well, no, that wasn't fair at all. Their resident mother hen seemed to have been doing his best with what he had. He had kept Hatori alive…enough…and he had the presence of mind to bring him to the healer…the drunken healer. Seriously? Whatever. They were supposed to teach Mo moderation, not this moron, and they were supposed to care for Mob, not Hatori.
They were doing a piss poor enough job dealing with one kid let alone two.
"I don't know what he gave him but I know he's had a lot to drink." Said Shibata. Minegishi rolled their eyes. That was way more than being drunk. That was…MDMA? Maybe. Ryou had always been kind of a fiend for….well he was a fiend for just about everything…and he loved dosing people and not telling them what to expect….because he was a moron…and now he was out there alone with Mob…the human time bomb…
They wondered, for a moment, if that Akira thing was an accurate portrayal of things to come.
"I feel good and bad at the same time and I'm sorry that I called you what I called you and I'm sorry that I asked you out and I'm sorry that I made you uncomfortable and I'm sorry that you're upset with me and I'm sorry that I asked if I could eat you and I'm sorry that you got into a fight and-" said Hatori. He motioned to Minegishi's neck. They resisted the urge to cover what the leech in the blue dress had left them with. Covering that up would have been an admission of guilt and they had nothing to be guilty over. Well…they had been out having lackluster sex while Mob had been spirited away to do God only know what but…well…it all could have been worse so…well they had no idea how it could have been worse than this but they were not going to feel guilty.
"I didn't get into a fight. What I was up to is none of your business. Now, Shibata, tell me when the last time you saw Mob was. I can't see her or feel her and I know that my range isn't that good but…well never you mind why I care. Just tell me when you last saw her." said Minegishi
"I haven't seen her in a while. I've been too busy babysitting him. I think Shimazaki took her home or something. That last I saw her was after you went over to talk to that woman in the blue dress. Shimazaki and her were talking for a little bit and then they just left. Sorry, that's all I know. I have bigger shit to worry about." Said Shibata. He motioned to Hatori. He was talking about how soft Shibata's hair was and how he wanted to touch it…and Minegishi could not deal with this on top of everything else. A wallflower. They had wanted to spend this party as a wallflower…but the world was not going to just let them be a wallflower now was it? No. Now they had to be a detective and a nanny and a-
A best friend.
They felt the bracelet around their wrist. This bracelet game with some pretty big and pretty clear responsibilities…and they were going to live up to those. They needed to find Mob and they needed to make all of this right…and they needed to do it sooner rather than later because it was late as hell, this party was starting to really clear out, and Suzuki would probably notice if his favorite kid went missing. With as weirdly codependent as he was with Mob it was amazing that he hadn't sent out search parties already. Why couldn't Shimazaki have taken Suzuki's son? At least if he ended up taking the son then Suzuki might not have noticed for a couple of weeks at least. But no, he had to take Mob, and this looked so bad. Suzuki had already beaten him up once….and this looked a hell of a lot worse than what Shimazaki had been up to before…
Ryou was a moron plain and simple.
They were surrounded but morons. What was it? Lead in the water supply? A gas leak? Did everyone but them escape from an experiment where they slammed you head in a car door until your brains turned to soup? They did not have the mental space to deal with this. They hadn't had the mental space to deal with this since it had started. They couldn't just post up at the wall and drink this stress away and disappointing sex with a stranger had only led to a disappointing orgasm, not worth it at all, so now they had to deal with this….right now. Even though they did not have the mental space to deal with this…they still had to.
They had to think.
Why couldn't this have been the dystopian future where everyone was chipped? Instead of that they got the dystopian future where Suzuki Touichirou ruled the world. God. Why couldn't that controlling, paranoid, asshole have gotten his kids chipped or something? If they did it to dogs then it must have been possible to do it to humans. It would have been so much simple…Minegishi felt their pockets. They had a phone…an iphone….because Suzuki's shrieking demon child had thrown theirs into the street….but they had an iphone and an iphone could be used to find another iphone….
Huh. Tech boy may have been…a hell of a lot of things…but he might also be useful…
"For the love of…you. Fix whatever's wrong with him right now." Said Minegishi. They were not going to deal with this guy. He needed to be better than useless. Right now he was a scented tampon with a cardboard applicator and a broken string. They needed him to be one of those decent ones with no scent and a plastic applicator. Not even one of the nice ones with the leak guard string and the quiet wrappings. They just needed him to function. That was all. They just needed him to serve his purpose and nothing more.
And if not then the two of them were going to have a very violent talk.
"Fine." Said Fukuda. There. At least something was going right. The man was made of margarine, an imitation of a decent human being, but he served his person. He fixed whatever Ryou had broken. Hatori was still covered in about a gallon of sweat, true, but at least he didn't look like he was on death's door anymore.
He even had the decency to look ashamed of himself.
"What the hell…what did I DO?" asked Hatori. He had crushed a little girl's heart, said some things that he should have kept in his mind like a normal human being, insisted that watching a lot of porn made him good at sex, which did nothing to endear him to Minegishi, and also all of that could have maybe been classified as sexual harassment…but Minegishi wasn't going to get into it with him now. Right now they needed to figure out where Mob and Ryou had gone to. When all of that was over then the two of them could talk about his MANY mistakes.
"Use this phone to find Mob's phone. Do that find my iphone thing right now." Said Minegishi. They handed him their phone and, thankfully, he didn't say anything more about what had transpired. Good. They could talk about it when they got back to the house…and this was going to be a very awkward rest of their working lives…
"She's….somewhere in Tokyo. Sorry, she's jumping around a lot. Just…what happened? My whole mind is a blank…sorry. Did I….I'm sorry. I'm just-Just…I feel like I said something to you and-" said Hatori. He held Minegishi phone out to them. They took it back. Well at least they had some way of tracking her now. Good. Time for some detective work. They didn't want to go out there in the December cold searching Tokyo from top to bottom but they also didn't want to have to live in some sort of Akira style future Neo Tokyo either.
So it was time to do some midnight detective work.
"You said a lot of shit to me, I don't care, right now I need to find where in the hell Mob went off to. You two can either come with me or stay here. Whichever." Said Minegishi. They had their phone, they had money, and maybe they should have brought a proper coat….whatever. That was what drivers were for. They didn't care if they had to keep some Awakened up all night driving around looking for Mob and they didn't give a damn about blowing Claw's fuel budget. They had to find Mob before something terrible happened. To her or to someone else.
"I…I still feel sort of sick…" said Hatori. Ok. Fine. Ether he was a liar or Fukuda was incompetent. Whatever.
"Fine. Shibata, keep babysitting him. I don't need two kids to worry about." Said Minegishi. They didn't even give Fukuda a second look as they left. They left, found a Claw driver, and went out into the night to look for Mob and the idiot who was probably teaching her how to freebase or something right then at that moment. God. How had it come to this? They were out in the cold looking for a ten year old kid, one who wasn't even their kid at all, when three years ago they would have been living it up with Shimazaki. They would have snuck away and done something fun, he knew Tokyo like the back of his hand considering that he had grown up here, and he knew where all the fun was…and then they could have ended their night all tangled up in….
Why were they STILL thinking about him?
Why were they still thinking about him even though he was the cause of all of this? He had taken Mob off to do things that she was way too young to do. She was only ten and she was too young for the things that Shimazaki considered to be fun. Well obviously he wasn't going to sleep with her. He skewed young sometimes but not that young. But still…Mob was ten…and Minegishi knew that Shimazaki was going to get her up to things, non-sexual but still not age appropriate things, and this all could have had disastrous results.
They wished they had stayed a wallflower….but it was too late for wishing and hoping now. They were on a mission. Time for some midnight detective work.