Mob's feet felt very good in her socks.

She loved these socks. They were the best socks ever. They were her knee high socks with Elsa on them. She had gotten these the last time she had been to the Disney Store. That had been a fun trip even if Sho had been upset about having to try on new clothes. It wasn't her fault the Awakened always came back with nonsense. It was just easier for her to buy their clothes. She was good at buying clothes. She was good at buying socks. She was good at buying these socks.

These were the best socks in the world.

"Shimazaki….you're supposed to pass it." Said Mob. She reached over as far as she could until she was practically on top of him. He kept on forgetting to pass the pipe to her. That wasn't nice. He had asked her if she wanted to hang out while Minegishi was communing with nature. So that was what she did. She hung out with him in his room and they were smoking and everything was great and her socks felt good around her feet and her feet felt good in her socks.

"What?" asked Shimazaki. He had been trying to find Toshi. They were out back laying down in the garden. They were happy. This was Australia, which meant the southern hemisphere, which meant summer. Summer meant plants and plants meant a happy Toshi. He could feel it, a little bit, at the edges of his aura. Happy Toshi. Toshi felt so good when they were happy…and they sounded so good…like someone had shoved one of those little Christmas bells in a pudding cup but it could still ring sometimes…he had no clue he was high as fuck what did he know?

Well he knew that he was supposed to pass the fucking pipe.

So that was what he did. He could barely hear or feel Toshi over the aura next to his. That was Mob. She was supposed to be ten but she did not feel ten. So it was a little confusing. What was also confusing was where he was supposed to hand this pipe too. She was…he had to focus on her….but how could he focus on her when Toshi was outside communing with nature? They were so…so….so….

He loved feeling like this.

"You have to pass it to me because that's being nice. You…you're a nice person Shimazaki….and I know that you can be nice….so please pass it…and also feel my socks." Said Mob. She nudged him with her foot. He reached out like he didn't know where she was. Of course he knew where she was. He was Shimazaki. He always saw her. He saw and did not see and she saw him and he had on socks too and his were black and they didn't look as soft as hers. She nudged his foot with hers. Yup. His socks were not as soft as hers by a longshot.

"Take it from me….I can't see shit right now….this is good shit. This is really good shit." Said Shimazaki. God, he couldn't remember the last time he and the kid had done this. Toshi had been all worried about her lately. They didn't want her to overdo this. Well then what was the point of being friends with a kid if you couldn't get them high? Honestly. Toshi was the best human being to have ever lived and all but they needed to get their priorities in order. A kid that you got high with today was a boss that you could get high with tomorrow….or whenever one of Suzuki's kids ended up turning on him.

"This is good…now feel my socks. These are the best socks in the whole world. I have never worn socks this soft in my whole life. Feel them." Said Mob. She took the pipe from his hands and inhaled. It was still on fire from the last time. She got a lot of ash on that inhale…he had finished another one. OK, so that made…three he finished…and two she finished…and one was kind of a draw…so…was it even? She didn't know. She did most of her math on her phone.

"No Mob….you don't know what you're talking about. Toshi has the world's softest socks. They have these socks with lotion in them, like the fibers or something, and they are the softest things in the world…Toshi is the softest person in the world…Toshi is just so….Toshi…" said Shimazaki. He couldn't shut up about them. He didn't want to shut up about them. They were…Toshi. They were so…Toshi. They were he Toshi-est Toshi to ever be Toshi….also fuck Fukuda their tits were the most perfect tits that he had ever felt in his life and he had felt approximately two hundred and fifty pairs of tits in his life that he could remember.

"Oh! I know those socks! We got them when we went to the underground mall in Seoul! I had a pair like that too but then I lost one in the move…so I stopped wearing them….and stuff…." Said Mob as she shook out the bowl. She reached over with her powers and started to grind up more. You could smoke it without grinding it but it wasn't as good, Shimazaki had said, and she would always listen to him when it came to this stuff because he was the master and she was just the person who he smoked with him in his room on his bed in comfy socks sometimes.

"Seoul is…Toshi likes Seoul. Toshi likes Korea….I bet Toshi would have liked to have gone to Korea…" said Shimazaki. That was…the kid was there…and he missed the kid. Even if he was being all awkward and stuff now he was still a great kid. He was definitely smoking the kid up next time he saw him. He'd be so much fun high! They'd do fun stuff like to go the airport and switch around the luggage! Or go to the aquarium and swim with the fish! Or go to the grocery store and excessively sample things!

God, he missed that kid.

Mob was fun in her own way but the kid was fun in his own way and it was amazing that they had both come from someone like Suzuki. That man was no fun. No sex, no drugs, no women, no fun at all. Hell, he even had a jerk off schedule he followed which was, in Shimazaki's opinion, some serial killer shit…and Shimazaki was not a serial killer! He was a hit man! He was a hit man and there was a difference! He never killed for pleasure! He had never once killed a man for the pleasure of killing him!

He hadn't!

"Shimazaki….you're being weird…your aura is weird. Sort of mad. If you don't want to feel my socks then you don't have to. I believe you about Minegishi's socks." Said Mob as she finished grinding. They were running low. They had already smoked so much, almost a quarter of the gallon bag, and that was a lot…also her teeth felt weird against her tongue….so she needed to drink something. She reached over and picked up her gallon of milk and took a drink.

It was good milk.

"I'm fine." Said Shimazaki. He was fine and he was himself and he was himself and only himself and….and he was fine. What was the scraping noise? He tensed up. He followed the sound and he focused on her movements…she was drinking milk and that was not what was making that sound…oh. She was grinding more for them. Good girl. She was going to be such a good boss some day. They'd get high together every single day and they'd party around the world and she'd send him on missions to fun places and he'd kill her enemies for her and Toshi would be there too and it would be a fun time and then he'd be able to see Toshi every single day like he did now and he wouldn't get kicked out of Claw like he had the Family…and it would be a good time….

"Are you sure? You can tell me anything, you know. We're friends and friends can tell each other everything. That's part of being friends…and friends….and stuff. I don't know. Do you want to start it?" asked Mob as she held up the pipe.

"No, you can have greens since I've been hogging it. You deserve it tiny boss lady." Said Shimazaki. He felt the lighter being taken from his hand and then he heard it click on. He focused on her, on her body. He focused on the way her lungs expanded outwards. He focused on the way her throat moved as she inhaled. He focused on all the little muscle groups that moved as she coughed. God, people were so fascinating sometimes. He could just watch her for hours. He sort of had to. Toshi was fully communed with nature now. He couldn't tell where the nature ended and Toshi began. He could feel them in the grass outside his room and he could hear them and he wanted to have them near so badly that it hurt….so fucking much….

But in a good way.

"Don't call me that….my name is Suzuki Shigeko….or Mob…but not tiny boss lady…" said Mob as she coughed. She put the pipe and the lighter in his hands and then reached over for her gallon of milk. Her throat was all raw and stuff…but that was ok because it was worth it. She felt good now. She had been feeling bad without Sho in the house but now she felt better. She needed Sho but she wasn't going to smother him….and that meant leaving him alone to his mission…and finding people who wanted her around.

Like Shimazaki.

She was with her friends because it was not Sunday. On Sunday she and dad spent time together but because it was not Sunday then that was not an option. It was time for her to spend time with her friends and Shimazaki always made her feel better. Well Minegishi did too but Minegishi was out communing with nature and also they never let her smoke this much. Her eyes were all squinted up and her skin felt good in her clothes…which meant that she had smoked too much….even though she felt so great….and a little hungry…..a little very hungry…but still great!

She laid down on the bed.

This was the softest bed ever. This was the softest bed and it smelled nice, too, like Shimazaki's cologne. They had barely been here but the room already smelled like him. It was so nice. No wonder Minegishi was always cuddled up with him. It smelled so nice in here and his bed was so soft…and this was all so nice! She wanted to take this feeling inside of her for the rest of her life! She wanted to take it and bottle it up and then she would be happy for the rest of her life and then she wouldn't miss Sho anymore and she wouldn't want to call him or text him during his mission because she just wanted to be with her brother so badly….

Shimazaki had better pass that back soon.

"You, Suzuki Shigeko, are my tiny boss lady. You are the boss of me and you always will be the boss of me and when you replace your dad you and I are going to have so much fun….just you wait. We're going to do this every single night and then during the day we'll do more of this, and I guess do some work too, and then it'll be the best time ever…and shit. You and me and Toshi and those other two and your brother...God I miss Sho so fucking much…." Said Shimazaki before he took his turn. Right. Gotta keep the rotation going or they'd start to come down and then there was no fun in that at all. What a waste of a…whatever time of day it was. He didn't know. He'd ask his phone later.

"I miss Sho too….I miss being with him…and I miss his smiles…and I miss how he'd draw pictures of things all the time and they would be very good and even if they weren't good I would still miss him drawing all the time….and stuff…." Said Mob as the pipe was passed back to her. She wished that Sho could have been there with them. Well not with them right now, Sho was not allowed to do this ever for his whole life, but she wished that Sho hadn't gone on the away mission…or that she could have gone with him…but dad would never let her do a thing like that. Dad loved her and the only way he knew how to show his love was by smothering her.

And that was why she wasn't going to smother Sho.

Even though she needed to know if he was ok. Fukuda was a healer and all so he could take care of Sho if he got hurt or something like that but what about all the other stuff? What about if he got lonely? What about if he got scared? What about if he wet the bed? What about if he only wanted to have cake and ice cream for dinner? What about…she kept on going over the 'what abouts' in her head. There were just so many and…and she had no idea how to keep him safe without smothering him…and she didn't want to smother him…

Because she knew what it felt like to be smothered.

Like now. This wasn't the sort of smothering that dad did to her. This was the smothering that came with someone as big as Shimazaki trying to lay down next to her in a one person bed. She made room for him. She was so close that she could see the marks where one tattoo had been put over an old one…and she liked this one of Minegishi being all happy a lot more than the naked lady….but she would keep that to herself because you weren't supposed to comment on people's bodies like that. It was rude.

And she didn't want to make him feel bad.

Even though he made her feel squished. She was squished between him and the wall. He was really big. She was too big to share a one person bed with her own brother let alone a grown up…but here she was. There they were. She could see more of his tattoos where his shirt had gotten all messed up. She rolled over onto her side. Now she had more room. She smoothed his shirt down with her powers. He tensed, his whole aura tensed, but then he relaxed.

"Warn a guy when you're going to do that." Said Shimazaki

"I'm sorry. I was just fixing your shirt. I do that for Sho all the time." Said Mob

"Well still warn a guy. My barrier is weird right now, you actually touched me." Said Shimazaki

"Oh….I'm sorry. I know that you're not supposed to touch people without asking them and I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." Said Mob

"You didn't make me uncomfortable, you just freaked me out a little bit. The only person who can touch me without asking is Toshi and that's just because they're Toshi. You are not Toshi….you're Mob…and also I don't mean to lay next to you in a creepy way so if Toshi or anyone asks I didn't mean to be creepy, ok?" said Shimazaki

"Ok." Said Mob. She didn't know what was creepy about this. People shared beds all the time. She shared a bed with dad and Sho all the time and she had shared with Minegishi too and they weren't family. Well sometimes it felt like they were but they weren't family, just best friends. She and Shimazaki weren't best friends or anything like that, just good friends, but she still didn't see what was supposed to be creepy about this. She didn't feel creeped out at all.

She felt good.

She felt good with her socks in her feet and her gallon of milk up by her head and the way her hair felt as it grew out of her head and the way her sleeves felt against her arms. She would have felt perfect if not for the fact that her socks had ridden down as she laid down and now her legs were rubbing together and getting all itchy and stuff. Itchy legs were the absolute worst but she had no clue how to make them stop.

She rubbed her legs together.

They were all itchy and pokey and scratchy now. She didn't like it. She reached down and pulled her socks up. There. That was better. She went back to laying on her back as best as she could. She looked up at the ceiling. She saw a white ceiling and a ceiling fan going around and around because it was summer here, not winter, and that meant that it was hot out. She wondered what Shimazaki saw. Probably a lot of black. He had no eyes so he saw a lot of black. He saw things that she didn't, though, with his aura so they were even. He heard things, too, like auras. They had sounds to them, he had said, and hers was like screaming.

She closed her eyes.

All she could hear was her breathing and his breathing and the ceiling fan going around and around. She could hear the TV going in the other room. She could hear Hatori cursing at his game. She could hear the gunshots from his game. She could hear it all in her brain, not with her aura, and she could see auras with her brain but not with her aura…so there were things that he could see that she couldn't….and stuff….

"I will never see what you see." Said Mob

"What?" asked Shimazaki

"There are things that you see with your aura that I will never be able to see. There are things that you hear that I will never be able to hear. It goes both ways too. There are things that I see that you will never be able to see. There are things that I can hear that you will never be able to hear." Said Mob

"You're too high, Mob, you are way too high if you think that there is something in this world that you can hear but I can't." Said Shimazaki

"Can you hear the ceiling fan?" asked Mob

"Duh, of course." Said Shimazaki

"What about the TV in the living room?" asked Mob

"It's on the cooking channel as usual. They're talking about making crepes so I guess that we're having crepes tomorrow." Said Shimazaki

"Um….what about Hatori cursing and shooting people?" asked Mob

"I can hear that and a whole lot more….and trust me, you don't want to listen to what's going on in that room. That is something that I pray to God that only I will ever be able to hear." Said Shimazaki

"What's so bad about listening to Hatori?" asked Mob

"You'll know when you're older….and how dare he say Toshi's name…not that I care." Said Shimazaki. His thoughts had been sort of dark tonight and he had no idea why. Toshi wasn't really mad at him about the plane ride and hadn't been at the time. Australia was great, it was summer here, and the kid was being good company. Was it because he missed Sho? Well that and….and for some reason he always felt like he missed Toshi…and they had been consuming his every thought lately…and he had no clue why. They had always been someone special to him but now it was like….like they were someone extra special to him…or something….he didn't know….

Toshi was Toshi.

"Why can't he talk about Minegishi?" asked Mob

"Because….I don't know. My own stupid thoughts. That's something that I can hear, you know, my thoughts. So therefore I have the better hearing." Said Shimazaki

"Well I can hear my thoughts too so….so you can't hear mine. It's like…like there's a world in my head and it's only for me…and you can't see it or hear it or…or anything. Because it's mine alone. It's like everything is mine in my head and in your head everything is yours and…and everyone just has this whole world inside of them…and they will never know my world…and I will never know theirs." Said Mob. She stared up at the ceiling. How had she never realized this before? She had no idea what anyone else was thinking. Shimazaki was a person who was laying right beside her and he had thoughts in his head and she would never be able to hear them…she would never be able to see the world that was inside of his head…and stuff…

"Mob…get me on to your level." Said Shimazaki. God, he envied her. He wished that he could have been ten again. Then he could have really felt it, felt her, felt what she was feeling…though like she had said he would never truly know what it was that she was feeling and the reverse was true as well. They would never know each others feelings just like Toshi would never know his…

What even were his feelings?

Toshi. Toshi was his feeling and Toshi had been his feeling for a while now. Maybe even since the day he had met them. That first mission together. God….had he known how great they were back then? He didn't know. All he knew was that they were great now and…and he always wanted to be with them. Now and forever. He felt better when they were around. He felt better about himself and better about the world and just…better…when they were near. There was never a time when he didn't want to be near to them. They were in his head and in his bed and in him and he was in them…well he wasn't….but he wanted to be…and not just like that. He wanted to be in their head like they were in his head. He wanted them to think about him all the time like he thought of them. He wanted them to…to want him…like he wanted them….

But how did he want them?

"If you want to be on my level then you need to smoke more. It's been your turn for like….a bunch of turns of the ceiling fan." Said Mob

"No…no I'm pretty sure it's your turn." Said Shimazaki

"No, it's yours…so take your turn already." Said Mob. She hadn't meant to sound mean there but she wanted her turn and she would never get her turn unless he took his turn already…but she should be nice because he was nice enough to let her smoke with him and stuff. She should be nice in general. She had to be sweet and nice because mom had wanted her to be…and because people liked her better this way…and because she wanted the world to be nice, she wanted everyone in the world to be nice to each other, so she had to be nice to everyone.

"God…you sound like Toshi almost…God I miss Toshi…" said Shimazaki. He wanted to share this moment with Toshi…and there he went thinking about them again. But why? They lived with him. He didn't have to think about them, he could be with them at any time. So why did his mind keep on turning back to them like this? Why were they just…inside of him….like this? Why was he…like this? He didn't know. This was too much thinking.

"I miss Minegishi too." Said Mob as she felt the bracelet around her wrist. She wished that she could have shared this moment and this feeling with her best friend….but she knew that she had overdid it and she knew that Minegishi would have been upset with her for overdoing it like this when she knew better than to overdo it…but she did miss Minegishi…and she missed Sho too…even though she knew that Sho could never be a part of this….

She just missed everyone.

"God….Toshi….I can't stop thinking about Toshi. They're just so…Toshi. Like…like when they're around I feel so good…and when they aren't around I just can't stop wishing that they were around….and I wish that Toshi were here right now….because Toshi is…is Toshi…" said Shimazaki

"Wait….if you bring Minegishi here then they'll see that I overdid it…and then I should go before you bring Minegishi here…" said Mob as she fiddled with her bracelet. She shifted in the bed and she heard something hit the ground. She didn't know what it was. She didn't want to get up. She kept on laying down. Shimazaki lifted one of his arms and it took her a minute to realize that he wanted her to use him as a pillow.

Which she did.

He didn't make a good pillow, a pillow would have made a good pillow, but she was less cramped now. She had some room now and that was good. She could smell him more now. He wore a lot of cologne because the world smelled bad, he said, and he liked to smell things that were good. She didn't really care all too much. She was just happy not to be smothered and stuff.

"Toshi's communing with nature and I'm not going to take them away from that…I can barely see past you I'm so fucked up…God, how is your aura so bright? You brother's aura isn't nearly as bright…God I miss him….I bet he would have gone to the hospital with me and played with the machines…." Said Shimazaki. He didn't like hospitals, they smelled bad and were full of death and rot, but he did like all of the machines that they had there. The way they sounded. He had gone to the hospital a lot as a child, before he could put up a barrier, and he wondered if they still remembered him. Maybe. That was in Japan though and he didn't trust himself to start teleporting all the way to Japan.

"Don't….don't do that stuff with Sho…because it's not ok and…and he might think that it's ok…and I'm his big sister. I have to take care of him. He…he needs to know what's good and what's bad and I have to be the one to teach him….and stuff…" said Mob

"You are nothing like Sho….God I miss him….I mean I like you but…yeah, he's a fun kid…like the time with the old timey bicycle and the big stick….that was fun….we have fun together…" said Shimazaki

"Don't worry. Sho's going to come back and then when he does you and him can have more fun together….and stuff." Said Mob. She wanted Sho to have a best friend…but she also wanted him to stop cursing and to stop doing such mean things…and stuff. Like the time when he made the man fall off the bike….that hadn't been a good thing at all….and she wanted to tell him to be nice but she didn't want to smother him either….and it was hard to both take care of someone but also to not smother them.

"Yeah….we'll have fun….hopefully like before. God…please let this crush end soon." Said Shimazaki. He had no clue what he was supposed to do about this. The kid had a crush on him, which was whatever, but no matter what Shimazaki said to him it never seemed to get any better. He needed it to end…yesterday! The kid had been a lot more fun before he'd gotten all lovesick and jealous and shit.

"Crush? You have a crush? Who do you have a crush on?" asked Mob. She turned to face him. He was IN LOVE?! That was the best news that she had heard since the thing about Shibata making crepes tomorrow. Love was the best thing in the world. All you needed was love. Now he was in love and he could be happy and live happily ever after with the love of his life and this was the best thing ever!

"Me? Nobody…maybe Toshi….but it's not about me. Just…never fall in love with me, ok? Never fall in love with me, never have a crush on me, just never have any romantic feelings about me whatsoever, ok? Rub one or two or twenty out to me, that's fine, but never catch feelings for me." Said Shimazaki. Maybe he should have just had this talk with the kid when they'd met….but he'd had no way of knowing that the kid was bi….at least…let alone that he would catch feelings like this. He was ten. He should have had a crush on a guy his own age or something. Shimazaki didn't care who the kid jerked off to, he could scream his name to the heavens for all he cared, but he did not know how to deal with the kid's feelings without hurting him and shit. It was complicated.

"Um….ok? I mean I've always just liked you as a friend…and stuff….and I don't think that anything will ever change between us so….ok? Also what does that mean?" asked Mob

"To love someone? I have no clue. I used to think that it meant that shit they have in books, you know. Long speeches and going into battle for someone and stuff….or like getting married and wanting to, like, own someone….but now I just don't know. Like…I care about Toshi more than anyone in the world and I always want to be with them and….and I have no idea what light is but I think that…that's what they are. Like I know that the sun is warm and lightbulbs are warm and shit…so that's why I think that Toshi is light…and I don't know what I would do without them….but I don't want to own them. I mean…the thought of someone being in love with Toshi, making them their partner, it makes me want to start committing murders….and I am not a serial killer I don't kill for pleasure….but I would…take pleasure…in killing someone who thought that they could own Toshi like that….and that might mean that I want to own Toshi…or something? I don't know. It's complicated. It's a very complicated thing, love, and when I figure it out then I'll tell you." Said Shimazaki with a sigh. He could feel her aura on him. What? That was the best that he could do. Let's see her do better then.

"No…I mean what does 'rub one or two or twenty out' mean?" asked Mob. That had been the most beautiful thing that she had ever heard…and she wished that Minegishi had heard that because then they might have become more than friends who kissed and did other things together….and then that would have been the best….but that hadn't been what she had meant and she had to ask about what she had meant to ask about before she forgot.

"Uh….you still only ten years old?" asked Shimazaki. Well he had certainly fucked up now hadn't he? Right. She was a kid and not every kid was him and she didn't do that yet and he had just talked about that with a kid and now everyone would be all 'I told you so' because he looked like such a creep.

"I'm going to be eleven in May." Said Mob. This had better not have been one of those things she could only know about when she got older things…she was getting so sick of those.

"Yeah…that's too young and I fucked up real bad there." said Shimazaki. Toshi was going to be so mad at him…and also Toshi was going to think that he was a creep! Which he wasn't! He didn't fuck kids! He had it tattooed right there on his dick for the world to see! If there's no grass on the field then he was not going to play ball! He did not spend all that time with needles being shoved into his dick just to have people think that he fucked kids!

"What do you mean?" asked Mob. She didn't see how he had F-worded up…but she was bad at talking things and also the feel of her toes in her socks was very distracting right now.

"Just…forget I said anything, ok? And don't you dare ask Toshi what that means or they're going to be so mad at me…for real mad not Toshi's ketchup packet times mad…just…you'll figure it out on your own when you get older, ok? Now let's find where the hell that bowl went to and finish and….I don't know….listen to the Beatles?" asked Shimazaki as he sat up quickly.

"I don't know what you're so worried about but ok, I can keep a secret, and we can listen to the Beatles if you want…even though I would rather listen to either the Frozen soundtrack, the Tangled soundtrack, or the My Neighbor Totoro soundtrack." Said Mob. Shimazaki shook his head and stuck out his tongue.

"Soundtracks. Disgusting. I am ashamed of you, Suzuki Shigeko, you're an embarrassment to my forefathers." Said Shimazaki. Honestly. Soundtracks? Had she bene raised by WOLVES? Why not just ride elevators all day for the music? Why not just follow an ice cream truck? Why not just hang out in an old folk's home and….actually the oldies could be pretty good. That classical stuff they listened to, too. That traditional shit could be good too, like that shit Suzuki listened to when he thought that nobody was around. The traditional stuff he liked, not the soundtracks to shows that had gone off the air before Shimazaki had even been born….and there was his answer. She had been raised by Suzuki and Suzuki was a total weirdo.

"But…we're not family….so why would I embarrass your forefathers? Also you said that your family was yakuza all the way back, not musicians, so wouldn't they be embarrassed that I'm not in the yakuza? And also wouldn't they be more embarrassed at you for quitting the yakuza?" asked Mob

"First of all there were probably some musicians back there, I only know the names of my forefathers not what they did, and also I didn't quit the yakuza, the family kicked me out." Said Shimazaki

"Oh….I'm sorry that your family kicked you out. I'm sure that you didn't deserve it." Said Mob. That was the saddest thing that she had ever heard. Family didn't kick out family…that wasn't how family worked. No wonder he had stabbed his dad in the stomach….though maybe that was why he had gotten kicked out in the first place…

"Oh, no, I totally deserved it. I let my dad die…and well in letting him die I also had to let a bunch of other high ranking people die…and also my whole existence was an embarrassment to the old bastard…and I stuck my dick in a lot of places where it was wanted but did not belong….let some people stick there's where it was definitely wanted and definitely belonged….and then there was the time I burnt my house down on accident….and the drugs…I was HEAVY into drugs for a while…and also the thing with the other thing….just I did a lot of stuff and my getting kicked out was totally well earned….anyway I don't like to talk about this! Now, what's your favorite Beatles album?" asked Shimazaki. He'd been having dark thoughts all night and he did not need to make them any worse than they were now. He was going to smoke a bowl with the kid and wait for Toshi to stop laying naked in the garden and he was going to listen to the Beatles because they always made him feel good and then that was just what he was going to do.

"Um…I don't know any albums but I like the song that goes 'hey Jude, don't be afraid' I like that one and I like the one about the Blackbird and I like the one about where the man sings about yesterday…and also the one where the man sings about being a jealous guy…those are Beatles songs that I like…but I don't know a lot of Beatles songs so you can pick." Said Mob. She could feel his aura and he felt unhappy….and also she knew what some of that stuff that he had said meant and she did not want to talk about sex with him…..so gross….so she would gladly listen to every song that those English guys had ever sang in their entire lifetime than talk about sex with Shimazaki….or anyone….because it was gross…the grossest thing ever.

Ick.

"Jealous Guy isn't a Beatles song, it's a Lennon song, and you only like their depressing stuff. I've been having a lot of dark thoughts lately so we're going to be listening to Yellow Submarine because it's my favorite, and then we'll be listening to Help, and then if we have time and you want to listen to something heavy Revolver. Ok? And….I guess we can listen to some of Lennon's solo stuff since you seem to like it? Ok? Good plan?" asked Shimazaki. Her brother would have gone right to Yellow Submarine….and then they would have gone and built a fort and pretended that they were in a Yellow Submarine…but she wasn't her brother. Toshi would have picked Revolver and Let it Be since they liked heavy shit…but she wasn't Toshi. She was Mob and she was herself and she was his friend and he needed to get out of this Toshi/dark thoughts spiral he'd been in for a while….

Maybe get higher? Yeah. That would work.

"Um….sure. That sounds like a good plan….it does." Said Mob. She had no idea what he had just said but if it got them talking about other things and it got them back to smoking then she was happy. If it got her to stop wanting to smother Sho with love, to call him and see how he was doing, to interrupt his important mission, then she was happy. If it got her to forget that Minegishi would be mad at her, very mad, if they found out that not only had she smoked without them but also overdid it….and not just overdid it but was going to keep on overdoing it then she was happy. If it kept her feeling this good, if it kept her thinking about how good this bed felt and how soft her socks felt against her feet, then she was happy. If it got her feeling good and kept her feeling good then she was happy.

Mob felt very good when she smoked….and she felt very good in her socks, too.