There was a box on Mob's bed.
The box had pink paper on it. There was a red bow around the box. This was a gift. This looked like a Valentine's Day gift. She had used paper like that to wrap everyone's Valentine's Day gifts. Everyone but dad got boxes of their favorite chocolates. Dad hated chocolates so Mob got him a new tie. She had figured that he needed one since he had been wearing the exact same tie for as long as she could remember. She didn't remember getting anyone anything that came in a big box like this…maybe this wasn't for her. Sho had a girlfriend now, Mob had seen them holding hands at the park once, so maybe she had gotten this for him.
There was a card.
It wasn't Valentine's Day yet, that came tomorrow, so it would have made sense that Sho wouldn't have opened it yet…sort of. Sho's girlfriend might have told him not to open it yet. She might have told him that he needed to open his gifts on the actual day just like Mob had to tell him every single birthday, Christmas, and children's day. She took the card from the box. It wasn't addressed to Sho, like it should have been, it was addressed to her.
To Daughter.
Oh. This was from dad. He was away. He said that he had to put an end to something and then when he was done they would move and stuff. They would move and then they would be in a new place, dad had said Russia but Shimazaki had been singing a song about being back in the USSR for a while…so were they going back to the USSR? Mob couldn't even remember being in the USSR once. She didn't know. She was confused. She was confused about where dad was going and where they would be moving to but she was especially confused about the big box on her bed.
"Alright, I brushed with real toothpaste, not just water, can I please be ready for bed now?" asked Sho. She had sensed him before she heard him. She got off her bed and nodded. She used her powers to pull his covers off of his bed for him. It was his bedtime. He couldn't stay up past nine or he would be grumpy in the morning.
"You didn't drink any liquids after eight did you?" asked Mob
"No! I didn't…and I don't wet the bed anymore anyway…..I'm not a baby." Said Sho. Mob knew for a fact that he did still wet the bed, sometimes he had bad dreams where he kicked and used his powers and told someone to get away from him and then he wet the bed, but she wasn't going to say anything. She knew how sensitive he was about that. She didn't get what he was so sensitive about. Sometimes he wet the bed, that was fine, that didn't mean that there was something wrong with him. it just meant that he couldn't have any liquids after eight.
"Ok. Come on, I'll tuck you in. Do you want a story?" asked Mob
"No, because I'm ten. You don't need to read me a story…but if you wanted to read something out loud while I was going to sleep then that would be ok." Said Sho as he climbed into bed. Mob didn't get why he had to pretend like he didn't want her to read him a story. He was ten, not a hundred and ten, and there was nothing wrong with him letting her read him a story. Sometimes she needed a story to fall asleep. Sometimes when she and dad slept together they put on an audio book. Sometimes she had Minegishi read to her, too, whenever they had sleepovers. There was nothing at all wrong with being read to.
"Do you want me to read you the Zootopia chapter book again?" asked Mob
"No, read me something in English. I think my English sucks, I can barely understand Emmy sometimes. She kept saying 'bob's your uncle' and…and I still don't know what that means. I mean I know what it means but I think that it means something different in England." Said Sho
"The English they speak here is weird. It's sort of like in Australia but also…not. Don't worry, we'll be moving soon…sorry." said Mob. She knew that Sho had a girlfriend. She knew that he didn't know that she knew, too, and she wasn't terribly hurt that he hadn't told her. He probably didn't want people to know because then dad would know that they had been talking to a normal person. That would have been bad. She expected Sho to be made that they were moving, or sad, because she couldn't imagine anything worse than leaving the person you loved…but he seemed…she watched his aura. He seemed fine.
"Where are we moving to?" asked Sho
"Dad says Moscow, that's in Russia, but Shimazaki says that we're going back to the USSR…and I don't remember ever being in the USSR in the first place." Said Mob
"Oh, that's why he's been singing that. He said that Russia used to be called the USSR back before we were born…when did you talk to Shimazaki?" asked Sho. He had a tone there that Mob couldn't place. She didn't know why had would have a tone about her talking to Shimazaki. Sho knew that they were friends.
"This afternoon while you were at the park. We were sm-we were hanging out and he kept on singing that song." Said Mob
"Damn it. I knew that I felt him come back but I was too busy playing Mortal Kombat with Emmy…damn it." Said Sho. Mob didn't like it when he cursed, she wished that he would stop, but she knew that there was no getting him to stop it. At least he wasn't using the F-word or the H-word or the C and S word...which Minegishi said that she didn't want to know the meaning of. She had no idea why Sho kept on cursing like that and also she had no idea why he was cursing about spending time with his girlfriend instead of Shimazaki. Maybe they were just as good friends as she and Minegishi were. Back when she had been in love with Hatori even if he had asked her to run away with him and be his girlfriend right there on the spot she would have said no if it ate into her time with Minegishi. Boyfriends were good and all but friends were forever.
Because the person you married could just run away one day and not even leave a note telling you where they were going but friends didn't do those sorts of things to each other…permanently…she maybe needed to apologize to Shimazaki again for what happened at the party…
"Why are you upset about being with Emmy? I mean…ok, don't get upset because I know that she's your girlfriend…and I won't tell dad so you don't have to worry about that." Said Mob. She didn't mean to embarrass him. He pulled his shirt up over his head to hide his face. She didn't know what was so embarrassing about having a girlfriend. Love was the best thing ever. There was nothing that was embarrassing about love or kissing or…well she would be embarrassed, actually, if her little brother had caught her kissing…which was why she would not be telling him about. No, she would just be embarrassing him worse than he already was. He might even act like Hatori and hide in the bathroom for the rest of his life…and stuff.
"I don't want to talk about this." said Sho
"Ok…but if you ever wanted to talk about it I'm here. I'll always be the one to talk to if you ever have questions or worries or-" said Mob. She knew that she had never had a boyfriend in her life, she had only kissed on boy and she knew that he was gone forever from her life, but she had seen a lot of movies and read a lot of manga. She knew a lot about love, she figured, and what she didn't know she would Google. Sho was younger than her and she didn't think that he had all of the love knowledge she did, he didn't read the same manga or watch the same movies she did, but if he had questions then she would have the answers for him that he needed.
"I'm fine. Everything is great. She's great. She likes me and…and I like her. I guess. I don't know. I don't want to talk about this." said Sho
"Ok. I get that you're embarrassed and-" said Mob. She was about to tell him that he could tell her anything no matter how embarrassing it was. They were brother and sister, they were supposed to be there for each other, even when those things that they were supposed to be there for each other for were embarrassing love related things. She didn't get why boys were so embarrassed about love. Minegishi said that boys hated love and kissing until they turned about twelve or thirteen and then a switch flipped in their heads and all they could think about were girls. Boys were complicated like that. She had never had a switch flip in head, she had just always liked boys, but that was just how she was. Sho was different.
"Who's that big box for? Hatori? Are you going to get back together with him? Are you going to kiss him? Are you going to marry him? Are you guys going to have a bunch of babies and move somewhere with a lot of space for them to run around? Are you-" said Sho. He pulled his shirt down from his face. Mob pulled her nightgown up. Now she was the one who was embarrassed. How could he just…SAY…all of that? That was…she had never even been Hatori's GIRLFRIEND? Were people going to be asking her about this for the rest of her life?
"Sho…no. We were never a couple….and why are you even asking this stuff?" asked Mob from under her Olaf nightshirt. She did not want to talk about that with her little brother. She was the one who was there for him when it came to things like this because she was older. It went one way and…and maybe she needed to stop being embarrassed. If he wanted to help then she would let him help…even though there was nothing that she needed help with.
"Well you were asking me a bunch of private questions so now I'm going to ask you a bunch of private questions…and also what's with that big box? Who are you going to give that to?" asked Sho
"That's not for anyone. Dad got me that. I don't know why." Said Mob. She pulled her nightshirt down from over her face. She could see him now. She could feel his aura. He was annoyed. He shouldn't have been. If he wanted whatever was in that box then he knew that he could have it. She always shared her stuff with him. Even her present from Christmas and stuff.
"Because in this country you're supposed to give the girls you love presents for Valentine's Day." Said Sho
"Oh. Well that makes sense…but you can have it if you want it. I didn't ask for anything. Also I know how you like opening presents." Said Mob. Sho shook his head.
"I don't want your present. Now read me a book so I can go to bed." Said Sho. Mob got the feeling that he did want her present. She got the feeling that he was still upset that dad loved her more. Well there was nothing at all that she could do about that. She didn't control dad, dad controlled dad, and if dad wanted to get her presents that she had never asked for then he would get her presents that she had never asked for. Sho had no idea how lucky he was, not having dad smother him, and Mob knew that she was not thinking nice thoughts. She should have been grateful that dad had gone out of his way to get her a present. She should have been grateful that dad cared enough about her to get her things…
Even if he was smothering her.
That box was smothering her. Even though it was just sitting there on her bed minding it's own business it was still smothering her. She could feel it there, in the corner, as she read to Sho from their English Minecraft game guide. That put him to sleep super fast, he was just pretending she could tell by his aura, she read and read on…on and on….and on.
Until her voice got scratchy.
She read until she couldn't read anymore. The whole time she was reading she could feel that box just sitting there in the corner watching her. She felt almost like dad was there watching her. He did that sometimes, he watched her, with his eyes and his aura. That was just him loving her. He wanted to keep her near him all the time. That was just how he showed his love. He had no other way of showing his love. So she was grateful…
So she opened the box.
She put in Sho's bookmark, the one that looked like a dog, and then went over to her bed. As quietly as she could she took the box out of the room and out into the hallway. She opened her present slowly, she was careful not to rip the paper and accidentally wake her brother. When she finally got the paper undone and slid the box from it she could see...a white box. The box was taped shut too. The box was even harder to undo than the paper but she got that done with too and found…tissue paper.
She was happy that Minegishi couldn't see this.
This was way too much wrapping. How many trees had died to wrap up a present that she hadn't even asked for? A lot of them. Wrapping paper, a cardboard box, and then tissue paper and all for a…dress? Mob took it out of the box with her powers and held it in front of her. A yellow dress. The top had puffy capped sleeves and a bow…and there was a bow in the back too. And a yellow satin sash, not silk she could tell the difference, and the skirt was…that puffy stuff….tulle. She knew tulle. Her Elsa dress from the party had been made out of tulle…
This was nothing like her Elsa dress.
This was mom's dress. If it hadn't been small enough for her to wear she would have thought that dad had gone back to the Castle and gotten mom's favorite yellow dress….no. She had worn her favorite yellow dress when she had left the house. She had worn this dress, without the bow in the back and on the front, when she had run away forever and now…and now dad had bought one for her and…and she had no idea why he would do this?
This was mom's dress.
Mob wore blue. She wore blue, sometimes pink, but mostly blue. She wore Elsa's shade of blue because Elsa was her favorite out of all the Disney girls. Elsa had powers that she couldn't control and she had a little sister who she sometimes didn't get along with and she had parents who hadn't been nice to her and…and she liked Elsa best. Yellow was Belle's color. Belle was a jerk who went poking around in the west wing of Beast's castle even though she knew that she wasn't allowed and she barely ate any food in the dinner song and also she should have gone on the trip with her dad because good daughter's went everywhere with their dads. She wanted to be Elsa, not Belle!
But this was a gift and she needed to be grateful for her gift.
She carried the box and all the wrappings to the kitchen and put them in recycling. There. Now it wasn't bad for the environment anymore. She was still holding her dress up with her powers. Dad had gotten her this dress…why? Why had he gotten her mom's dress? Maybe he just…noticed that her Belle dress was too small and then…had a yellow dress almost exactly like mom's ordered for her as a present? Why not just go to the Disney Store and get her a new Belle dress, then? Why not just-
Dad was a very confusing person sometimes.
It did nobody any good to try and understand him. He was complicated. Mob wasn't going to stand there all night trying to figure him out. No, that would have been a waste of time. It would have been rude, too. When you were given a gift you didn't ask why it was sent. You get what you get and you don't get upset. Mom had said that a while ago. Mob…she had this new dress…and she was supposed to wear it…
So that was what she did.
She changed right there in the kitchen. Dad wasn't home and Sho was asleep. She didn't care if her brother saw her changing anyway, they changed together all the time, it was ok because they were brother and sister. She just changed with her back to him these days because her chest was getting all…pointy. Not like she had breasts but more like…cones? She didn't know. All she knew was that before she used to sometimes be able to not wear an undershirt but now that wasn't an option anymore. She didn't mind now but the summer was going to be…not good. But she could worry about all of that later. Right now she had to try this dress on.
It fit.
It fit because dad had her and Sho measured every so often. That way they could just send people out when they needed new clothes. Mob didn't know why she hadn't expected this dress not to fit. She had expected to be drowning in this dress. She and expected it to be too long to walk in and for her shoulders to have slid right out and…and she had been expecting that because she had been expecting mom's dress. But this was not mom's dress. This was her dress. This was her dress and it just looked like mom's favorite dress and dad had gotten her this dress and….
And she wanted to go.
So that was what she did. She went over to the space in front of the door where they had put a plastic protector down to be the genkan, slipped on her Frozen boots, and went next door. She kept the dress on, she didn't want to take it off, because she knew that if she took it off she would never want to put it back on because….because this was like mom's dress….and she had to wear this. This couldn't just be like when the Awakened brought her clothes that she hated, clothes that didn't fit right or were just…not nice, this was something that dad had gotten for her and something that she had to be seen wearing so that he could be happy and she could be grateful and….
And she felt like dad was smothering her with this dress.
So she went next door. The minute she stepped through the doorway to Minegishi's house she could breathe again. The glow of the TV, the sound of Shibata's snoring, the feel of Minegishi in all the houseplants, even the sound of Hatori screaming bad words from in his room made her feel better. She took off her shoes and faced them the right way with her powers. She felt better now that she was with her friends. The only one missing was Shimazaki and that because he had been called away with Fukuda to help dad. She missed him. He always took her mind off of things.
She could take her mind off of things all by herself.
He had given her an open invitation to his room and to his desk drawer, he said, but with rules. She wasn't allowed to take any of the pills ever for any reason. She also wasn't allowed to eat any of the sugar cubes or the pieces of paper….why she would want to eat paper she would never know…and also she was supposed to be careful not to mess anything up in his drawer because he went by feel, mostly, and he could end up getting really messed up in the bad way if he took something thinking that it was something else.
She wanted to spend time with Minegishi but first she just needed to feel better.
Though maybe she should have gone to see Minegishi first. She had just opened Shimazaki's desk drawer when Minegishi opened the door and crossed their arms. Mob decided that she had better close the drawer. Minegishi said that they understood that a power as big as Mob's came with a bigger expense but they had also said that if she wanted to smoke or drink then she had to do it with them where they could make sure that she was safe. They didn't want her to end up like Hatori at the holiday party. She didn't want to end up like Hatori at the holiday party either.
"Mob, care to tell me why you're stealing from Ryou's stash?" asked Minegishi
"I wasn't stealing. He said that I had an opened invitation to smoke or drink anything in his desk but I just can't make a mess or take any of his pills…or eat anything." Said Mob
"Yeah that sounds like something Ryou would say…" muttered Minegishi. Mob nodded. Of course it sounded like something that Shimazaki would day. He had been the one to say it.
"Are you mad at me? Because I have his permission to be in here." Said Mob
"Mob…why are you even in here in the first place?" asked Minegishi. They did that thing where they sighed and their aura got all….not mad but not happy…and Mob knew that they weren't mad at her, never at her, but she didn't want to make her best friend even the least bit unhappy. That was not how friends made each other feel.
"Because my dad got me this dress." Said Mob. She was bad at talking, she knew that she was bad at talking, and she also knew that she had no way of putting all of it into words. Why she had to do something to get away from the big feelings that this dress was giving her. Why it was giving her so many big feelings in the first place.
"I feel like there's a story here. Just…come on. Let's go talk about this somewhere that doesn't smell like a cologne factory exploded." Said Minegishi. Mob followed them back to their room. She didn't know why they were complaining, they had said that they liked the way Shimazaki smelled, but she wasn't going to say anything. She just followed them down the hall to their room. Hatori was still cursing and stuff. She wanted to see if this was good cursing or bad cursing. She may not have been in love with him but she still cared about him, but she decided to keep on following Minegishi. They were good at making her feel better, better than any of her other friends were, and she knew that Minegishi would help.
They did.
"Sit." Said Minegishi as they pointed to their bed. It was warm where they had been laying down. A book was sitting on the floor in front of their bed with a leaf for a bookmark. Sense and Sensibility. Mob wondered if that was a good book. Probably, if they had been reading it. Mob wondered if they were mad that she had interrupted their reading…possibly. She didn't know. All she knew was that Minegishi was looking for something in the pile of stuff on their desk.
"Here. We will share one bowl, and only one bowl, because I can tell that you're freaked out by something. Ok? One and only one…if I can ever find my….there it is." Said Minegishi. They pulled out a purple glass pipe…thing. Mob watched them work from there. They had a bunch of those fun smoking plants and now they were separating out the stems and seeds. It was sticky, that was good, and it smelled really strong. They was good, too. Mob used her powers to help, she was good at this, Shimazaki had even told her so.
"Thanks. Well at least Ryou will be happy to see that I'm getting some use out of his Valentine's Day present." Said Minegishi
"Shimazaki got you this?" asked Mob
"Yeah, he did. He's owned me a new pipe for a while though I don't know how much of a gift this is since he's the one who broke my last one…but it's whatever. You should change out of that dress unless you want it to stink. I get the feeling that it's dry clean only and, yeah, I don't feel like running down to the late night dry cleaners." Said Minegishi as they packed the leaves that Mob pulled off into their purple pipe thing. The pointed over to the laundry basket full of newly washed clothes, she could tell because they were folded, and Mob knew what they meant.
"My eyes are closed. That big t-shirt of mine that you like should be in there. The one with the violets on it. You can wear that or whatever." Said Minegishi. True to their word they were working with their eyes closed. The worked a lot more slowly with their eyes closed than Shimazaki did. That was because he was used to doing things by feel. Mob wondered if she should help Minegishi. She'd do that after she changed.
She felt a lot better.
That dress had been itchy. It had been itchy around her legs which meant that she would need to wear tights with it. Well her legs were always itchy these days but that dress made it even worse. Also it had hurt her chest to wear that without an undershirt. She didn't know how she was supposed to put the dress on and wear it when dad came home….well she knew how she would put it on. She would step into it and do the zipper with her powers and also she would wear and undershirt and tights with it. She knew how she would put it on…but she didn't know how she could wear it…
She folded it up and buried it in Minegishi's laundry basket.
She put her dress down at the very bottom so it wouldn't end up smelling bad and then she sat down onto Minegishi's bed. They sat down next to her and handed her their purple pipe thing. The held the lighter up to the end and…oh. Mob knew what to do. She inhaled as the fire touched it. Shimazaki had shown her how to do this before but his pipe hadn't been purple and also had been shaped different. The basic concept was the same, though, and Mob got it. She inhaled really deep and for a long time. Shimazaki said that you were supposed to smoke like that. She may have been inhaling for too long, though, because Minegishi took it away from her.
"Hey, I said share." Said Minegishi
"Sorry. Shimazaki just always lets me smoke like that when we share his pipe." Said Mob
"Well I'm not Ryou, alright? When I say share I mean share. Don't overdo it. Do you want to end up like Hatori at the party?" asked Minegishi
"I thought that he was drunk." Said Mob
"He was drunk off his ass and high as a kite. Do you want to end up like him?" asked Minegishi. Mob shook her head. No, she didn't. She didn't know if she could survive that kind of embarrassment.
"No…I'll listen to you." Said Mob
"Good. Now tell me, Mob, what's going on about that dress. I thought you liked girly crap like that." Said Minegishi. Mob nodded. She nodded and tried to think. She felt…a little better. Her big feelings were getting smaller. She could think again. She was thinking….she was thinking about the dress that was in the hamper. How even though it was buried she could still feel it smothering her….feeling dad smothering her…and if she really focused she could even feel dad kissing the top of her head…and staying there…
She ran her powers through her hair. No dad. Just knots.
"I….my dad got me that dress." Said Mob. Minegishi nodded and then passed the pipe.
"I heard you the first time. What about your dad getting you a dress is so sorry that you had to raid Shimazaki's stash." Said Minegishi
"Um….it's yellow." Said Mob
"You don't like yellow?" asked Minegishi. Mob shook her head. It wasn't about the color…well it was and it wasn't…but she didn't know how to say that it was and it wasn't. She didn't know what the word for this feeling was. It was like she was worried and also she was being smothered at the same time and…and she smoked some more to make it stop.
"Also it has tulle." Said Mob as she exhaled. There. She felt better. She felt a little better and once it kicked in more she would feel a lot better. She loved Minegishi so much. They always made her feel better.
"And you don't like tulle?" asked Minegishi
"It itches….and I don't like yellow all that much…because I like blue…but yellow was my mom's favorite color…and that dress looks almost exactly like her favorite dress…and dad got it for me." Said Mob. Minegishi stopped inhaling and just stared at her for a minute. Mob got the feeling that if they'd had eyebrows they would be raised.
"Go on." Said Minegishi as they exhaled a mouth full of smoke.
"My dad got me that dress as a Valentine's Day present and…and it looks like my moms and…and he made me watch my mom's favorite show and…and go to a manor house my mom wanted to take me to…and also…also he keeps on touching me all the time and-" said Mob. Minegishi's aura was mad. They were mad. A couple plants broke out of their planters. There was dirty and sharp pieces of planter everywhere. Minegishi didn't care. Mob did. She pulled their pillow onto her lap. She could have pulled her knees up to her chest but then they could have been able to see her underwear since she was wearing their t-shirt and it didn't make a very good nightshirt at all.
"Touching you where?" asked Minegishi. Their eyes were narrow and their aura was spreading through every single plant in the room. They were holding their pipe so tight in their hand that Mob was worried it would shatter. Then there would be sharp things everywhere…more so…and neither of them had slippers on.
"He kisses my hair, mostly, and he touches me too. He holds me a lot when we go to sleep, too, but the head kisses are what bother me." Said Mob. She didn't know what Minegishi was so mad about. She didn't know but she wished that she could fix it. She hated it when she messed up…and she messed up all the time it felt like…
"He just kisses your hair? That's the only place?" asked Minegishi. Mob nodded.
"Yes, he kisses me on the top of my hair and he touches my hair a lot too." Said Mob. She didn't know what she had been expecting but she didn't expecting Minegishi to lower their head like they were bowing while sitting down.
"Show me." Said Minegishi. Mob didn't know why they wanted to know but she kissed Minegishi's head the same way dad kissed hers and for just as long, too. Minegishi smelled like flowery shampoo and also witch hazel. They had taken a bath earlier. They smelled nice.
"You should smoke. Then you'll be less mad…and I don't know what I did to make you mad but whatever it is I'm very sorry." said Mob as she pulled away from Minegishi's head. She could see the black of their roots. They would have to color their hair again soon.
"I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at him. He kisses you on the top of the head for that long?" asked Minegishi. Mob nodded. She didn't know why it was a thing to make them mad. She only felt a little bit uncomfortable when dad did that, not a lot uncomfortable, but Minegishi was acting like dad had hit her or something. He hadn't. He had said, before, that he would never hit her again…so that was good…if only she could get him to never hit Sho like that again. Then things would be perfect.
"Sometimes longer." Said Mob
"And….and you don't like this?" asked Minegishi
"I…I don't know. I like that he loves me and that he's not hitting me but sometimes I don't like it. Sometimes I just feel…weird…when he does that. When he touches my hair, too, but he mostly just touches it weird when we cuddle. Like this." said Mob. She used her own hair to show Minegishi how dad ran his fingers through it. She didn't know what was so bad about this. She felt uncomfortable but not like she was upset with him or anything. That was just how dad showed love…but she might have done something wrong based on Minegishi's aura and how big some of the plants in their room were getting.
"Mob…how often does he touch you like this?" asked Minegishi
"Every Sunday on our days together…but please don't get mad. It's not that bad, not really, and I don't even know why I'm upset. Dad loves me. That's why he's been so nice to me and that's why he got me that dress. He must have remembered how much I liked that dress, how I sometimes tried it on even though didn't like it when I did that, and he just bought one for me…and stuff. And I don't mind that he touches my hair and kisses my head when we cuddle. I don't mind at all….and I'm not ungrateful…so please don't be mad at me." Said Mob. Minegishi sighed and put the pipe to the side. It tipped over and got the bed dirty but they either didn't mind, didn't care, or both.
"Mob…there is no reason why I or anyone would be mad at you in this situation. Ok? You haven't done anything wrong and I want you to get the idea that you've done anything wrong out of your head. Ok? Your dad making you feel weird is not your fault….because he's the one being weird." Said Minegishi
"Ok…but dad isn't being weird. He just doesn't know how to show love. That's all. Sometimes I don't like it but I never say anything because he just has trouble showing love and stuff." said Mob
"Mob….tell him. The minute your dad, or anyone really, touches you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable you have every right to tell them to get their fucking hands off of you." Said Minegishi. Mob shook her head.
"No, Minegishi, I can't say the F-word. That wouldn't be nice." Said Mob
"Fuck being nice. Mob, your body is your own and nobody has the right to touch you when you don't want to be touched, ok? Not even the person who made you. Mob...Shigeko….you don't have to say fuck but you do have to say no, ok? Can you at least say that?" asked Minegishi
"But he's my dad-" said Mob. He was dad and nobody told him what to do. Not even her. He was dad and he was going to rule the world someday. She was Mob and she was his daughter. How could she ever stop him? Command him?
"I don't give a fuck who it is! I don't give a fuck if he's your father or Father Christmas or the All Father! You are not going to end up like me, you hear? If someone touches you and you don't want to be touched then you tell them so! And if they don't listen then you fuck them up! It took me too many years to even be able to fuck anyone up! You are not going to end up like me, do you understand!? If they won't leave you the fuck alone after you fuck them up then you tell me and I will fuck them up so bad…you don't want to know what I'm capable of…and I need to calm the fuck down….just. Sorry. I'm sorry….but still!" said Minegishi. They were close, now, very close. Mob had never seen them this mad before. Had she really done something so wrong by not telling dad to stop? Maybe instead of complaining about her problems she should solve them herself….no. That wasn't what Minegishi meant. They were best friends, they had the bracelets to prove it, and part of being a best friend was solving your best friend's problems….
Mob didn't understand, though, why they were so upset.
"Um…ok. I'll tell my dad to stop if I feel bothered." Said Mob. She wasn't going to curse at him or yell at him or fight him, though, but she would tell him to stop. Since it meant this much to Minegishi. She would do this for her friend. Minegishi was willing to hurt someone really bad for her so the least she could do is tell dad when she felt bothered…even though she didn't know why it was such a big deal…
She was just a clueless person in general.
"Good. Sorry I freaked out there. Just…when I was your age…well younger than you….a lot of things happened to me. Things that I'll tell you about when you're old enough to handle them. Things that…that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let happen to you, ok? I love you, Mob." Said Minegishi
"I love you too." Said Mob. She knew that a lot of bad things had happened to Minegishi when they had been a kid. She had heard some things from Minegishi firsthand, not a lot but some things, but most of what she knew came second hand from Shimazaki….and she hoped that Minegishi's parents had passed on, for their sake, because she would exorcise them if she ever found them. Nobody hurt her friend. Nobody.
"Good. Also that shit with the dress, with your dad getting you his wife's favorite dress, is weird as fuck. I have no idea what's going through that head of his but…don't wear it if you don't want to. That's just…weird. That shit with your dad making you watch her favorite show and…and he cuddles you?" asked Minegishi
"Yes. Like you and Shimazaki do sometimes when you listen to things together." Said Mob. Minegishi shook their head, picked up their pipe, and cursed. They put their pipe down on the floor and came back up with a bottle of clear liquid.
"Mob…you want a drink? Because I need one. That's…this is all I can do for you. Just…if your dad cares about you then you should tell him how truly weird he's being and if he doesn't….I'm always here for you. Best friends forever, right? This bracelet carries with it a lifetime of responsibility…I just wish that there was more that I could do…" said Minegishi. Mob took that drink even though Minegishi had told her never to mixt things up like that, smoking and drinking, because she needed a drink too. She both did and did not feel better. She felt better because she was with her friend who she loved and who loved her right back but also….also Minegishi was right. Mob had been feeling weird for a while…and she would maybe talk to dad about how she was feeling…and if he loved her he would stop…and if not…well she didn't want to think about it. He loved her though, so he would listen, and he hopefully wouldn't think that she was ungrateful….
Because she had liked the box that he had left on her bed…she just hadn't liked what was in it.