There were a lot of rules for airplane rides.
"Ok, so now there's some new rules for plane rides. First new rule is that Hatori can't get drunk and nobody can get Hatori drunk. He can't drink, he's very fragile like that and-" said Mob. The plane was done taking off, they were in the air, and it was time to go over the rules. She was the boss of the plane, dad had said, because these were her friends and stuff. She was the boss of the plane and she had to make sure everything went well…and she didn't much want to be the boss of the plane because it meant being, well, bossy…
Leadership was hard, dad had said.
"I'm not fragile!" said Hatori. So he got too drunk last time they were on a plane together. So what? It wasn't like it was going to happen again. He had only drank so much because Shimazaki had told him to…and he knew better now….and besides, if he sat next to President Suzuki then Shimazaki wouldn't go near him anyway. So there was no reason to even bring up what happened!
"You couldn't hold your liquor if your life depended on it." Said Minegishi. Nope. They were not dealing with a drunk Hatori again. He couldn't drink, he shouldn't have been drinking, and nothing good would come of him drinking. They closed their eyes and stuffed their hands in their pockets. This plane ride was going to be a long one. Australia to America. They didn't know what all the moving was about. America was just like Australia just with a different accent set. Yay.
"Minegishi has a point….you were throwing up a lot last time." Said Shibata. He wanted to be able to finish one podcast episode on this flight. Just one. He loved Hatori, he loved all of his friends, but he just wanted one plane ride where nobody threw a fit, nobody started a fight, nobody insulted anyone else, nobody got drunk, and nobody sent Hatori running to the bathroom. That was not so much to ask for….right?
"And crying. He was crying in that bathroom. We all heard him." said Shimazaki. He wasn't going to get Hatori drunk again. Toshi was mad at him for messing with Hatori and making more work for them…it took mental energy to deal with him when he got like that. He knew how hard flying was for them and the last thing he wanted was to make this worse on them. This was a twenty hour flight and Toshi was planning on being knocked out for it…and he wanted nothing more than to have them resting their head on him and just being….peaceful. That was all he wanted….and he had it so bad….but it was what it was. He had always liked it when Toshi rested their head on him and that wasn't going to change now just because he had a crush on them like an idiot…and he was not going to mess with Hatori….but it would distract him from these stupid, mushy, gooey, melty feelings that Toshi made him feel.
"Yes….that wasn't nice….ok. Hatori isn't fragile but he still shouldn't drink so nobody should get him drunk. Ok? Hatori doesn't get drunk? Is that an alright rule?" asked Mob. She had spent the last plane ride next to Minegishi while Hatori was sick and crying in the bathroom…and Minegishi hadn't let her help because she hadn't been the one to get Hatori into that state…but she had still wanted to help…and it was hard knowing that you can help but then not helping….
So he just wasn't going to let that happen again. There. Simple.
"….fine. I won't get drunk…but I can drink if I want to. I'm an adult. I may be the second youngest but I'm an adult." Said Hatori. He was well aware of the fact that adults didn't have to tell other adults that they were adults….but he had to remind everyone that he was an adult anyway because for some reason that was hard for everyone to comprehend. He was nineteen going on twenty, not nine going on ten, but everyone treated him like he was younger than the actual ten year old!
"Are you planning on holding your liquor or are you going to drink until you're a vomiting, sobbing mess again?" asked Minegishi. They had a headache. They were less than an hour into a twenty hour flight, plus longer because they had to stop and refuel, and they needed sleep. They just wanted to close their eyes and sleep but also have access to a bathroom when they needed it. If Hatori was such an adult then he should have been able to hold his liquor.
"Yeah, are you going to be a man and do as the little girl says?" asked Shimazaki. Toshi's aura was getting all pulled in. They needed to find a way to have plants be comfortable on planes. Toshi said that their plants freaked out when they were in the air and that was why they all had to be formant on these flights. He wished that he could make them happy. He liked it better when their aura made that ringing sound, like a Christmas bell stuck in a pudding cup, not when their aura was all pulled away from him so tight that he could barely hear it even though they were resting their head on his shoulder. He could feel them breathing and smell them, they smelled like dirt but in a good way, and he could have leaned down and kissed them too if he wanted to taste them, but he just couldn't hear them. Not metaphysically…and he did not like this at all. Not even a ripple since he was still messing with Hatori even though they had asked him to stop.
"Hey, be nice to him. We all have to listen to Mob…and even if she wasn't the boss's Daughter she still has a good point. Suzuki is right there and I know he gets pissed off when you guys get too rowdy. Also we don't have our healer with us so if one of you gets hurt you'll have to get better in the normal way. So maybe don't get drunk or give Hatori anything to take, alright?" asked Shibata. He was glaring at Shimazaki with his aura. Minegishi never did anything wrong on these plane rides. They just wanted to be left alone. Shimazaki on the other hand….he did not do well on these long plane rides at all…and he seemed to have gotten worse without Little Suzuki around.
"Get off my back! I won't get drunk, ok? I can drink but I won't get drunk….stop treating me like a kid…" said Hatori. How long would it take before people started to see him as something other than a kid? He hadn't even been a kid when they'd met him but for some reason just because he was the youngest, and he had messed up a couple of times, he was suddenly this little baby who couldn't handle himself. It wasn't fair.
"Um…ok. But moderation. Please use moderation…and stuff. Anyway the other new rule is that nobody can engineer a plane crash so we all have to eat each other while we wait for help to come." Said Mob. That was the second most important rule. She knew that sometimes people did weird things like want to eat other people but she couldn't let that happen. This was real life, not the movies, and sure the people eating worked out for the people in the movie but in real life eating people could make you very sick. She knew. She had read about it and stuff.
"What's happening? What's she saying?" asked Shimazaki. Was he going deaf, too? Well then that would suck. Toshi wasn't done reading him that book about the hobbits. Did they ever make it to the place to get rid of the ring? And did Sam and Frodo ever fuck? Because there was some definite sexual tension there….and he would never know if he went deaf on top of everything else!
"Ryou, let it go." Said Minegishi. Mob…why did you have to remember these things?
"I know that some of us want to eat people, and that's ok we're all different, but please don't ever do that. People are friends, not food. Ok? I won't call anyone out but I just want everyone to know that there's a no cannibalism rule. People are friends, not food." Said Mob. She really didn't want to make Hatori feel bad but she just couldn't let that happen. He could easily bring the plane down and then leave them stranded out in the mountains and then they would have to eat each other….and she didn't want that. He was a good person, he just had one flaw, but that was ok. He couldn't control what went on in his head. Like how she'd had that weird dream last night where he told her that she was pretty and kissed her and then they were at this dairy farm run by cats and also everyone was dressed in her pajamas. She would never actually kiss him, and he would never tell her that she was pretty because he wasn't a liar, and also cats could never run a dairy farm because they were lactose intolerant.
"Mob, let it go." Said Minegishi. Nope. They had a headache and their Xanax were kicking in. They did not need someone, probably Ryou, telling Mob what Hatori meant when he said that he wanted to eat them. They did not want to explain to a ten year old what that meant while they were sealed up in this tin can twenty thousand meters in the air without a single plant in aural distance.
"I can't. I don't want anyone to get eaten. If you guys need to eat someone then eat me. I don't want to go on knowing that you guys had died because we have no food." Said Mob
"Mob, we talked about this. If both of us are alive and well then we're just going to make food grow and then nobody was going to end up having to eat anyone else." said Minegishi. They opened their eyes. Everyone looked confused, and rightfully so, but hopefully nobody was stupid enough to ask any follow up questions. If someone was then they could explain oral sex to Mob because Minegishi was tapped out...
Oh, who were they kidding?
They were the only one who could be trusted to explain anything to Mob. Ryou would probably go into an unnecessary amount of detail and throw in some stories that nobody had ever wanted to, or needed to, hear. Shibata would probably just tell Mob some nonsense about storks brining babies or whatever and then he'd try and toss her in the air because that was his solution to everything. Hatori would just freak out and lock himself in the bathroom. Through this whole thing Suzuki would just be obliviously playing whatever game he was playing on his laptop.
How much longer was this flight supposed to be for again?
"But we might both be dead. Then if we're both dead I give the rest of you permission to eat my body until help comes. Please give Minegishi a proper burial." Said Mob. She knew that people came back as spirits instead of moving on when they didn't get a proper burial….and she hoped that they exorcised her quickly…and also she hoped that Minegishi passed on to the next life and was happy and stuff. Also she hoped that the nutrients in her body could keep her friends alive until help came.
"I'll do my best but I don't know shit about performing funeral rites." Said Shimazaki. The thought of Toshi dying…he didn't like. He tried to sound normal, he had tried his best, but Toshi heard the strain in his voice and the little gasp of his aura…and it was still gasping. They couldn't die. He wouldn't let them die. There were very few people in his life like Toshi, people who cared about him fully and completely, and even if he hadn't gotten this stupid little crush on them he still would have flown up to heaven and kicked God's ass to get Toshi back if they died. He didn't care if they came back as a ghost or a zombie or a mannequin or a voice in his head. He just couldn't lose Toshi…
A hand over his.
He laced his fingers in Toshi's. This had always made him feel all gooey inside, holding their hand, and it was even worse now since these stupid feelings had decided to exist. They were stupid but….but they didn't change the outcome. He and Toshi were still just…just what they had always been. Toshi was still there with their head on his chest and their hand in his and their breath seeping in through his shirt. They were still there with him and that was what mattered.
"Calm the fuck down, Ryou, it's a hypothetical scenario. I'm not going to die and if I did I'd want you idiots to eat me instead of wasting precious time and energy burying me or precious fuel burning my body." Said Minegishi. If there was any kind of a survival situation they were all fucked. Suzuki would take Mob and let the rest of them fend for themselves…and they wouldn't last a night.
"I could never eat you even if I were dying." Said Mob. Eat her best friend? She would rather eat her own fingers like in that movie that she and Sho had seen about the man who ate himself until there was nothing left.
"Guys, we don't have to eat each other. I've been watching this wilderness cooking show on YouTube and I'm pretty sure that even without Minegishi and Her Little Ladyship around, God forbid, I can keep us alive until help comes. We don't have to eat each other." Said Shibata. There was no way he was letting his friends, and Shimazaki, starve. They were not going to have to resort to eating people when the wilderness had plenty of foot to eat and he knew how to cook over an open fire and also he was strong enough to fashion a cooking pot from the twisted metal of the wrecked plane so, yeah, they'd be fine.
"Why would we just be sitting around eating people anyway? You guys know that I can teleport, right? I can just get us all to the nearest town or whatever." Said Shimazaki as he held Toshi's hand. He wouldn't let them die. If he let them die then who was going to read to him about hobbits? Who was going to tell him where the tea was? Who was going to let him play with their hair? Who was going to let him cuddle up with them when the nights got cold and lonely? Who was going to let him play with their tits when he felt like playing with tits? Who would tell him if his eye socket fluid was running clear? Well Sho but Sho wasn't always around….so he needed Toshi and he would not let them die!
"Sometimes people want to eat people….but I don't want to eat Minegishi. I want them to have a normal burial so they can pass on." Said Mob
"Nobody's eating anyone….and if we were going to eat someone let's just start with whoever died in the plane crash and then work our way from there." said Minegishi
"Plane crash? Why did you say plane crash? Why did you HAVE to say plane crash?" asked Hatori. His eyes darted over to the bathroom. Would he survive if he hid in there? That was supposed to be the safest room to be in…or maybe that was earthquakes. He didn't know. All he knew was that he didn't want to eat anyone, not like that anyway, and he didn't want to be on the menu either. It was a possibility, though, one that he did not want. He reached out with his powers. This plane felt fine…but if worse came to worst he could control it like an RC plane if he had to. There. He would be fine…but he also had to hide in the bathroom just to be safe…
"Because a plane crash is the only scenario, the only acceptable time and place, in which it's socially acceptable to eat a human being." Said Minegishi. He was scared. Good. Let him be scared. He was the cause of all of this. He just had to announce to Mob and the rest of the world that he wanted to eat them, didn't he? He just could not stand to keep that little fantasy to himself. Well if he had even the slimmest chance, which he hadn't, then he'd shot himself pretty thoroughly in the foot with all of that talk. This conversation was his punishment…and also he had better get his aura out of that plane before he caused a terrible accident just from his own nerves.
"Who the hell wants to eat people, though? Why does there even need to be a socially acceptable time and place to eat people?" asked Shimazaki. He could understand laying someone down and eating them out while they were all 'Fuck Ryou' and 'That feels good Ryou' and 'You brushed your teeth right Ryou' but he couldn't imagine actually wanting to kill and eat someone. Kill, yes, but not eat.
"Cannibals love to eat people…but as long as they never do it then it's ok to have those kinds of thoughts. We all have thoughts that we don't like, and that can be confusing and scary, but that's ok so long as we never act on them." Said Mob. She could feel Hatori's aura in the plane…and as much as she cared about him she could not let him make any bad choices. She reached out and held the plane up with her powers. She wasn't lifting it, no, she was just being there to catch it like when she caught Sho with her powers when he went tree climbing and stuff.
"Um….you…aren't talking about yourself are you? I mean you don't want to eat us…do you?" asked Shibata. It was ok if she did. They had all sorts of child therapists now. They could just find her one and then the doctor could cure her and then everything would be ok….but he had also heard that people tasted like pork…so maybe he could just make her pork chops and tell her that they were human chops. Yeah. That would work out.
"No. I'm not a cannibal but some people are and those people…they want to do bad things…but they aren't bad people unless they do the bad things that they think about. So if someone was to take this plane and make it crash so that we all had to start eating each other because they really wanted to eat another person, even if they were out friend, we would still do everything we could to stop them from becoming a bad person. Because we love them no matter what." Said Mob. She looked at Hatori when she said that. That was he would know that she was talking about him but then nobody else would. She felt so bad about him, how he felt, and stuff…but she also knew that she had to save him from making the worst mistake of his life. Worse even then when he had put a red shirt in with the whites.
"Why….why are you looking at me like that?" asked Hatori. Now everyone was looking at him, even Shimazaki, and he had no clue…unless Shimazaki was off telling lies again…and he had better not have been running around telling people that he was some kind of cannibal or something. First of all that was just…bizarre…and second of all it made no sense. If he had been a cannibal then he would have been down in the Claw morgues eating people not up in a plane where the boss was sitting right there and could stop him at any time from going crazy and eating everyone. Third of all…just…he was over Minegishi so Shimazaki didn't have a reason to treat him like this anymore!
"It's ok to want to eat people, we're your friends and we love you no matter what, but please don't actually do it. You're a good person, Hatori, and I want you to stay that way." said Mob. There. Now everything was out in the open…and maybe she should have put it back where it had been hiding because the plane shook…and for a moment she thought that it was going to go down but she caught it. She held her hand out while she kept the plane steady. She could feel another aura…dad was also keeping the plane steady. She let him take it. He held it without moving a muscle. He was staring at her now, and she saw him take his earplugs out with his powers.
"I'm ok." Said Mob across the plane to dad. He nodded and let go of the plane. It shook a little but steadied quickly.
"Never do that again." said Minegishi. They had been gripping Ryou's hand so hard that they had left little crescent moons with their nails…and he had been pulling them so close that his aura had completely covered them. They were flying over an ocean now. They had no idea what his range was but they knew that being in his arms was the safest place for them….or at least they felt it. They could feel it, the muscle of his arm, pushing against them as he still held them tight. They forgot, sometimes, how naturally strong he was…and they had no clue how they had ever forgotten…
"I agree!" shouted Shibata. He let go of the armrest. It fell off. Right. He had forgotten, once again, how strong he was. Great. Well to be fair he had thought that he had been moments from either death or cannibalism….or just drowning in the ocean. He was strong, not buoyant.
"I didn't….it's not my….why would you SAY something like that? Why would you think that I'm a cannibal?" asked Hatori. Ok, so he had almost caused a plane crash…but to be fair he had just been accused of cannibalism! That was one of the worst things that a person could have been accused of! Worse than being into little girls or dead bodies or-or-or something else he would think up later! He couldn't breathe…he needed….he needed to go…his eyes darted over to the bathroom. The small, safe, bathroom where nobody could speak to him or look at him…because everyone was looking at him…he could even feel the President's aura on him…and the bathroom seemed like such a better and better option every single second….
"Because at the party you said that you wanted to eat Minegishi." Said Mob. The atmosphere got…weird…there. Everyone was staring at her, then they all stared at Hatori, and then that stared at her again. She could even feel Shimazaki's aura switching focus from her to Hatori and then back again. Hatori was staring at her with eyes so wide she was worried that they would fall out. His glasses had slid down to the very edge of his nose and she wondered why he wouldn't just push them up. She knew that it was shocking to know this about your good friend, that he was a cannibal and all, but really everyone'd had since the party to get used to it…or maybe it was just awkward that she had brought everything out into the open….that might have been it…she was so bad at talking that she had just gone and made everything awkward for everyone now….
"Guys, I'm sorry that I made everything awkward. I thought that everyone knew that Hatori was a cannibal by now….or is he not a cannibal because he hasn't eaten a person yet? Or is he a cannibal for wanting to eat a person? How does this work?" asked Mob. Maybe asking questions had been the wrong thing to do because now Shimazaki was laughing. He was laughing so hard that he was sliding out of his chair and he almost took Minegishi with him. They pulled away from him and now they were glaring….at Hatori. Well that made sense. They were the person that Hatori had been wanting to eat for a while. Mob knew that if someone had wanted to eat her then she would not have been happy with them at all. She wouldn't have been mean to them or anything, she just would not have been happy with them even if they were her good friend.
"That's….um….that's one way to interpret what Hatori said…" said Shibata. This was…she did NOT need to know about that! She was a child and she did not need to be all freaked out by the things that adults did! She did not need to be taken away from her dolls and games to…to know the truth about THAT! This was….this was….not good….and he had no clue what he was supposed to say…and judging by how hard Minegishi had slammed into his aura it was maybe best that he said nothing at all.
"That's the only way in which we will be interpreting what Hatori had said. He's a cannibal. We have a cannibal friend. That's what this is." Said Minegishi. Ryou was making an idiot out of himself…and they did not feel like dealing with that…or anything. This was…this was going to be a long plane ride. For all of them.
"What the fuck!? What the fuck!? I can't breathe! This is too perfect! Someone record this! Someone record this audio! I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" said Shimazaki as he rolled around on the ground. He didn't know what else he could do. That was…that was perfect. Toshi had to have been in a better mood now! It served the little former grease ball right for saying that shit to Toshi right out in the open like that! Everyone knew that when you wanted to eat someone you didn't just come out with it! You took them someone nice and secluded and then you kissed them and worked your way down and then when they were worked up you asked…not that he was going to be telling Hatori that. Let him get his own moves and battle plans! And he'd better not even begin to think of using them on Toshi!
"Um….please breathe?" asked Mob. This was bad. They didn't have a healer and Shimazaki was going to die and it was all her fault and-
And Minegishi out their feet up on Shimazaki.
"He's fine." Said Minegishi through gritted teeth. Every. Single. Plane. Ride. Did this have to happen to them every single plane ride? Really? What was this, divine punishment? Why? For the murders, the stealing, the cheating, the premarital sex, or the hypocrisy obviously. God…they were tired, their head hurt, and they had nineteen more hours on this plane…great.
"But he says that he can't breathe…and I'm worried…and I didn't mean to make things awkward. I just…I didn't think that you guys still weren't used to Hatori. It's ok, Hatori, I'm used to you and I accept you for who you are." Said Mob. Hatori was staring at everyone and his glasses were close to falling off. She reached over and pushed them back up but he said nothing. This was bad. Hatori was very sad, Shimazaki couldn't breathe, Shibata was turning a weird red color, and Minegishi looked tired and stuff…and dad was staring at her and he was probably sitting there thinking that Mob was bad at making plane rides run smoothly and stuff….
She'd had one job and she'd messed it up.
"Yeah Hatori, Mob's used to you." Said Minegishi. They were glaring at him now…and he looked like he had just stepped off of a battle field. He was not ok…and it served him right.
"Ok, ok, I'm better now. What's Mob used to?" Said Shimazaki as he climbed up into his seat again. That was….he was ok now. God, why did he have to have been sober for that? That had been the most hilarious thing that he had ever heard in his life. Nothing would ever top that moment…and now he was sort of sad…because that had been peak comedy and now his life would be downhill from here…well they did say that it was all downhill from thirty on…huh. Well now he was sad. He lifted his arm for Toshi to rest their head…and they weren't…and now he was extra sad…
"Um….uh….um….uh…." said Hatori. Well this was….not good. He had two options here. He could live the rest of his life with everyone thinking that he was a cannibal or he could come clean and explain what he had meant…to Mob…his ten year old friend…and his boss's Daughter…the boss who regularly killed people….
He needed to go to the bathroom.
"Nothing! Nobody is used to anything! Um…how about we all…get to sleep now! Yeah, so our sleep schedules are on the right time when we get to where we're going…or something…" said Shibata. He felt bad for Hatori, he did, but he also just wanted this all to end. Why did something always have to happen every plane ride? He needed to figure out some way to make this stop…maybe putting sleeping pills into cupcakes or something….
"Uh…..I….uh…." said Hatori. He wanted to go to bed and wake up and then everything…everything was going to have been just a dream….but he knew that this was real and he was alive and he was not asleep…and maybe he had lost his mind…and now…and now….and now….and now….
And now he had to go to the bathroom…if only his legs would work.
"I really am sorry….I'll go to sleep in a minute if we're all taking a group nap…but I just want everyone to know that I'm sorry." said Mob
"Mob….you have no reason to be sorry. You haven't done anything wrong." Said Minegishi. They pulled Mob close and patted her on the back. She took too much responsibility. This was all Hatori's fault…him and his big mouth. Ryou was focused on them…and he did look comfortable…and they were tired. They didn't break their glare once as they laid down on Shimazaki…even though he should not have been rolling around on the ground like a moron.
"But…neither did Hatori…because we love him. We love you no matter what Hatori." Said Mob. He was still not talking and still all embarrassed…and everyone knew his secret already but now it was out in the open and….and of course he would feel embarrassed and stuff…and she should have been more careful…and this was all her fault…
She reached over to put her hand over his…but maybe that was a bad idea too because his aura flared out worse than she had ever even thought that was possible.
"I-!" said Hatori. He would have said more, if he had been capable of, but he was…thankfully….saved.
"Daughter, what is happening over there?" asked Suzuki. He would have cleaned out his ears if he hadn't had more sense than to do that where people could see. This plane was loud but…but he had heard enough to know that something ridiculous and disturbing was happening over there. He had heard cannibalism mentioned…which made no sense. If they were hungry there was a snack cart.
"Um….we were talking about how if the plane goes down who we're going to eat…and then I let it slip out that Hatori was a cannibal…and now it's awkward and I'm sorry." said Mob. Dad was going to be so disappointed in her. She'd had one job, make the plane ride good, and she had messed it up. Now dad would be so disappointed in her and…and he was right to be disappointed in her. She had embarrassed her friend and now he had forgotten how to talk.
"That…makes no sense. That makes no sense for many reasons. The first of which being that if something were to happen to this plane I am perfectly capable of keeping it aloft. The second of which being that even if this plane did go down it would make no sense to eat you because you're the smallest…and also I would murder anyone who wanted to eat you so, yes, we would have plenty of food. Third of all it would make more sense to eat Shibata because he'll feel the most people and he's mostly muscle so he'll keep us going for longer. Fourth of all you and Minegishi are capable of growing food under your own power. Sixth of all Hatori is a homosexual, not a cannibal. There's a difference." Said Suzuki. There. Now he had set…whatever that had been….right. Now he could get back to his very important work….well he would have….but now he was being stared at…but that was normal. People looked to him for leadership.
"Carry on as you were." Said Suzuki before he looked back down at his laptop. Honestly. He had no idea how Daughter could put up with them…well aside from Hatori. He was the most tolerable of her little group. He was actually enjoyable to be around at times. Maybe whenever they were done discussing their irrational fears of a plane crash and then subsequent cannibalism Hatori could come over and they could try that other game he had been telling him about….or he could inform Suzuki of these Space Invaders sequels he had been talking about before….
Yes, that would be good.
"Yes dad." Said Mob. She didn't really want to carry on as they were, they had been very awkward, but dad had told them to…and now it was even more awkward. Oh. She hadn't known that Hatori had been one of those boys who liked boys…and maybe he had only liked Minegishi because he had thought that they were a boy….and also he would never like her…because she was a girl and not a boy…and now she wanted to sit down.
"So….you know, it's ok to be gay. Shimazaki's bi and Minegishi's pan…so you don't have to keep this from us anymore." Said Shibata
"Well, yeah, Suzuki just outed him." said Minegishi. Well that was it. They were tapping out. This was too much shit to deal with.
"Are those two things exclusive? Being a gay cannibal I mean. Just…I mean that there have to, statistically, be gay cannibals." Said Shimazaki. This was…he had thought that he had reached peak comedy but now…now he knew that he had been worried about nothing. This was…he wished that he had been recording that…and also how did Suzuki HAVE that information? What had happened on those long car rides in the desert?
"I don't know. I'm at my limit. Good night, I'll see you all in America. If the plane goes down please consume my body for sustenance." Said Minegishi. They closed their eyes and turned their head so they were tucked into Ryou's side. He let his aura cover them like a blanket. They went out like a light.
"Yeah….let's all follow Minegishi's example. Goodnight everyone!" said Shibata. He pulled his sleeping mask out of his pocket and put it on. This was too much for one plane ride. He would as Hatori later why he hadn't felt comfortable coming out to him, he had thought that they were friends, but maybe not because sexuality was personal and complex…but he would have liked to have been trusted enough…but that was ok. He didn't know. He needed to rest.
"Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs lay eggs in your brains…and also don't eat Toshi. Eat Shibata, he'll feed more people like out wise and fearless leader said. Anyway, night, I'll remember you all as you were." Said Shimazaki before he tucked in to Toshi. He would have kept going with that but…well Toshi was warm and there. He kissed Toshi on the top of the head and tried to settle down. He wasn't going to sleep, no, he was just going to enjoy being this close to Toshi. Toshi or teasing Hatori…Toshi won.
"Goodnight…um….I'm not tired so I'm going to play games with my dad now…and…um….I didn't know that you liked boys…and I accept you for that too." Said Mob. She spoke quietly and took Hatori's hand in hers. He needed to know that she would always be his friend no matter what. Mob knew what it was like when someone you loved left you, when someone you loved didn't accept you, and she would never walk out on anyone. Even if one of her friends wanted to eat people she would never walk out on him.
Ever.
"Mob…you're a good friend. Let's go hang out with your dad. I'll show you guys Terraria or something." Said Hatori. Well…at least he always had someone in his corner…someone who was VERY open minded….so….hooray? He didn't know. That had been….a lot…and he wanted to hide in the bathroom because it was small and safe and he would be safe and small and cramped….and he knew that if he went and hid in the bathroom Mob wouldn't leave him alone…so he had might as well just…well…being under Suzuki's aura was sort of like being in a small, safe room. It was small and cramped…and nobody would bother him…nobody but Mob but she would always be in his corner at least.
"OK. I would like that a lot." Said Mob. She wondered if there was some way to save this plane ride…she didn't know. At least Hatori felt better…even though she had messed up and stuff. But it was ok, she could learn from her mistakes, and…and she was there for Hatori now and that was…that was being a good friend and being a good friend would never be a mistake.
Maybe the next airplane ride would be better...if she made up a no awkward conversations rule.