Mob really needed to talk to people her own age.

Minegishi loved Mob, they really did, but she needed to at least talk to someone her own age once in a while. She was elven, almost, and she needed to learn how to talk to other eleven year olds. Also she needed to find a boy her own age to crush on because now it looked like she was either pining after Hatori or dealing with a whole new set of emotions towards him and Minegishi would rather Mob get that out of her system with someone her own age. They did not need Mob heartbroken again when she realized, again, that there was no hope for anything between her and Hatori. She was just into him because he was the only person even remotely close to her age. Ryou was….Ryou and Shibata was their resident mother hen. She needed to meet a boy her own age and she needed one now.

Hence this little trip into the city.

Well technically they were here to get Mob some new clothes since she had grown out of last year's summer clothes. Also Minegishi needed some new T-shirts just for the sake of having new T-shirts. One could never have too many florals in their wardrobe after all. Mob shared their opinion, though with her it was Elsa shirts and dresses and skirts and socks and hair ribbons and whatever else they good people at Disney would slap Elsa's face onto and sell for several thousand times the cost to produce. That had been an interesting romp through the world of Disney merchandise….and why anyone would need a Frozen ice cube tray was beyond them…it was just so on the nose…but if Mob wanted it and she was the one with thousands of Australian dollars in her bag then Minegishi was not going to tell them that a Frozen ice cube tray was way too on the nose.

They weren't going to shit on her joy. Life would do that to her later.

"What should we put the ice cubes in first? We can make lemonade now that Sho isn't here and won't die. Or we could make pink lemonade too. We could make tang, too, if you like tang." Said Mob as she held her new ice cube tray in her hands. They were at Starbucks now. Minegishi had wanted some mediocre coffee after the day they'd had. There had been plenty of kids at the Disney Store but Mob hadn't talked to any of them. Not even the guys though she had done a lot of staring. A lot of staring and blushing and not a whole lot of anything else. They didn't get it. Mob was ten, not even eleven, and things were as low stakes as they got at her age.

But this was why Minegishi was there.

She wanted a boyfriend….well she said that she wanted a boyfriend but Minegishi suspected that she just wanted male attention from someone who wasn't her father and also she wanted to kiss someone badly. God, to be young again….Minegishi wasn't going back and nobody could make them. This was the age where Mob had to get comfortable around people, especially guy people, since that was what she was into and it would only get more awkward from here. Minegishi was not going to let her end up like Hatori. Even though her dad was the over protective 'nobody goes near my daughter but me' type she still needed, and deserved, all the things she wanted.

And also the world did not need another Hatori.

"Sugar is poison. Let's just make ice tea when we get home." Said Minegishi. That did sound like a nice time. Them, at home, drinking some ice tea in the garden and reading. Communing with nature. The house filling with smoke because they were outside instead of reminding Shibata to watch the stove. Hatori hiding in the bathroom because Ryou wouldn't leave him alone. Ryou pacing a hole in the floor because he did not deal well with boredom and Suzuki's son was still off with that healer. At some point he'd come outside and bother them…or just rest his head on their lap and have them read him a book…or he'd just start singing out of tune with half the words wrong….or he would just sort of be there and….and it would be a nice time….

But they did that every single day.

"Ok….but I want to put sugar in mine. I like it better with sugar. Yours doesn't have to have sugar in it though…and I won't put any sugar in the pitcher. Hatori isn't supposed to have sugar anymore, you said, because of his skin." Said Mob

"I didn't day that he couldn't have sugar I said that he shouldn't have sugar…or he should at least cut back. The man doesn't drink water." Said Minegishi. The fact that Hatori Nozomu had lived this long was a testament to teenage metabolisms. He would have been dead years ago if he had just been ten years older. He didn't like the taste of water…WATER of all things. Yeah, Mob had found herself a real winner there. He was a nice enough guy when he wasn't being an overdramatic teenager or propositioning them sexually but Mob…she deserved someone who drank water, didn't need to be reminded that clothes needed to be washed, and didn't hide in the bathroom whenever something upset them. Also she deserved someone her own age.

Like those kids over there.

They could see where Mob's eyes had been going. There were some kids over by some artificial pond thing feeding ducks overpriced Starbucks desserts. Mob either really wanted to feed the ducks or she wanted to talk to those boys. Minegishi would believe either. It was always love, love, love with Mob. It had been bad enough when she had been reading her shoujo hell mangas and watching her sappy romantic movies. Now she was shipping them with Shimazaki. They were well aware that Ryou was a nice person, that he cared about them, and that he was a good friend when he wasn't acting like a crazy person. They were very aware of Shimazaki Ryou and they were also aware of the fact that he didn't do the relationship thing either.

For reasons that Mob was WAY too young to know about.

Mob was so…whatever the ten year old equivalent to being hard up was….that she was shipping her friends. She needed to get this out of her system and with a boy her own age. Not a boyfriend, her father would go on a killing spree, but she could at least smile at some boy and hold hands and probably kiss him too…which Minegishi was not going to watch because they had other things to do with their life than watch kids flirt and kiss like a creeper. No, they'd just let Mob get what she needed to get out of her system and then hopefully the shippening would come to an end….

Because they did not know how much of that they could take.

"I've seen him drink water. There's water in soda." Said Mob

"Not enough of it. Drink a ton of water or you'll end up with skin like his." Said Minegishi

"I know that this is a mean thing to say but…I want my skin to be more like yours and not like his." Said Mob. Minegishi shook their head. Their skin was terrible. Mob had never seen how terrible their skin could get but she had seen the long, multi step process it took to get their skin this way. They reached up to their hairline. They were broken out a little…and they had no idea how that had happened. Mob was lucky. She was in her last years of clear skin.

"You don't want my skin. It's a lot of work to get it to something close to acceptable." Said Minegishi. They did and did not care about how they looked. If people had a problem with their hair or clothes or body or whatever then they could bend over and fuck themselves raw with a potato peeler for all Minegishi cared. They didn't like to look….not nice….though. They took care of themselves. Self-care was the most important form of care or whatever. They didn't know. They just really liked skincare.

"Yes but it's fun work…and also you're very pretty. Can we do skin masks when we get home? I have a whole can of oatmeal that nobody's touched. Then we can do avocado face masks after that. That way we won't have wrinkles or signs of aging. I saw about them on Youtube." Said Mob. Minegishi shook their head.

"You don't have wrinkles or signs of aging, Mob, you're ten years old." Said Minegishi. They took a sip of their coffee to cover up their smile. They weren't laughing at her expense, it was just such a weird thing for her to worry about. The oatmeal made sense, she was getting to the oily skin age, but avocado? They'd have been better off eating them…and actually that sounded pretty good…and they could freak Ryou out with one too. He hated the texture for some reason…and it would serve him right for waking Hatori up in the middle of the night pretending to be a wandering murderer….well he sort of was…God, he was so ridiculous sometimes….

"I'll be eleven soon." Said Mob. One of these days Minegishi would have to tell her that it didn't make her sound older when she said that, in fact it made her look younger, but it was still pretty adorable.

"You still won't have any wrinkles or signs of aging." Said Minegishi with a shrug. They wondered, briefly, if they….no. Ryou would have told them. He had been looking at them a lot lately. Looking at them and cuddling them and kissing them….and they had no idea what had gotten him so amorous but they didn't really mind. It was sort of nice….really….him being near them. Waking up in the middle of the night as the little spoon. Him holding them and just….being there. Inhaling and exhaling. Being still for once in his life. His barrier down for once. Their aura touching his….it was nice…..

They took a big drink of coffee.

"Yes but the lady on Youtube said that it was never too early to worry about aging." Said Mob. Yup, Mob was getting to that age. Minegishi didn't blame her. They too had gone through a period of time when they had been obsessed with their appearance. That was just part of growing up. Thank God it had been a short phase for them. They were done living by other people's ideas of what was and was not attractive. They did what they did for themselves…and now they had to teach Mob how to do the same. For someone as powerful as her she really cared what people thought of her.

Part of the age.

Minegishi would have shot themselves in the head before they went back to that age…and not just because their life had been pretty hellish back then. No, not because of the external factors but the internal ones. Their body had begun to betray them and then their mind followed…fuck puberty. Someone should have invented a way to fast forward through it by now. But no, they were too busy making phones into tiny computers and figuring out how to teach cats to play piano.

This was not going to be a fun few years…but they'd help Mob get through it.

"You're better off worrying about oily skin. Trust me on this, your skin is about to get really oily really soon, and it might stay that way." said Minegishi. Mob's eyebrows knitted together. She was thinking. Her dad made that same face but it wasn't nearly as cute. Disrobing, actually, because it was never a good thing for anyone when Suzuki Touichirou started thinking.

"…how soon?" asked Mob. She reached up and touched her face. Still surprisingly clear. Minegishi had started breaking out when they had been her age….though taking care of their skin hadn't really been a priority for them.

"It's different for everyone. For you I'd give it a year, tops, before you really have to worry about your skin getting oily." Said Minegishi

"…then I'll look like Hatori? Not to be mean to Hatori, he's my friend and I like him a lot, I just don't want to be like he used to be before." asked Mob. The horror on her face was blatant. She didn't usually wear her emotions on her face like that. They almost wanted to take a picture. Then when they were middle aged or whatever they could pull out that picture and tease Mob with it. In a good way, of course, they weren't going to be waving her awkward years in her face. No, that would be Hatori…if the President didn't kill him soon.

They had no clue what the President kept on borrowing him for but they knew that it couldn't be kinky illicit sex.

Suzuki had higher standards than that, first of all, and second of all Hatori would not have been able to keep it to himself. Maybe they were just playing Minecraft like Hatori had said….though Minegishi was slightly more inclined to believe Ryou's graphic tales of illicit, kinky, HR report worthy sex. Whatever. He was a bizarre man their boss and he could do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted because he was the most powerful being on Earth…but he had better not have been doing anything to hurt Hatori because Mob cared about the former grease ball and she did not need any more pain in her life than she already had.

And if someone decided to cause her more pain well then Minegishi would have no choice but to pay it back on Mob's behalf. With interest.

"No, not if you take care of yourself." Said Minegishi

"Ok…and I really am sorry about what I said about Hatori." Said Mob

"Don't beat yourself up. He's not even here to hear you." Said Minegishi

"I know but I still feel bad. He's my friend and friends are supposed to be nice to one another. He's never been anything but nice to me…well he confessed to you…and also he wants to eat you….but he's still very nice. He made me an enchanting table in Minecraft." Said Mob. Minegishi dropped their coffee. Their grip went slack. They didn't have the mental energy to process what Mob had just said. How could she…did she KNOW what that meant? Well Minegishi had known that that had meant but they had been exposed to a lot of shit that a ten year old should not have been exposed to….and Mob was ten in the age of the internet where anything, and they meant ANYTHING, was only a click away. She knew how Google worked….and she could have seen….the things she could have seen….

Next time Ryou gave Hatori some of those random pills he was always finding they were not going to lift a finger to stop him.

"Mob….do you have any idea what that even...is?" asked Minegishi. Well now it looked like they were going to have the talk in the middle of a Starbucks in Australia on the hottest day of the year. They wanted nothing more than to send Mob off to feed the ducks with the other kids but they also knew that they had to correct whatever the hell she had learned on the internet as soon as possible. The internet was not the place to learn about sex. These things were best learned from people who knew about these things and could explain them in a mature and straightforward matter….and Mob's father was useless and her mother was dead to it fell to them.

"An enchanting table is a thing in Minecraft where-" said Mob. Minegishi shook their head. No more Minecraft. Never again.

"No, not Minecraft. The other thing." Said Minegishi

"What other thing?" asked Mob.

"You're not making this easy….the eating thing. That's what I'm asking you about." Said Minegishi. This was…not a conversation they wanted to have with her…but they were going to have it because it was better that she learned these things from them than from the internet. If the internet was to be believed you just had to do a little tongue stabbing before going right to the jack hammering….maybe these sex scenes should have been written by people who'd actually had sex before….or maybe they should have a woman consulting because the whole thing was so….dick centric. Really it was and it had taken Minegishi too many years to realize that the only thing that mattered was both parties having fun….

And also dental dams were a thing.

Did they need to tell Mob about that too? Was she too young? Well Minegishi had been about her age when they had started…well a year older but that was nothing….so maybe it wasn't too early to teach Mob about…but Minegishi had been way too young and in a bad place when they had started….but it was never too early to know about safe sex…but they didn't need to put ideas in Mob's head….but judging by the looks she had been giving Hatori she already had some ideas percolating in her mind…but she was only ten….but they could not be hypocrite…did they even have a dental dam on them….wait they had used their last one up at the damn party…she hadn't even been worth it…God it had been a while for them…they'd have to go to a pharmacy later…always best to be prepared….did Mob need to be prepared….she was only ten….did Mob even need to know about…if they taught her about that then did they need to teach her about condoms too….they only had vaginal condoms on them….Mob was way too young to know about…did she even need to know about…..well yes because….well no because….yes….no….yes…no….

They needed a drink.

"Oh. That's called cannibalism. You're not supposed to eat people unless it's a life or death situation. Like me and Sho watched this movie called Alive where this plane crashed and the people had to eat the dead and…and it was so sad and gross…but it's ok to eat people if the plane ever goes down. Me and Sho decided that if one of us dies then we can eat the other. If I die then you can eat me...but I don't think that Hatori was talking about a plane crash situation. I think that he just wants to eat you and I don't understand why but he's still me friend. He's never going to do it. We all think about things that we'll never do. Like how Sho thinks about stabbing dad sometimes." Said Mob. Minegishi had never been more relieved in their entire life. Good. Mob just thought that Hatori was an out and proud cannibal…and also she was a little too accepting of one of her friends being a cannibal…and that thing with her brother was worrying to say the least…

But at least they wouldn't have to have the talk with Mob in an Australia Starbucks on the hottest day of the year with cups of mediocre coffee and overpriced bread products in front of them.

"Yup, that's cannibalism alright." Said Minegishi. They were not going to tell Mob the truth just yet. No use in getting her all bothered up about sex when there was nothing that she could do about it at her age….and nothing that she should have been doing about it at her age. She was not them and they had been in a very bad place at her age. Their normal was not her normal. Her normal was kissing and holding hands and other such normal ten year old things that Minegishi had skipped over.

"I don't mind that he wants to eat people just so long as he never does it. We can still be friends…but if he eats a person then I don't know…" said Mob

"Trust me, Mob, Hatori Nozomu won't ever be eating anyone." Said Minegishi

"Good. People are friends, not food." Said Mob

"That's right." Said Minegishi. Truer words were never spoken. From the mouths of babes and all of that. Also they really hoped to avoid any and all future Alive style scenarios.

"Unless we're in some kind of survival situation. In that case I give you permission to eat me." Said Mob

"That's never going to happen. For one thing even if the plane did go down I know that your dad is strong enough to lift it…and you might be too. Also I can make food. Even in the dead of winter I can make food grow, it just takes more effort, and third of all…no. If it comes to it you're eating me first." Said Minegishi

"No, you need to eat me first. That way you'll live long enough to be saved." Said Mob. That was….that level of self-sacrifice could not be healthy. Also Mob couldn't keep a flea alive. She was too small and also she was ten. If anyone was going to be eaten it was going to be them.

"That makes no sense. Mob, I'm almost twenty eight, I've lived my life. You're not even eleven yet. You need to live on and see your brother grown up and see Frozen 2 if they ever make it and go to your dad's funeral and find the nerd of your dreams to marry. You can't do any of that if you're dead." Said Minegishi

"But I don't want to live on knowing that you're dead. I would be happy knowing that you lived on because you ate me." Said Mob

"How about we just compromise and start hacking pieces off of Fukuda? I mean he probably tastes like rice water and piss but I've seen him heal from some pretty serious damage." Said Minegishi

"Um…I don't think that he would taste like that…but that's a good plan. We can cut pieces off of him to survive until help comes." Said Mob

"Wait…are we both alive and well in this scenario?" asked Minegishi scratching their head. This was…how had they even gotten here?

"Yes. We're alive and cutting pieces off of Fukuda, well once we get his permission of course, to keep ourselves alive until help comes." Said Mob

"Then why the hell are we eating people?" asked Minegishi

"Because there was a plane crash and we have no food." Said Mob

"….we both know how to make food grow from almost nothing. We don't need to eat that living piece of soggy tofu." Said Minegishi

"Oh….I guess you have a point. Not about Fukuda being soggy tofu…he can be sort of mean sometimes but Sho loves him…but I guess that we wouldn't have to eat him in that case if we were both alive and well…but maybe Hatori would want to just because he likes to eat people…." Said Mob

"Yeah, maybe he'll engineer a plane crash so he has an excuse to cook and eat one of us." Said Minegishi. Mob put her thinking face on…right. She was deaf to sarcasm.

"I'll add that to the plane ride rules. No causing accidents on purpose so that you can have an excuse to eat people. There. Then he won't do that." Said Mob. Minegishi drank down the last of their coffee so they wouldn't laugh. Thank God that they were speaking Japanese or they would have gotten so many looks.

"You do that Mob. You do that." Said Minegishi

"I will. Also I'll make a rule about everyone having a scheduled bathroom time. That way Hatori won't hog it the whole time. Everyone gets to be in the bathroom for ten minutes and we rotate so everyone gets a turn." Said Mob

"Or you can just tell Hatori that the bathroom is not a panic room. Honestly, what do you see in him?" asked Minegishi

"…..I like how nice he is…and I like his glasses…and his sweaters…and also I… don't want to be his girlfriend but….I told you before how I feel." Said Mob. She turned bright scarlet and then began to drink down her hot milk, vanilla syrup, caramel, drink with just the tiniest bit of coffee added so they could legally call it a coffee drink. How could Minegishi ever have thought that Mob was ready to know about all that? She was getting ready to have a heart attack over thinking a guy was cute. She was not Minegishi. Her normal was not their normal.

Her normal was normal kid normal.

"Ok, ok, don't pass out. We don't have a healer anymore, remember. Anyway I'm not going to finish this croissant almond…thing. Go feed it to those ducks over there." said Minegishi. She pointed over to the group of kids feeding/terrorizing the ducks. Mob's eyes widened and her aura flared. She held her braids down with her hand and shook her head.

"It's too crowded. The ducks have enough food. If I feed them too much then they'll get too fat to fly and then they'll be caught and eaten and I don't want that. Sho would never forgive me, he likes birds, and also…also this is really something that I should do with him. He would be upset to know that I had fed ducks without him." said Mob. Minegishi wondered if it was healthy for siblings to be so dependent on each other…but then again what the fuck did they know about family. They were, thankfully, an only child.

"Why not just call him and ask if he'd mind. He's your brother so I figure you have his phone number." Said Minegishi

"Um….I don't want to smother him…so that's why I don't call…and also…um…I want to stay here with you." Said Mob. Minegishi was touched, honestly, but they knew that Mob wanted to go over there. She needed to talk to other kids at least. It was good for her. She needed all the socialization she could get having spawned from Suzuki…and also they wanted her to be happy.

"You sure? Because there's guys over there…guys not named Hatori…guys your age…" said Minegishi. They held the croissant up to Mob. She took it and then tucked her head down low and stared at her lap.

"Not so loud….people can hear you." Said Mob

"We're speaking Japanese." Said Minegishi

"You never know who speaks Japanese. Anime is very popular. People might learn to speak it just so they can watch anime." Said Mob

"They can just watch with subtitles." Said Minegishi

"They could but subtitles are annoying." Said Mob. Minegishi rolled their eyes. Well the mark of a good wingman, according to Ryou anyway, was to know when to pull back. Maybe Mob just wasn't there yet, that was fine, she could get all of this out of her system when she felt like it. She was still such a kid in so many ways even though she was on the cusp of that terrible time in life when she would stop being a kid. She was ten, almost eleven, and she was not Minegishi.

"You know you don't have to go over there if you don't want to. It was just a thought." Said Minegishi

"Um...I mean I don't NOT want to…I mean…" said Mob. Nope. Minegishi was not going to be pushing her into doing anything that she didn't want to do. She had her own timetable and she was going to be following that and if that meant that Minegishi was going to have to live through the shippening until however long it took for Mob to get all of that out of her system then so be it.

"Give me that back. I changed my mind, I'm hungry." Said Minegishi. Mob looked at them, and then at the croissant, and then at the ducks.

"Um…do you want half? Because….um…maybe I want to feed the ducks after all." said Mob

"Go for it. Take the whole thing." Said Minegishi with a wave of their hand. Mob got up and went over to where those kids were. She stood off to the side for a little bit. She was surprisingly withdrawn when it came to being near other kids…and Minegishi couldn't blame her. All of her friends, barring her little brother, were in their twenties and thirties. Of course she would be awkward…and Minegishi had the urge to run in and save her…but she could handle herself. She had been noticed. Room was made for her. A boy around her age was showing her how to feed ducks…and they would have to talk to Mob later about looking helpless. That was not a good flirting tactic at all even if it did work. She shouldn't wanted someone who thought that she was helpless, she should have wanted someone who thought that she was capable.

Because she was.

She was pretty damn capable for a kid her age. She did a lot. She took care of her brother, put up with her dad, had quit smoking, cut down on her drinking….that Minegishi knew about, still smoked way too much of the good stuff but a power that big came with a bigger expense though…..even with that she did a lot and she was capable of a lot. She was like a younger and happier version of them. She worried them, she always would, but they didn't need to be worried about this. She had dealt with worse than a preteen boy treating her like she was too helpless to feed a duck…and hey if it worked…well then good for her. She deserved it.

She deserved to talk to people her own age every so often.