Shibata Hiroshi had always liked to cook.

People liked him when he cooked for them, it put them at ease, and he liked to feed people. A good meal could bring everyone together and calm even the worst tempers….and he was used to dealing with the worst tempers. People could get so crazy when they got hungry. When you got hungry enough your brain started to eat its self and that was the only explanation he could think up as to why things had gone so very wrong on the plane ride in. They had all been way too hungry and way too tired and Shimazaki hadn't helped anything with his endless singing….

Literally endless.

Shibata could hear him over the pounding of his meat hammer. He had been wandering through the house singing since he had come back from wherever he had been. Possibly a store. He had come back with a plastic bag full loose chicken breasts and told Shibata to make a meal out of them. They were having chicken kiev since they were in Russia and he was pretty sure that they were Russian. He hoped that Shimazaki liked them…but if not then he should have given Shibata more direction than 'here's meat, make food out of it' and then a wet slap to the back….and Shibata really hoped that he didn't have salmonella now…

Was the headache from the pounding of the meat hammer, Shimazaki's singing, or the coming salmonella? He didn't know. His money was on the singing, though.

"Back in the USSR….don't know how lucky you are, boy….back in the USSR…." Sang Shimazaki as he teleported into the kitchen and opened a can from the fridge. He took a sip and put it back. He did this sometimes. Shibata had no idea why. Shimazaki could sense him. He knew that Shibata could see what was written on the cans. There was no need to start a million and one cans of that energy drink thing Hatori drank instead of water…though getting him back to drinking water would be for the best. All of that sugar and caffeine could not have been good for his kidneys…and finding out that Shimazaki had opened and sipped all of his energy drinks would not be good for his stress levels.

"What are you looking for?" asked Shibata

"Beer, preferably Toshi's beer but I'll take anything at this point." Said Shimazaki

"You're holding one of Hatori's energy drinks…actually he's claimed the whole shelf. If you're looking for beer-" said Shibata

"I can find things just fine on my own, thank you. I know what a beer can feels like." Said Shimazaki. Shibata was about to tell him that he had said so many times before that he had no idea what was in cans…and also obviously he could not find the beer just fine on his own because he was sampling everything like that time he got them kicked out of Thirty One Flavors…though maybe Shibata had helped with that just a little bit…..

How was he supposed to know which of the thirty one flavors he liked if he didn't get to sample them all?

"You know that I can just tell you what's in those cans, right?" asked Shibata as he turned away from the counter top. He almost banged his head on the cabinet. This was one of those tiny old soviet era kitchens from one of those grey apartment blocks. This place must have been bought before Suzuki got the money to just build Claw housing. He couldn't imagine him just willingly living like this. In such a tiny place and crammed in like sardines with everyone….not that he minded having Hatori for a roommate or anything like that. It was either Hatori shared with him or they all drew straws to see who would end up needing to bunk with Shimazaki…and not even Minegishi wanted to do that…

Shibata just could not begin to imagine why not.

"Hey, I'm not helpless. I can do things on my own." said Shimazaki. Shibata quickly backtracked. Of course he hadn't meant to call Shimazaki helpless! He was anything but….right? Honestly Shibata had no idea what he could do on his own. Sometimes he did his own laundry and made his own breakfast and even managed to get his hair so perfect every single day…but then he went and did things like open every single can in the fridge looking for beer or something….or microwaved a raw egg….or filled the waffle maker with caramel….or made Hatori narrate TV for him at four in the morning….

Still, though, he hadn't meant to offend.

"I-I didn't mean to imply that you were helpless-" said Shibata

"Well you did. Oh, sure, the poor little blind man can't be trusted to find his own beer. Better come in and help him." said Shimazaki. Shibata had no clue if he had actually offended him or not. It was so hard to tell when he was being serious and when he was kidding. Like the crazy stories he told about his childhood. Shibata wasn't sure if he had actually burnt his house down or been left in the woods to die or been forced to dig graves at three a.m. naked in the rain or fed his seeing eye dog enough cake to give it diabetes so it died slowly in his arms or…any of that other stuff. Shimazaki was a hard guy to get a read on.

Especially when he wasn't sober.

"I didn't mean it like that. You were just opening up literally everything….again. Everything of Hatori's. You know how fragile he is. He hates it when you do that." Said Shibata. He figured that Shimazaki had been kidding because he hadn't thrown anything or tried to hit him or anything like that. Good. He hated fighting people when he didn't have to and, like Her Little Ladyship had said, friends shouldn't fight…even when one friend was constantly picking on another friend for no good reason.

"If he's got a problem with me then he can just come and kick my ass like a man." Said Shimazaki

"You know that's not how he is. He's terrified of you…and for good reason." said Shibata. He knew…some…of that Shimazaki did for Claw. The missions he'd been on. He hadn't been a member for nearly as long as the others but even he'd been warned about Shimazaki Ryou…and while he wasn't as bloodthirsty as the rumors made him seem he was tarrying in a totally different way. He was just so damned unpredictable….

Though that might have been because of the drinking and the drugs and not some sort of natural inborn…thing.

"What? So I gave him MDMA without telling him what it was….and so I sometimes climb into bed with him at night and whisper to him that I'm death and I've come for him…and so what if I held him upside out of a window-" said Shimazaki. Shibata didn't want to hear anymore. He hated doing this, being like this, being what everyone thought that he was but sometimes he had to do what he had to do.

Even if it was just a little too slow.

He had been intending to pin Shimazaki against the fridge and tell him not to do things like that to Hatori. He was just a kid. He wasn't even twenty yet and he was very emotionally fragile. He had a lot of feelings inside of himself, as Her Little Ladyship would have said, and he could be a little dramatic….and he maybe got too invested in his games….but he was not someone who deserved to be treated like that. He had no idea what Shimazaki's problem with Hatori was. He had apologized for what he had said to Minegishi and now everything should have been ok in the group.

Things were almost never ok in the group.

Especially not now. Shimazaki had teleported out of the way and was now dipping his fingers into the garlic butter and sucking them….and now Shibata would have to make more garlic butter for the kievs….and also he really hoped that Shimazaki had washed his hands after handling all of this raw chicken….but he probably hadn't.

"What, you're going to fight me now?" asked Shimazaki. Shibata sighed. No, he was not going to fight Shimazaki. They had to work together so they had might as well get along…even if he could be sort of an asshole for no reason. Well not exactly no reason, he did have his very serious disorder where he forgot that he existed if people weren't paying attention to him, but maybe he should have seen a professional about that instead of making everyone else's lives more difficult.

"No, but I am going to ask you to leave Hatori alone and to get your fingers out of the butter bowl." Said Shibata

"This isn't butter. This is all salty and garlicy. I've eaten butter before and this is not it." Said Shimazaki. Shibata was tempted to tell him that, until very recently, he had never even heard of a nectarine so maybe he wasn't the guy to ask about food…but that would not at all be good for the group.

"It's garlic butter I made for the kievs…now give me back my mixing bowl." Said Shibata. He reached for it but Shimazaki teleported so he was standing in the doorway.

"Nope. It's mine now and forever. You just focus on beating your meat and forget all about little old me." Said Shimazaki before he teleported away. Shibata rolled his eyes and went back to pounding chicken breasts flat. How did Minegishi put up with him? And what did they even see in him? Hatori was at least nice and while he said things that he shouldn't have it wasn't a regular occurrence and he had said sorry. He had no idea why Minegishi had chosen Shimazaki. Well aside from the fact that he was a pretty attractive guy….when he was quiet. He was tall and muscular in a lean way and his hair was always perfect and he wore the world's tightest pants…but still. He was so…

Annoying.

Shibata would never call him that to his face, of course, but he could be so annoying and so draining, too. Like now. Now he had a fridge full of opened energy drinks to deal with and he had to make more garlic butter too. Whatever. He liked to cook. He would get out another mixing bowl…even though that had been his good metal one and he missed it…and he would make more garlic butter after he pounded these chicken pieces flat and-

And also removed the chicken pieces from the pieces of shattered meat hammer…and cutting board.

Damn. That cutting board had been a gift from Her Little Ladyship after he shattered his last one. This one was supposedly made of super strong plastics. It had been stronger than his old wooden one but it too gave up the ghost. No matter, no matter, he had spares. Just something that he had to deal with and plan for, times when he forgot his own strength, and this didn't piss him off in the least bit. No, he was fine. He would just dig through the box of kitchen stuff, they still weren't fully unpacked, and find his spare cutting board and then pound more chicken breasts and then make more garlic butter and then heat up the oil on the stove and preheat the oven….and also watch the stove and the over because sometimes he forgot to and that was how he had gotten banned from so many cooking classes…

He was fine.

He bent over, hit his head on the counter, and dug through the kitchen stuff box for the spare cutting board. He needed to use a cutting board or he'd ruin the counter like he did last time he tried to make this. He wasn't about to ruin another counter just because he still didn't know his own strength even at his age. He was going to dig out the cutting board and-

And also deal with whatever that was.

"Shimazaki! What the hell!?" he heard Hatori shout. There was the slamming of a door and then hurried footsteps. Shibata stood up, careful not to hit his head on the counter this time, and instead managed to bang it on the cabinets. He knew that he was an unusually large man but the soviet people who had originally lived here must have been tiny. He could barely turn around to face Hatori…whose aura, what little he had, seemed upset…which was bad….but he hadn't gone to hide in the bathroom so this was progress.

"What did he do now?" asked Shibata. What, did he need to put Hatori in one of those baby backpack things so Shimazaki would leave him alone? What was even the point of messing with him? He was a little guy who startled easily. There was only so much fun to be had there…not that Shibata had ever been able to understand that sort of fun. The sort that happened at someone else's expense. Shimazaki was either just having fun or he was still being weirdly jealous because Hatori had a little crush on Minegishi. Shibata would believe either.

"He spilled garlic sauce on my bed….can you show me how to do laundry again?" asked Hatori. Shibata was happy to help. He didn't mind the extra work, not for Hatori, he needed all the help he could get. His parents had died before they could teach him how to take care of himself. It had been tragic…and also very suspicious….but Shibata kept that part to himself. Let him think that it had been a freak accident, the fire that killed his parents, and not….some of the stuff Shibata had heard about. The ways that Claw would persuade some espers into joining. No need to get him paranoid.

He had enough going on in his life anyway.

Well they all had a lot going on in their lives but Hatori especially had a lot going on in his life. He was the youngest and he had never even learned how to do his own laundry or cook a meal or even organize his own clothes. He mostly just kept them in a garbage bag and when they all got dirty he had one of the Awakened wash them. Poor Hatori…

Well Shibata was there for him and always would be. Like Her Little Ladyship would have said, that's what friends were for.

"Sure thing. Just let me finish up here. Strip your bedding and leave it by the washer….and if Minegishi has their basket next in the que just leave it behind their stuff. You know how they get about people touching their clothes….or their anything, really." Said Shibata

"I-I know! I mean I did that already I mean…I mean I know not to touch their stuff…or go near them. I mean especially after…what happened. Hey Shibata? Do you…do you think that they still hate me?" asked Hatori. Shibata knew that he had to tread lightly. Hatori felt things very strongly. That was why he was up until three or four in the morning every morning screaming at his games. He was still ashamed of himself, and rightly so, there was a time and place to proposition someone sexually and at a company Christmas party in front of the entire upper echelon, the important financial backers, the kids, and people who spied for Suzuki was not the place….but Minegishi had forgiven him so he should have forgiven himself.

Well Minegishi hadn't brought up being angry with him so he figured that was as close to forgiveness as anyone would ever get from them.

"I think that if they hated you then you'd be dead right now. They probably don't like you but, hey, at least they dislike Fukuda a lot more." Said Shibata. There was no excuse for it, what Fukuda had said, and in front of Little Suzuki, too. Now he would grow up thinking that it was ok to say those sorts of things to people. There was nothing at all wrong with Minegishi's….chestal area….not that Shibata had any sort of opinion on their….on any part of their body at all. No, he had learned a long time ago to keep his eyes above the neckline when it came to everyone. People were always making assumptions about him as it was. It was best not to give them any more fuel for their fires.

"Yeah, at least Fukuda said something worse than what I said…right? I don't know exactly what he said, I was in the bathroom." Said Hatori. Shibata wondered if it should have been a contest. Who wanted to win that? Or even be a part of it. They should not have been talking that way to each other, especially when they had Minegishi around. They weren't a woman, they didn't believe in all of that, but it still felt especially….not right….for them to be spoken to like that….but he wasn't HR, they didn't even have an HR, so he kept that opinion to himself.

"No, it was worse….I think…because he had said it to Little Suzuki first. He's so impressionable and little and he doesn't need to go around talking like that….and also you're not going to hide in the bathroom again, right? You're good?" asked Shibata

"Yeah….I'm ok. I think he went back to his own room. I'm….I'm ok." Said Hatori

"That's good. If you're feeling overwhelmed hide in the hall closet, ok? I can sense Her Little Ladyship and you know how she gets when you hide in the bathroom." Said Shibata. She had helped him, on the plane, to coax Hatori out of the bathroom. It had taken the rest of the flight to get him out but they had done it. He needed to get Hatori a blanket or something to hide under when he got overwhelmed because he could not keep worrying people and tying up the bathroom all day like that.

"Ok….but I'm fine. Thanks, by the way, for the laundry help. I don't know what I would do without you." Said Hatori. Shibata reached out to pat him on the head. He was a great kid, really, once you got past the emotional issues and the fact that he still used about a quarter can of lynx a day…but he was still a good kid. He tensed when Shibata reached out and for a moment he thought that he'd scared Hatori when he realized why he'd tensed up like that. The real reason.

"Get back to stinking to high hell, most likely." Said Minegishi as they entered the kitchen Hatori practically hit the ceiling. Shibata didn't blame him. They could be scary sometimes…a lot of the times. They were a perfectly nice person and all but that didn't mean that they still couldn't be scary….that and the fact that Hatori was very emotionally fragile.

"Yeah….I guess so….hey Minegishi. Little Sister-sama. How's it going?" Said Hatori. He waved a little bit at the two of them. Shibata resisted the urge to pick her up. She was so cute today! Well she was cute every single day but today she was in a new costume and she had her cat ears headband and she was just so cute and-

And he remembered why he had gotten fired from Wee World.

"It'd be going better if you moved out of the way….God, I hate these soviet apartment buildings…" said Minegishi. They scooted past Hatori with Her Little Ladyship following close by.

"They meant to say please. They would have said please if they remembered it…and it's going great. We painted each other's nails. Do you like them." Said Her Little Ladyship. She held up her hands to show everyone…and she was so CUTE! She was so proud of her blue glittery nails! He just watched to pick her up and throw her into the air! But he didn't because the ceiling was low here and also he didn't want to freak her out. Kids didn't like it when you randomly picked them up. He knew that now.

He had learned his lesson long ago.

"You look adorable, Your Little Ladyship." Said Shibata. He so wanted to pick her up and twirl her around…but he would not because that was not his kid and also there was no room. She didn't like to be picked up. Minegishi had told him before that she just put up with it to make him happy. That was why he had stopped picking her up even though she was the most adorable little girl in the whole wide world! Yes she was! Yes she was! Yes she-

He wished he had kids of his own.

He would pick his kids up all the time and toss them in the air and take them to the park and push them on the swings and play with them and all of that other stuff you did with kids. Unfortunately kids weren't in his future. Meeting women who weren't freaked out by his size was hard enough but meeting a woman in Claw was damn near impossible. Most espers were men, the figure was something like nine out of ten, and any women he did meet he would just end up leaving behind when Suzuki had them move again. So for the time being he would just have to enjoy someone else's kids…which was fine by him…

Though he did wish that he had some of his own.

"They look nice. Very…blue." Said Hatori. His eyes kept on looking over to Minegishi. They had made their way over to the fridge and were picking up the opened energy drinks and shaking them. The plant on top of the fridge shuddered as they shook their head. Hatori shuddered along with it. Shibata couldn't tell if it was out of fear or any residual feelings they had for Minegishi. Shibata didn't get it. Sure they were attractive. They had great skin and pretty eyes and they pulled off the short hair look well and on the rare times when they wore something other than jeans and a baggy shirt they cut a nice figure….but they were normally in a pretty bad mood, had let their plants take over the house, took very long baths, and had very loud sex at odd hours of the day or night. Also they were a coworker and it was always a bad idea to even begin to think of a coworker like that.

"Damnit Ryou….I'm guessing he did this?" asked Minegishi as they held up an opened can of energy drink. Hatori mad a noise like someone had slapped him in the face.

"Who else would?" asked Shibata with a shake of his head. The drink hovered across the room and placed itself in Hatori's hand. He wished, sometimes, that he'd gotten telekinesis instead of psycho strength. The telekinesis looked like it was much handier.

"And I'm guessing he's the reason the whole apartment smells like garlic too." Said Minegishi with a sigh. Shibata was tempted to ask them why they put up with that guy if he drove them crazy. They didn't seem like they were a shallow person. There must have been something about him that kept them coming back….and not the same thing that woke the whole house up at four in the morning. Shibata had wondered for years what it was that brought Shimazaki and Minegishi together….though he didn't dare ask. Minegishi might think that he was trying to get with them, which he wasn't, and he didn't want. They probably wouldn't believe that he was just trying to puzzle out the love story that he saw unfolding right in front of him like in a daytime drama.

"He spilled garlic sauce all over my bed and I left the sheets and bedding by the washer….sorry." said Hatori

"It's ok. We'll just get the sheets and bedding washed and then I'll make more garlic butter and it's all going to be alright." Said Shibata. Poor Hatori. Even then he sounded so fragile….poor kid.

"Why didn't you just put them in the washing machine? Are you out of detergent? Because if you are I have some you can have. It's citrus scented and Sho won't let me use it since he's allergic…even though the smell won't kill him just the fruit…I miss citrus…" said Her Little Ladyship. Shibata forgot, sometimes, just how deadly that kid's allergy was….and he made a mental note to remove all oranges and other citrus fruits from the shopping list just to be safe.

"I…don't remember how. Shibata said he'd show me again after he finished up here." Said Hatori. He said it like he was ashamed of himself. There was no reason to be ashamed of himself. He was learning. He had lost the people who were supposed to teach him how to be an adult when he was just a kid. It wasn't his fault.

"For the love of…" muttered Minegishi as they got one of the secret beers out of the vegetable drawer. They had a second one in their hand, probably for Her Little Ladyship. Shibata held his tongue. If Minegishi was giving them a beer, and had painted their nails, then either they were having a spa day or something else had gone wrong in the Suzuki household. He held his tongue about Her Little Ladyship drinking. She had a lot going on in her life, it helped with her powers, and also…in some countries kids could drink….so maybe that was ok? He didn't know. He wasn't anyone's father yet.

"I'll show you how to wash clothes. Come on, it's not hard." Said Her Little Ladyship. It made him sad, sometimes, how fast she'd had to grow up…but President Suzuki just wanted her to be independent and stuff. Still, though, she did a lot more and put up more than a kid her age should have had to…and he wished that there had been more that he could do…besides make dinner…but dinner was good! She was a growing girl and she needed food to live!

"Mob, wait, you can't read Russian." Said Minegishi as they closed the fridge and put the extra beer in the front pocket of their hoody. They pushed past Shibata but stopped and looked over his ingredients. They shook their head, reach out, and amazingly enough a bulb of garlic grew down from one of those spider plants they had hung everywhere. He forgot, sometimes, how amazing their powers were….how amazing everyone else's powers were….

"I like a lot of garlic in my keivs. Put some salt on top when you bake them so they crisp up nicely….and for the love of God watch the fucking stove when you fry them…and bake them…and then after you turn it off for good measure. I swear to God you're trying to kill us all…" muttered Minegishi as they walked off.

"Thank you!" said Shibata. His thanks carried down the hall but he didn't get a 'you're welcome'. Either they didn't hear, they didn't care, or they were in a worse mood than normal. He would easily believe any of that. He sighed as he went back to looking for his cutting board. They were what they were.

All of them were what they were.

And he liked cooking for all of them.