Mob considered herself to be a very good friend.

She was always nice to her friends, always thought of them, and was always there when they needed her. She was always there to protect Hatori when Shimazaki messed with him, she was always there when Shibata needed a taste tester, she was always there when Minegishi needed someone to hang out with, and she was always there when Shimazaki needed someone to help him clean out his eye sockets.

Well, ok, this part was new.

She helped him out in other ways, before, like how she told him what was in boxes and cans or like how she rolled his joins from him because she had better telekinesis than him and tiny fingers and stuff. She didn't mind being helpful, she was a good friend like that, and she wanted to keep being a good friend…so of course if Shimazaki needed help cleaning out his eye sockets she would agree to help him. She was a good friend like that.

And, besides, this wasn't that gross….or gross at all…because Shimazaki was her friend and she cared about him.

"Do I have any more eye goo?" asked Shimazaki as he finished cleaning out the outside of his eyes. He could sense Mob sitting there on the edge of the tub. She was watching him. She was watching him quietly like she was watching TV or something. Sho would have been talking about something. Some fun idea that he had or something that had happened to him or just….something. Mob was just sitting there quietly holding his eye cleaner and watching him.

God, he missed Sho.

Her aura was pulled close around her. He didn't get it. Sho loved watching him do this, he thought it was cool, but he was getting the vibe from Mob that she wanted to be anywhere but there….and probably not anywhere fun, either. It was hot where they were and when it was hot out that meant that there was fun to be had! They could catch some birds and tie strings to their legs or they could take fish from people's fish tanks and put them in the ocean or they could take fish from the ocean and put them in people's fish tanks or they could dig a hole and live in it or they could throw rocks at people and run away or they could throw rocks at people and frame other people for throwing the rocks or…or other such things. Other such Sho things….

God, he really missed Sho.

Not in a weird way. It was really more of a 'he's the most exciting out of all the people I work with and also my job is to guard him but since he's gone I have no one to guard so therefore I have no job and no purpose in life' way. Sho always had something fun that he wanted to. Even if he had been beyond lovesick lately he was still fun. Mob was fun too but in a 'let's get high and chill and listen to music' sort of way. He didn't feel like being chill. He'd been chill for weeks now. He wanted to do something fun! Something Sho would have liked!

And also he really did not feel like going through the tedious weekly multi-step eye socket cleaning process.

"No, you're fine. Are you done now?" asked Mob. She didn't…dislike….it when he had his eyes opened. He did that sometimes even when he wasn't cleaning his eyes. He blinked when he got startled and he sort of half opened his eyes when he was really relaxed and stuff….and also he opened his eyes and stared at people….and this was more like when he stared at people. She didn't dislike it when he did this but she didn't really like it either. Not like Sho. He thought that it was cool when Shimazaki opened his eyes and also he was usually the one to help Shimazaki do this, not her.

But she was there and Sho was not.

Sho was off on his and Fukuda's away mission. That left her as the only Suzuki around. Well the only kid Suzuki. Dad was off doing work stuff, she didn't know what, and Shibata and Hatori had gone with him. Minegishi had their own work stuff to do and Shimazaki was supposed to be guarding her, dad had said, so that was how she had found herself sitting there in Shimazaki's bathroom helping him out like Sho usually would have.

"Not even close. Here's the part where you hand me the eye cleaner and tell me when it starts to run clear." Said Shimazaki. He held out his hand. It seemed to take her a minute to understand what he was asking. Sho never took a minute…but he was Sho and she was not Sho. She was an entirely different person from her little brother….but there must have been some similarities? Right? They were still part of the same family, they were all Suzuki's kids, but they were so different…but then again neither of them was a thing like their father so genetics were weird like that, he supposed.

"Um…what do you mean by runs clear?" asked Mob as she handed him his eye cleaner. She did it with her powers. She didn't much want to move from her spot. If she got up then she might have left the room and it would have been very rude of her to leave the room while her friend needed her. She was not going to be rude like that…even if this was just a little bit…not entirely not gross….

"I'm going to flush out my eye sockets and when the cleaner runs clear then I know that the job is done. After that I have a second thing that I have to put in and then I have to let that sit for a while and then flush that out and then I have to keep my eyes closed for an hour." Said Shimazaki. He'd been doing this since he had been a kid, since he had been old enough to do it himself, and it never stopped being tedious and boring and annoying. Hard, too, well without help. Dear old dad had decided at some point that mom wasn't allowed to help him with this because it was making him weaker than he already was….bastard….well that didn't matter now because he was a corpse and what was weaker than a corpse? Well a skeleton, and maybe he was a skeleton by now, Shimazaki didn't know. Maybe next time he was in Japan he and Sho could grab some shovels and exhume his father's dead body.

Yeah. That would be a good time.

"But….you can't see." Said Mob

"Well spotted." Said Shimazaki

"No, sorry, that came out wrong. I meant that you can't see if it runs clear so how can you tell if you're done?" asked Mob

"It's harden on my own. When I was a kid I used to go by feel but honestly it's just much father with someone else's help." Said Shimazaki

"Um….maybe Minegishi would be a better help…they'll be back….I don't know when they'll be back but I think that…that they would be more used to this." said Mob. She did not want to watch that…and she was so selfish for not wanting to watch that. Her friend needed her help and now she was just going to run away in his hour of need. She was the most selfish person in the world. She should have been happy to….to watch…that….like Sho always was. He was always very helpful to Shimazaki because they were friends and now Sho was gone and she was the only friend that Shimazaki had…and stuff.

"Nah. I don't want to wait that long. I want to get this done with and then….I don't know. Do something else. What do you want to do today?" asked Shimazaki as he felt the unpleasantly cool sensation of liquid in his eye sockets. Having someone else hold the bottle to warm it up helped but, yeah, this was not pleasant at all. He kept his head tipped back as he filled his eye sockets and let the stuff swish around for a while. He hadn't wished to be sighted, not in a while, but he did wish that he had eyes so he wouldn't have to deal with this all the time. He could see just fine, mostly, on his own with his powers…but this was just annoying.

"Um…..we can….do…stuff…" said Mob. She knew that he wanted to do Sho stuff with her…but she didn't much want to do Sho stuff. She had never liked climbing trees, she didn't like that people could see up her dress when she did that, and she also didn't like to bother wild animals because they got mad and bit you and stuff. She also didn't like pranking people like Shimazaki and Sho did because it just seemed sort of…mean. She also didn't much like building forts anymore. She had liked that more when she had been little but now she was bigger now and the whole fort thing was kind of boring…

But she would do whatever Shimazaki wanted to because he was her friend.

"Want to catch some birds and then tie strings around their legs and tie the other ends to ourselves?" asked Shimazaki

"Um…..won't that be bad for the birds?" asked Mob. Also they would get their heads pecked on like the time that Sho had stolen that bird's nest.

"Yeah, probably." Said Shimazaki. It wasn't like they'd be killing them. They'd let the birds go when they were done. They weren't cruel. They were just going to have some fun, that was all, and tying birds to strings and then just having birds tied to you wasn't a crime….and if it was now was not the time where he suddenly developed respect for the law.

"In that case maybe we can do something else." Said Mob. She hoped that his next suggestion involved doing something that didn't bother the animals. She liked animals, not as much as Sho did but nobody liked animals as much as Sho did, and she knew not to bother them. They didn't like that. Mom had said so when she and Sho had been little and they had been chasing ducks and geese in the park and stuff.

"Ok….want to free some fish from people's aquariums? We can catch them and let them go in the ocean." Said Shimazaki. She'd like that. She was all about helping out the little guy and doing the right thing and shit like that. Yeah! She'd be all over that!

"Is…the ocean by us is the Pacific Ocean….and that ocean might not be the fish's original home…and also that's stealing and stealing is wrong even if it's to set fish free." Said Mob. She knew that fish lived in the ocean but she had seen enough documentaries with dad to know that not every ocean was the same. Even the different parts of the ocean housed different kinds of fish. She knew that if someone had taken her from her home and put her in a new place she would have been sad. Like if someone looked at her and saw that she was Asian but then sent her to China she would have been sad….and also she would never understand why people thought that China and Japan were the same…and also why so many people seemed to think that she looked Chinese.

"Fine. How about we go to the ocean, catch some fish, and then put them in people's aquariums?" asked Shimazaki

"But…then the fish would be sad because we took them away from their families and put them in small aquariums….and that would be mean." Said Mob. She had always thought of aquariums and being very mean places. She knew that she would have been sad, anyway, if someone took her from her family and put her behind glass. Dad said that aquariums were pointless, not mean, but he didn't like them either. He said that unless you were planning on eating an animal then there was no point in keeping it. Sho thought that aquariums were neat because you could see fish and also nice because the fish could be safe in their home. Mob didn't know what her mom's opinion on aquariums would have been. She hadn't thought to ask while she'd still had the chance.

"Tough crowd. Ok, how about this. We throw rocks at people and-" said Shimazaki. Come on, who could say 'no' to throwing rocks at people? Not hard enough to kill them, obviously, but hard enough for them to notice that someone had thrown a rock at them. Honestly. Mob was such a weird kid sometimes….maybe it was because she was a girl. Yeah, he hadn't ever hung out with many girls when he'd been her age. Not platonically anyway.

"I don't want to hurt any people. That's wrong too. Hurting people isn't fun." Said Mob. Boys. She would never understand boys sometimes. She liked them, she liked the way they looked and also how they were sometimes really nice to her even if she didn't know them, but she didn't understand them. Sometimes she wondered how people could ever like each other enough to be boyfriend and girlfriend let alone get married. Maybe that was why there were people like Hatori and stuff. It was probably a lot easier to understand someone who was the same as you than it was to understand someone who was completely different.

"Mob…you're killing me here." Said Shimazaki with a groan. What were they supposed to do? Sit in the yard and feel the ants going by? Sit there and feel the ants go down into their little ant cities and live their ant lives not knowing that he and Mob would be up there with sugar for them if they were good and a hose for them if they were bad. Sort of like how god worked if his paltry understanding of religion was correct. They would be the masters of the ant's lives and their deaths and…and Mob probably wouldn't want to be an ant God either.

"Oh. I didn't mean to. I just….I like to hang out with you and I like being your friend but I just don't like to do things like that." Said Mob. She was being selfish and she knew it but…but she just wasn't that sort of person. She wasn't Sho. Sho was Sho and he did Sho things. Mob was Mob, well she was Shigeko, and she did Mob things. Also she was a girl and girls were different from boys. That was why none of the things that Shimazaki suggested sounded even the least bit fun.

"Are you sure you and your brother are related?" asked Shimazaki with a shake of his head…which may have been a bad idea because now he had eye cleaner on his shirt. Great. That stuff stank like a hospital….or even worse. He didn't know. He tried not to get this stuff on him if he could avoid it.

"Yes. Me and Sho both came out of our mom's stomach." Said Mob. She knew that they were very different, they didn't look alike and even their auras were different, but they were still from mom and dad. She was more like dad and he was more like mom but they were brother and sister just the same. They were Suzuki's the both of them.

"Well then maybe there was a mix up at the hospital." Said Shimazaki as he leaned forwards and let the cleaner drip out of his eyes. How were those two kids related again? He wished he knew what Suzuki looked like. Then he would have been able to compare his kids to him and see which one the hospital switched around….or maybe his wife had just been running around on him. That would explain the differences between the kids…but that also made no sense. Who the hell wanted to be eskimo brothers with Suzuki?

"There wasn't. I'm a Suzuki and he's a Suzuki. We're just different people and like to do different things…and stuff. I'm sorry that I can't be more like my brother…but I can hang out with you and stuff as long as we don't do any stuff like that….sorry." said Mob. She wasn't Sho and if she tried to be Sho then it would have just been awkward. She didn't know how to be Sho, she only knew how to be herself, and she wished that Sho could have been there to hang out with Shimazaki in all the ways that he wanted. Then he could have been happy.

"Want to smoke and chill?" asked Shimazaki with a sigh. She was Mob, not Sho, and he did different things with her than he did with Sho….and that was just the way that things were between them. He didn't much feel like being chill, he had been chill for a while, but she always felt like being chill so it looked liked they were going to have a chill sort of day today. Great.

"I would like that a lot." Said Mob. There. That was something that they could both enjoy. Finally he had a good idea.

"Well then tell me if this shit comes out clear and then go to my room and start rolling joints if it does." Said Shimazaki. Well chill wasn't always a bad thing. He could use this time to teach her about good music. She was always listening to soundtracks of all things. Not even proper albums. No. He'd have to show her what music could be. He'd start with the Beatles, of course, and then maybe he'd move to something that she'd be able to understand. She was Japanese, he was Japanese, so they could try…city pop? Yeah, she was a chill person. She'd like city pop. Yeah, this could still be a good day even if they had to spend the day being chill.

"You don't have any more pens?" asked Mob. She knew that she smelled bad when she actually smoked…and she didn't want Minegishi to know that she had been smoking without them. They might be upset with them…or with Shimazaki for letting her smoke…and also she didn't want Minegishi to be upset with him. They would never get together and get married and have babies if Minegishi didn't start to like him back.

"Nope. I'm out until I get more." Said Shimazaki. He didn't know anyone here. He knew people mostly in Japan and on that side of the world. Well whatever, he just liked those because then he could smoke wherever the hell he wanted to.

"When will that be?" asked Mob. She was out of pens too. That wasn't good because….dad could be sort of…stressful…sometimes. She had been worried about Sho and dad had been…dad…and she had run out of pens…but she was ok. She just…had to be ok.

"No fucking clue. Why? You don't want to smoke?" asked Shimazaki. Well then if she didn't want to smoke they could get so drunk they forgot their own names. That could be fun. Maybe he had more coke, too. She liked coke.

"No, I do. I just smell bad when I do. It doesn't smell as much when I smoke the pens." Said Mob

"Well then we'll open a window or something. Sorry but I only have the stuff Toshi made me so, yeah, you'd better get to rolling." Said Shimazaki

"Ok…how many should I do?" asked Mob. Spending the whole day smoking and hanging out….this would be a good day. Well just so long as Minegishi didn't find out that she had overdone it…and she knew that she would overdo it. It had been a while and she knew that she had to have moderation but Shimazaki said that she was the only person who knew her limits. So she would be fine and she wouldn't end up like Hatori at the party…but Minegishi didn't need to know about this.

"As many as you can." Said Shimazaki. He wanted this to become one of those days that was just a blur of noise and smell and sound and feel and taste. Yeah. This could still be a very good day. He dipped his head forward over the sink. He could feel Mob's aura recoil from him…and, yeah, she was not Sho. He knew that this was disgusting, even Toshi had told him that this was disgusting and Toshi had done a number of things to him, and had allowed him to do a number of disgusting things to them, and even they thought that watching him do this was disgusting…..

God, he missed Sho.

"Ok….and also it's clear….so I'm just…going to go now." Said Mob. She hadn't wanted to watch that but she had watched that and she had done her part to help and now she was still going to be helpful…just helpful in another place. Helpful in another place and in another way. She loved Shimazaki, as a friend of course, but she….she had just….she had helped and now she was helping in another way.

And that was ok.

She wasn't Sho, and she couldn't be Sho, and she couldn't help him out as Sho but she could help hum out as Mob and…and that was good too. Sho couldn't help him out like this. He wasn't allowed to. She had to do stuff like this because her control wasn't very good. She wasn't Sho. Even after he had Awakened, right afterwards, his control had been nearly perfect. She still lost control all the time. Usually in little ways like making things float or messing with the lights but she could always lose control in bigger ways, too. She could always lose control and do something….something big. Something big and terrible and….stuff….

But she wouldn't do that.

She had no reason to lose control anyway. Things were great for her! They really were. Sho was away with Fukuda and she knew that he was happy. He loved spending time with Fukuda. They were really good friends and also Sho was away from dad and she knew that dad and Sho didn't get along….because dad didn't like him and stuff. Dad loved him, he must have, but he just didn't like him very much…so Sho was happy. If Sho was happy then she was happy. She loved him and when you loved someone then you were happy when they were happy. That was love.

She was happy because Sho was happy and that was enough to keep her from losing control.

Well it should have been but it wasn't. That was why she was in Shimazaki's room, sitting at his desk, going through his drawers. She made sure not to mess anything up. She knew that if she messed things up then he would have trouble finding them and then she wouldn't have been a very good fiend at all. She was a good friend, she had to be, so she was careful to only take out the things that she needed. The bottom draw at the side had the gallon bag and the grinder was in the top drawer. It was under some sugar cubes. She didn't why he had a bag of sugar cubes but she knew not to disturb them in case he had trouble finding them again later.

She got to work.

She got to work as best as she could. It went faster when she used her powers. They were both telekinetic but she could do fine movements. He couldn't. He could push things and pull them and break them but he couldn't do fine movements like this. He couldn't pull out stems and seeds, and save the seeds too, and then grind everything up until it tuned into green powder. Well almost like green powder. More like flour. Sort of like flour or maybe….powdered sugar? But that was still a powder. Either way, not matter what it seemed the most like, she was getting this done. The next part would be to roll it up and she had to do that by hand. She was good at doing this part by hand because her fingers were long and thin and her hands were smaller than his.

She liked being helpful.

She could be helpful like this. Sho…Sho was not allowed to do this and if he showed Sho how to do this then she would be very mad at him. Sho didn't need to do this so therefore there was no reason to teach him. His control was good enough as it was. He didn't need help like she did. He was too little for all of this. She knew that she had been littler than him when she had started, she had been eight and he was ten now, but…but she was not going to let her little brother do stuff like this. He was just a kid and kids were not supposed to smoke. So therefore Sho wasn't ever going to smoke.

Well not now.

Maybe when they were both adults or something. She wouldn't be able to stop him from smoking when he grew up so she had might as well smoke with him to make sure that he didn't end up overdoing it and stuff. Or maybe Shimazaki would be the one to teach him. They were best friends after all. Sho even called him Ryou even though you were not supposed to call adults by their given names. Well that was regular adults. Shimazaki wasn't a regular adult. He was more fun than a regular adult.

Except for when he teleported behind you.

He did that to surprise her…and she had been surprised. Her hair had risen right up to the ceiling. He reached over and pressed her braids down to her shoulders. Then he leaned over and reached a hand out over her shoulder. She kept on working. She let her powers take over since there wasn't enough room to actually move around when he was this close. His arms were on either side of her, there was a chair behind her, and a desk in front of her. She was pinned in. She didn't mind. She could get out whenever she wanted to. She was stronger than him….not that she would ever use her powers against another person. That would have been wrong. Even if her friend was in her space.

"Wow. You work fast." Said Shimazaki as he ran his hand over the tiny pile of joints on his desk. Damn. Mob could roll tight. This was why you had a kid as a friend. They had tiny hands. He reached out and started to count. Damn. Mob worked very fast. Well if the whole world domination thing ended up being a bust they could always just go into business with Toshi.

"Is this enough? I can make more if you want." Said Mob. Shimazaki reached his other arm out and then wrapped both of them around her. He hugged her from behind as best as he could with a chair between them.

"You did fine…but roll more if we need more." Said Shimazaki. Ok, so she wasn't Sho but she was still a pretty great kid. There was no way that Sho would have had the patience to sit there and roll joints all day. No, he had more energy than she did. Apparently she had gotten all of the chill in their family….and he had no idea where she had gotten it from considering who her dad was. Maybe her mom had been running around on Suzuki. Heh. Suzuki's wife had been running around on him…maybe. Shimazaki wasn't sure and he wasn't exactly itching to go and tell Suzuki his little theory to his face. No, he liked being alive.

"Ok…but please stop hugging me. I can't breathe." Sais Mob. That was half true. It was sort of hard to breathe when he did that…and also she felt weird. Not doki doki, never doki doki for him he was Shimazaki, but just…weird. Sort of like….weird. Not bad weird. Maybe sort of good weird. Maybe. She didn't know. All she knew was that she had always known that he was strong but she had never thought about how strong he was before…and now she kind of thought about it…and stuff…and it was weird sort of.

"As you wish…now where the hell is my lighter?" asked Shimazaki as he let her go. He reached across from her and felt along his desk with his powers until he found his lighter. It was hard to feel through her aura when he was that close to her. She was probably Suzuki's kid. His aura was the same. Just as big and heavy and loud and…there. Sho was different. He was different because he had a normal aura. Heh. Different for being normal…

God, he missed Sho.

He needed to smoke Sho up at some point. As fun as he was now, normal, he would be even more fun messed up. Mob certainly was more fun messed up. She wasn't like Sho but she was more….fun? Freer with being fun? Just freer? Kind of like Toshi when Toshi smoked and drank and had fun with their life. Not that they weren't always fun. They were. They were so fun….but sometimes they could be even more fun…but they were always fun. They were always fun and great and….and he missed them too and…and he needed to smoke right the fuck now!

He picked Mob up and tossed her on his bed.

Sho would have laughed. He would have laughed and then asked to have been thrown again. Toshi would have told him that he was being an idiot and then they would reach over and pull him by his shirt or something….but he didn't expect that from Mob because she was ten and he was not into that….but he would have expected something more than her just sitting up and staring at him.

"You threw me." Said Mob. She didn't know if that had been a good throw or a bad throw. She knew that he threw Sho and Sho liked to be thrown….and also he throw Minegishi but that was for kissing reasons…and she really hoped that he didn't have any plans of kissing her because she would not have wanted to kiss him if he asked and then it would be all awkward and stuff. He threw Hatori, too, but that was just to mess with him….so maybe he had just been messing with her. He teleported right onto the bed next to her and she scooted over. She didn't want him to mess with her…and also she didn't want to be thrown again…and she REALLY didn't want him to kiss her….the thought makes her feel weird….and not good weird. Weird like she wanted to scoot over to the edge of the bed….and stuff. Because he could kiss her. He was a boy and she was a girl and he could kiss her…and this was just her brain being weird. She'd been thinking about kissing a lot lately. It was like kissing had taken over her brain and stuff…and she had no idea how to make it stop.

Something was pressed into her hands.

"I did. Now smoke. Come on, you can go first since you did all the work." Said Shimazaki as he pressed the joint and the lighter into the palm of her hand. She was really tense for some reason. He could fix that.

"Um…ok." Said Mob. She lit the end and smoked like they had done a million times before. She scooted closer to him to make passing easier. She had no idea what had made her scoot so far away from him. Obviously he wasn't going to throw her on the bed for the same reason he threw Sho on the bed. Obviously he was not going to throw her on the bed for the same reason he threw Minegishi on the bed. She wasn't Minegishi. Obviously he was not going to throw her on the bed for the same reason he threw Hatori on the bed.

She was not Hatori.

She was Mob and he had thrown her on the bed for the same reason that Shimazaki spent time with her. He wanted to smoke with her and it was easier to smoke with him when she was sitting next to him. So here she was. She was Mob and she could only be treated like Mob. She smoked like Mob and passed like Mob and then smoked again like Mob and passed it back like Mob and she did Mob things over and over again.

Because she was Mob.

She was Mob and she could only be Mob. She could only be Mob and he could only be Shimazaki and she could only be herself and he could only be himself. So this was ok. Her being herself. Even though she got the feeling that h would have much rather have been hanging out with Sho. He missed Sho. She missed him too. She had her phone in her pocket, she could feel it, and she knew that she could have pulled her phone out at any time and called her little brother…but she wasn't going to. She would have been smothering her little brother just like dad smothered her if she were to call him…so she didn't call him. She didn't call him because she didn't want to smother him….well she did….she did want to smother him…and that was wrong.

So she smoked more.

"You can finish that one, I'll start another. This is our day. This is going to be our day for the whole rest of the fucking day!" laughed Shimazaki. He made sure not to open his eyes while he laughed, he did that sometimes, because he did not want to have to go through the whole eye cleaning thing again. That was done and now he was having fun with Mob…even though he would much rather have been out doing something….but Mob wanted to be in and that was what they were going to do….because she was herself and not her brother and he needed to get over the fact that he hadn't hung out with the kid in…he didn't even know how long. Too long. The kid…he just liked the kid. He liked kids. Not in a weird way, he just liked kids…and maybe he wanted some. Maybe he wanted to have a son who was just like him or a daughter or a kid like Toshi who rejected the concept of gender entirely for reasons that even Shimazaki at this point did not understand….or something. He didn't know. Well he did know. He knew that he couldn't have any kids. He knew that he shouldn't have any kids. He doesn't know how to raise a kid….but he gets the idea that you aren't supposed to smoke your kids up.

Toshi wouldn't let him smoke their kids up.

Toshi was great with kids. Toshi was great with Mob and she was ok with Sho even though he knew that Sho annoyed them. Toshi was really good at taking care of people and planning ahead and shit like that. They would balance him out…if they had kids together….which would never happen. Shimazaki knew that Toshi didn't want kids. Toshi had said a thousand times before that they did not want to have any kids. Even during their ketchup packet time, that time when he had been half kidding, that time when he had been sort of kidding or maybe not he didn't even know why he did the things he did or said the things he said….well he had said it.

What if we had a kid?

He had said it and then Toshi had hit him over the head with a plant and that had been it. Toshi did not want kids…and he should not have had any kids. Kids were people and…and he couldn't just stop being their dad when he got tired or bored…and kids came with some heavy stuff that he did not like to deal with. Kids were people and maybe he had no business making a new person…even though he knew that making a new person with Toshi…it would have been pretty fucking great….

He needed to make his brain stop working. Now.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Us spending the day like this, I mean." asked Mob Minegishi had told her so many times never to smoke without them…and maybe they were doing a bad thing. Maybe they were right when they said that…that they had to be the one to teach her moderation….but then Shimazaki had said that only she could know her own limits….she just didn't know…..

"A good thing….now get back to smoking. Smoke until you can't feel your body anymore." Said Shimazaki. He was thinking about her and how she was a kid and her brother was a kid and how he liked kids and how he liked Toshi and how if he and Toshi had a kid then it would have been the best thing ever…he needed to stop thinking about that. To stop thinking about them like that. To stop thinking about things that could never be…and he needed to be stoned right fucking now right this fucking second.

"But I like the way things feel when I smoke." Said Mob. She wiggled her feet in her socks. She liked these socks. These socks weren't her softest socks, she was wearing her purples ones with Rapunzel and Pascal on them, and her Elsa ones were softer but those were in the dirty clothes hamper. These were still sort of soft…sort of. She could feel all of her sock threads against her feet. She wiggled her feet some more. She wiggled her toes and then she wiggled her feet and she could feel almost all the threads and….and also she could feel her feet against his bedspread….and it was so soft too…..so very soft….

"Yeah, shit feels awesome, but shit feels even more awesome when you're stoned. Everything feels better and your brain can just shut off and then you can't think or feel but you also can think and feel…and shit. Does that make any sense? I don't know if I make sense. Toshi is the one who makes sense…because Toshi is Toshi…and Toshi is so fucking smart." Said Shimazaki. He had not sounded wistful there because he had nothing to feel wistful about. Toshi was gone but then they would come home and then they would be there with him and…and shit…and then he could be with Toshi and….and he just….

He had this growing need to be beside them….and he didn't know what in the hell he was supposed to do…or feel…or say….or be….besides what he was now.

"But….I still want to be able to feel things…like….um…like….." Said Mob. She could feel all of her sock threads and they were mixing with the threads of his bedspread and there were threads here and there and everywhere. She tucked a foot under his blanket. Now she could feel his sheets and they were soft and his sheets had threads and it was just threads and threads and even more threads. Threads after threads after threads after threads. Threads all the way down.

"Like your socks?" asked Shimazaki. He could feel her moving around. She was always so squirmy when they smoked. It was a sensory experience. Apparently it was mostly her sense of touch. His too. He could feel….Toshi. Toshi was there, in the house, the houseplants that surrounded him. There were plants in every single room but his. He wanted one in his room. He needed one in his room. Toshi kept their plants to their room and the common areas…and he wanted a plant in his room. He wanted to bring all of the plants into his room until it was almost like having Toshi beside him….in the room with him…near him. Near enough to him that they were….that they were something that he could reach out and feel. Someone that he could reach out and feel.

Because Toshi was a person, not a thing to possess.

But he did want to possess them. Why else did he feel like this? Toshi….he didn't care who they slept with but….but the thought of them with someone else. Feeling the way that he felt about them for someone else….that was the last thing that he wanted to think of…but he was still thinking about it. He was still thinking about it and he had started smoking like one of those industrial chimneys, the kinds that birds died if they flew over, so that he could get stoned enough not to think these sorts of possessive thoughts about Toshi….thoughts about how he felt….

He needed to do more than smoke.

"Yes. They feel nice. I can feel the threads and then more of the threads and then my skin….and skin is sort of like…like threads. For organs I mean. Skin is like socks for your organs. To keep them clean and safe and warm. So you don't have to have your organs on the outside….or something." Said Mob. She picked up his blanket and rubbed her hands against it. This wasn't silk, not really, it was just soft like silk. She knew what actual silk felt like but she didn't care. Soft was soft and she liked soft. Thread was thread. So what if this blanket hadn't been made from bugs that had been cultivated from mulberry trees thousands of years ago? This was still soft and that was what mattered.

"What's with you and your socks? Every time we smoke you always go on and on about your socks. What is it with you and socks?" asked Shimazaki. He felt his own feet in his own socks….and they felt…these were the socks that Toshi had gotten him. Toshi got him most of his clothes because they could see colors and he couldn't. He had been told that he looked good, that he dressed well, and that had been all Toshi. He only cared if something felt good against his skin…he loved this shirt…but Toshi wanted him to look good…and he wanted to look good for Toshi…because Toshi…he had no idea if other people could see Toshi the way he did, if they could see how they had it going on, but that didn't matter. Toshi had it going on. Even when they were overdue for a bath, even when they were all earthy and sweaty smelling from working in their garden, even when they were covered in the blood and viscera of their enemies, hell even when they were all doubled over from their ketchup packet times they always had it going on….

Brain. Shut up. Don't make me poke you.

"I just like the way my socks feel against my feet. These are the softest socks in the world…well no, my Frozen ones are, well my favorite Frozen ones…but these are good too. There are just so many threads…threads and threads and threads…and they feel good against each other…most of the time. Not now." Said Mob. She had been rubbing her legs together but then she stopped. Her sock had slipped down and now her legs were rubbing against each other and they were all itchy and scratchy and pokey, too. She hated it. She didn't know why her legs were like this now. They had been one way her whole life and then it was like she woke up and they were different.

She pulled her sock up.

"What happened? You stopped moving…and shit…and I can't see past you….but I sort of can….it's weird. I'm weird. You're weird. This is weird." Said Shimazaki. She had stopped moving and now the world was silent….and he needed to put an album on. Yeah. That must have been it. He just needed to put on an album and then he forgot Toshi….he never wants to forget Toshi….but he does want to get his mind off of Toshi and….and shit that can never happen…shit that he doesn't even know if he wants to happen….shit that he knows that Toshi will never want to happen….

"My legs are itchy. Well they're itchy all the time because they're fuzzy now but when they touch it's especially itchy." Said Mob. She pulled her socks up as high as they would go but that was not high enough. They were knee socks….well they had been when she had bought them. She was growing again…well she was always growing….but now she was really growing…and she sort of hoped that she was getting all of her growing done at once so it could be over and done with already. She didn't care. She just wanted her clothes to fit again….or well they wouldn't fit because she had outgrown them already….but she wanted to get new ones and have them fit forever. Like how dad had found the suit he loves most in the world and now that was all he wore.

"Let me see." Said Shimazaki. He reached over and felt the leg closest to him…huh. What do you know? He ran his hand over a collection of bumps. Two rows of four, one row up and one row down, an ellipsis. He ran his finger over it a couple of times. Yup. That was an ellipsis…but what was it…ellipsis-ing? He ran his hand down her leg. A hell of a lot of nonsense. Sounds that he could barely put together. Apple. Cat. Death. Igloo. That was what he was getting out of the dot patterns on her legs. They told a story of complete and utter nonsense.

"Um….what are you doing?" asked Mob. She felt….weird. Good and bad weird. Sort of…warm and cold at the same time…almost. She felt like she wanted to scoot away from him and stay where she was…and also scoot closer. He was dragging his fingers up and down her leg, from knee to ankle, and he was muttering….and….and she didn't know what to make of it…or what to make of herself….or what she was supposed to do with herself or how she was supposed to react or…or anything!

"Reading. Your leg stubble doesn't tell anything close to a coherent story." Said Shimazaki. He scooted closer and picked up her other leg. Maybe he needed to read both sides. Maybe then he could figure out what it is that he was supposed to have been able to read. He didn't know. At least this got his mind off of Toshi…and now his mind was back on Toshi again….because not only had he just thought of them he had found a collection of dots that was maybe supposed to say 'red' which was close to orange…which was Toshi's favorite flavor of soda…and he had gotten them a two liter of orange soda last time they had been together like this….

What was the matter with him?

"Um….that's because I'm not a book…so maybe don't…try and read me like one?" asked Mob. She wanted to pull her legs back and tuck them under herself like how ducks sat down but that might have been rude or mean of her. She wasn't going to be rude or mean to him. He wasn't even trying to make her feel like this. He was just trying to read her. This weird feeling was her problem and she needed to get rid of this….but smoking was just making it worse.

Because she could feel more.

She could feel his skin against hers…and how long his nails were…and she could feel the leg of his pants under the heel of her foot…and if she pressed down she could feel his leg…and he had a lot of muscle to him…and she had never thought about that before, how strong he was, but now she was thinking about it…and she had no idea what she was supposed to do with this information. She was as confused as dad was when he said that he didn't know what to do with information. Shimazaki was strong, she had known that already, and he could read braille…she had known that already too. She hadn't known that she had been made out of braille, though, and now she knew…and now that she knew she had no clue what she was supposed to do with this information.

She really didn't.

"Well I have to do something." Said Shimazaki. He let her go. Well that had been uninformative. He'd maybe just read Hatori's face again. It was clearing up but maybe it still told a very sad story…or maybe his back told a story. He had never felt his back for any length of time but he knew that it was bumpy. Yeah, he'd read Hatori's back…when he came back….because everyone but him was gone…him and Mob…

"We could keep on smoking." Said Mob. Maybe if she smoked enough she would go back to normal. She wanted to scoot away from him and she wanted to scoot towards him and she wanted to stay put. It was like in anime where there was the angel on your shoulder and the devil…but she had three people….and she wasn't sure who was the angel, who was the devil, who the third person was, and if they were even angels and devils to begin with!

"Nah, something else." Said Shimazaki. This wasn't helping. He needed something to take his mind off of Toshi and getting stoned should have helped but now all he could think about was Toshi. Toshi, Toshi, Toshi. Toshiki. Minegishi Toshiki. Minegishi Toshiki with the softest skin in the world. Minegishi Toshiki who could read a book in a day and still have time to threaten their plants. Minegishi Toshiki who had tits like someone shaved two kiwis and stapled them to the softest skin in the world. Minegishi Toshiki who hated sugar unless they were stoned but also ate at least a kilo of chocolate every month for reasons they did not like to talk to people about. Minegishi Toshiki who liked to get stoned but would also most likely try to maim is not kill him for getting their ten year old best friend stoned…said ten year old best friend who was doing fuck all to get his mind off of Minegishi Toshiki….

God. He needed….he had no clue what he needed.

"We could eat something." Said Mob. Her stomach was trying to eat its self. It tried to do that a lot when she smoked. She had to be careful how much she ate, though, because if she ate too much she wouldn't noticed later until she woke up with a stomach ache.

"Shibata's not here to feed us and I can't find anything in that kitchen…and as far as teleporting somewhere goes I can't see past your right now. I'd probably wind up in the ocean or something." Said Shimazaki. Food…that was a thing that he needed to live…maybe Shibata had left food in the microwave or on the counter or in the fridge….or something. God. The one time he wants to be fed.

"And I guess that the Awakened might tell on me if I ask them to get us something." Said Mob. Those guys could be very nice…but they also couldn't keep secrets at all. Like the times when she would be at the office or the HQ or whatever and they would tattle on each other and themselves to her…and stuff. No, she didn't need them tattling on her to dad at all.

"Not if I drop them in the ocean after they bring up whatever we ask for." Said Shimazaki. There were plenty of Awakened and most were completely disposal to Suzuki. He really only cared about the highest level, the Awakened Soldiers. Everyone else could go off and suck each other's dicks in the ocean for all he cared.

"That's mean. Don't do that." Said Mob. She knew that he must have been kidding but even kidding it was still a very mean thing to say. The Awakened were people too even though nobody but her treated them like people.

"Well then what are we going to eat?" asked Shimazaki

"We can eat those sugar cubes in your desk? Sugar is a food…well Minegishi says that it's a poison….but sugar is also a plant so it's ok to eat." Said Mob. She didn't know what she had said but she knew that it must have been the right thing. She knew that it must have been the right thing because Shimazaki had sat up, grabbed her by the shoulders, and come in really close…but his aura wasn't mad so he must have just been doing this to show her that he was happy…or something.

"Mob….I platonically love you…and if you were three or four years older I would be kissing you right now." Said Shimazaki. She was a genius. She was a wealth of perfect ideas. After she died they needed to crack her head open and scoop all of the ideas out of her brain and then eat them as to gain her idea having powers.

"Um….but then I would be…thirteen or fourteen…or fourteen or fifteen….and stuff…and also what does platonic mean?" asked Mob. She did not want to be kissed by him. He kissed Minegishi. She could not kiss someone who her best friend had kissed and was still doing kissing things with. That wouldn't have been right…and also she didn't like him like that.

"It means that I don't want to marry you." Said Shimazaki. Yes, he could do basic math too. That didn't matter. She was a genius and if she had been older then, yes, she would have earned herself the best kiss of her life for her idea. Her brilliant, genius, idea of a genius person who she was!

"Oh….ok." said Mob. She didn't know what else she was supposed to say to that. She didn't want to marry him either. She didn't say that, though, because that would have been mean and she was not a mean person. That was the same reason that she didn't ask him to let her go, either, because that would have been mean. He wasn't hurting her so he could hold on to her for as long as he wanted to.

"Not that there's anything wrong with you I just don't believe in marriage….well I don't know…..God, Toshi's got me all mixed up…..anyway! Come on, I need someone with eyes to dose something for me." Said Shimazaki as he pulled her out of bed. He picked her up, he didn't even need his powers she weighed so little, and sat her down on his chair. He sat her down and then rummaged through his desk until he found a box of sugar cubes, a metal teaspoon, and a glass vial. He put them all out on the desk in front of her.

"What's all of this for?" asked Mob as she looked over the things in front of her. Ok, so maybe the spoon was for the sugar cubes but then what was in the little glass thing? There was a braille label on it but she didn't know any braille at all.

"Your idea. Well you gave me the idea." Said Shimazaki

"Um…what idea did I give you? I just wanted to eat some sugar cubes." Said Mob

"Well, yeah, we're going to be eating them but first we're going to have to dose them. You know this entire time I've been trying to get my mind off of Toshi but I just….can't. So that's why you and I are going to trip." Said Shimazaki

"Um….where are going?" asked Mob. She wasn't really dressed for a trip, this dress had a big strawberry milk stain on it but she still wore it because it was comfortable, and also she was really high and really hungry…and stuff. Also she would have liked to have been home when Minegishi got back. Then they could hang out and stuff.

"Deep into our minds. You're old enough to take acid….I think….yeah, you're old enough. Are you in a good place mentally?" asked Shimazaki. This was a good idea. Both Ryou's on his shoulders agree. He had heard that you had an angel and a demon on your shoulder. He had also been told that he had two demons and his angel had never showed up for work. Well then at least there was a consensus. He was going to trip with Mob. She needed it anyway. Toshi was such a worrywart sometimes. What was the worst that could happen? Besides Mob experiencing ego death….that would have been bad….

"Um….I guess so? And won't acid kill us?" asked Mob. She eyed the glass thing on the desk. She knew that she had a stomach full of acid, that was how she dissolved the food she ate, but she also knew that acid as a chemical could be very dangerous….and stuff….and Shimazaki…he didn't really believe in thinking things through.

"Nobody has ever died from taking acid…well those guys who think that they can fly…but that's fine because we can actually fly. Anyway, you need to be in a good place mentally right now, ok?" asked Shimazaki

"Um…I think that I am." Said Mob. She had no idea what he meant by that. She wasn't crazy or anything…..but she got the feeling that he wasn't asking her if she was about to go crazy or anything like that. He had turned her to face him and now he was close again. He smelled like cologne, smoking, and eye cleaning medicine. It wasn't that good of a smell but she wasn't going to say anything. She wasn't going to be mean to him like that. Nobody wanted to be told that they smelled bad…and he didn't smell…that bad. He didn't smell that good but he also didn't smell that bad.

"Do you trust me?" asked Shimazaki. She nodded without delay. Good.

"I trust you Shimazaki. You're my friend." Said Mob. What kind of a question was that? You were supposed to trust your friends. That was why they were friends in the first place. Did she trust him? What else could the answer be but 'yes'?

"And you know that I love you, right?" asked Shimazaki

"Um…I do. Platonically." Said Mob. She loved that word. 'Platonically'. It was a very good word to describe what she felt for him…and stuff. Platonically. She didn't want to kiss him or to hold his hand or anything like that but she did like spending time with him and she would like to keep on spending time with him and being his friend…just with no kissing. Not now and not when she tuned thirteen or fourteen or fifteen or any-teen.

"Good. You know that I will suck Hatori's dick to completion before I let anything bad happen to you, right?" asked Shimazaki

"Um….what?" asked Mob. She knew what those words meant on their own but together…she didn't know…and she would have asked Google but she was scared.

"Right…you're too young to know what things mean. Well that's something that I would do, something that I don't want to do because he doesn't bathe that often, but it's something that I would do before I let anything bad happen to you." Said Shimazaki. Right. Maybe don't say that shit to a ten year old….but then again she had no idea what he was even saying so it was ok.

"But….um…..ok?" asked Mob. She knew what those words and now her brain was putting them together and….just…..GROSS! What was it with boys and gross stuff!? Pee came from there! That wasn't right at all! Mob hoped that when she grew up and had babies she only had girls because girls would never, ever, EVER think of something that gross!

"Good. Nothing's going to hurt you, not while I'm around, and I love you. You are safe and you are loved now pour acid onto the spoon and then let it drop down onto the sugar cubes." Said Shimazaki. There. He knew what to do. He knew how to be someone's acid Sherpa. He had been doing this since he had bene fifteen, so half his life, he knew what he was doing. Toshi had told him specifically that this was not the cherry to pop but he had been told for his entire life not to go around popping cherries that he was not supposed to pop and he had no ruined his life doing that and he would pop whatever he….wait, too sexual. That was a little too sexual for this….and what did that say about him that he could only relate big, life changing events to sex?

Eh, he'd explore this more while he tripped.

"Like this?" asked Mob as she used her powers to do what he said. She didn't trust her hands for this. She didn't know about this kind of acid but she had seen acid on TV before and one false move and it could eat right through you….and she had no idea why she was pouring this onto sugar cubes….but Shimazaki knew what he was doing and like he had said he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her so she trusted him. You were supposed to always trust your friends. That was what the point of having friends was.

"I don't have a fucking clue. I'm not focused enough to be able to see liquid dropping. Just make sure it only gets on the sugar cubes and when you're done pass me one….oh! And don't eat it, let it dissolve….oh! Get out of my chair, too, I have the perfect mix for this. It's mostly Beatles but there's some other nice stuff in there….some Japanese shit too which I think you'll like better….actually just the Beatles and Japanese one because I don't want to freak you out switching between too many languages. Alight?" asked Shimazaki. This was going to be so great! This was always better with another person and Toshi hadn't wanted to do this in forever! Thank God he had another friend!

"Um…..here?" asked Mob. She held up a sugar cube with her powers. He ate it from midair. She did the same and at the last minute stopped herself from chewing on it. It tasted….weird…and also maybe she had put too much on it…or not enough….because it didn't burn…and she didn't want it to burn but….well she had been expecting it to burn.

She didn't know.

She did know, however, that the nest step to this was sitting down on his bed so he could put some music on. So that was what she did. She liked watching hi use his computer. He talked to it and it talked back. That was interesting. He was interesting. She didn't know what she was supposed to be feeling or doing but she knew that this was going to be interesting. Things were always good and interesting when she was with Shimazaki. He knew the best things. Like the time after the party. She had been feeling bad and then he had made her feel better…but then he had left her all alone….but he won't do that again.

She trusts him.

She sat down on his bed and closed her eyes. She was mostly just….she didn't know. Thirsty? Yes. She was thirsty….and also maybe Shimazaki could read minds because he teleported away and came back with quickly with….Mob opened her eyes. He had turned his shirt into a basket and he had taken all of the drinks out of the fridge. The orange juice and Hatori's energy drinks and the cans of soda and the jug of milk. He put them all down at the foot of the bed and then he tugged on the blanket.

"Get up, I need this." said Shimazaki. Mob picked herself up with her powers and then let him tug the blanket off the bed. That was a shame, it was such a soft blanket. He tugged the blanket off the bed and then took off his shirt. She watched him. He had a lot of tattoos and she had never really looked at them before. They were so….colorful….and then she felt bad. He wouldn't ever be able to know just what he was covered in. Especially the picture of Minegishi he had on his arm. It looked just like them….and he would never know just how much like them it looked….especially since he had no idea what they even looked like….

And that was so sad.

"I'll be right back. Ok? Don't freak out. I'm going to change into my sleep shorts because, yeah, I always end up down to my boxers if not naked and people already think that I'm a creep so….yeah. You just sit tight and remember that the world outside of this door exists. Ok?" said Shimazaki. He knew that Toshi would literally murder him if he ended up tripped down to his boxers with her in the room….and he liked being alive and in Toshi's good graces. So he left the room to change. He changed in the hallway, of course, because he was the only one home and even if he hadn't been he didn't care who else saw him naked. Just not the ten year old because then that would have been wrong. He made sure to walk. This was not the time to teleport. Toshi wasn't here to make sure that he didn't go anywhere else or do anything stupid.

Go, he missed Toshi.

He missed them and….and he needed to think about something else. He needed to have his mind on something else because if he had his mind on Toshi then it would ruin the whole thing…or make it better. He didn't know. All he knew was that he had to get back in that room and…and…and Sherpa Mob through all of this. She was so little and she must have been freaking out…or something. She needed someone there and shit. Yeah. This was not the thing to do all on your own.

So he went back to her.

He walked back into the room and he could feel her eyes on him. She was laying down on his bed and she was playing with her hair. It felt like. Good. She was in a safe place and she felt safe. She had plenty to drink….and eating on acid was never good for anyone…and there was music playing….the Beatles could make anyone feel good….good. He had this. He was the master of fist times, be it acid, other drugs, sex, murder, or picking up a dog by it's hind legs and pushing it around like a vacuum cleaner. Yeah he had this.

He had the hell out of this.

He picked up his blanket from the ground and laid down next to her. He covered them both up. It was a tight fit so he picked her up with his powers and laid her head down on his bicep. Yeah. That was better. He maybe should not have lifted her like that. His telekinesis was nowhere near as good as hers, but then again the only person who could match her in terms of skill and raw power was her dad, but he hadn't sent her flying into a wall. No, she was there and she fit securely there on his bicep. He wrapped an arm around her. She curled into his chest.

"Are we taking a nap?" asked Mob. She felt….good. Warm but in a good way. Warm in a warm way, too. It was warm in that room and the blanket didn't help…but it made her feel better. The weight of it. It felt like without the blanket she was going to float away…and she was. As soon as she thought about it she began to float off the ground….but he pulled her back down. Her head was on his chest. She wouldn't see the dragon but she got the feeling that the dragon would not hurt her, it would keep her safe.

Because Shimazaki would keep her safe.

He may have acted like a crazy person most of the time, and also he could be very mean to Hatori, but he was also her friend and he would keep her safe no matter what. He was there for her and she was there for him. That was what friends were for. That arm, the one around her, was the one with the picture of Minegishi on it. She knew that she would be safe if both of her friends were with her…well she had two other non-related to her friends but they were her two best friends in the whole world…and she felt so safe….

And also dragons could be good and bad but if the dragon was attached to Shimazaki then it must have been good.

"Nope. You can't sleep while you're tripping. It's physically impossible. Right now your brain is working overtime. Usually it filters out enough of reality so that you can't see everything at once…and shit. Anyway sounds have a taste and you're going to be seeing shit and hearing shit and smelling shit and tasting shit…and since you're sighted then you'll probably see shit too…and I have no fucking clue what your powers are going to do. I can't teleport, I can't be trusted to teleport, when I'm like this…and also my barrier goes down….but you're different. You're different so I don't know but I'll be here for whatever happens…and also if you have to get naked then just do it. I'm blind. I can't see shit and if you want to get naked then just go to the other end of the bed where I can't feel you….or maybe the floor because having a naked ten year old in my bed…it's not a good look….but whatever. Fuck what other people think. Whatever makes you feel best, ok? You got that, Mob?" Said Shimazaki. He liked this, being able to help her. Did he like helping people? Maybe. He liked having something to do with himself. For his entire life he had been told that he was useless. Worthless. Because he was blind. Well he wasn't blind. He wasn't sighted but he wasn't blind. He wasn't blind and he wasn't useless or worthless. He was Shimazaki The Blind Executioner Ryou. Son of the Shogun's Decapitator….bastard. Spent his whole life living up to his father….that piece of shit had been long dead before Shimazaki had even been born….and then what happened?

He died.

He died with money in the bank and the respect of the people around him and a son who was useful to the stupid family that they had been a part of since the beginning of time…and then he died. What was it all even worth? Being such a piece of shit…well Shimazaki was not a piece of shit. He was a good person. He helped people. He made them happy.

He made this person happy.

"Got it…but I don't want to be naked….even if you are blind. I want to keep my clothes and I will keep my clothes on…so that's what's happening….I'm in a bed with my clothes on and one of the Beatles is singing about some girl named Penny Lane." Said Mob. She felt good and warm and warm and good…and also…also she could see lights and patterns when she closed her eyes…and also when she opened them, too. They had never hung around before. She reached out with her powers to try to catch them…and it started to snow! She could see white raining down from the ceiling….and she could taste…coconut. She could taste and smell coconut.

"Penny Lane is the street. It has a barber selling photographs with every head he's had the pleasure to know….God. I want to live on Penny Lane so bad. Just me and John and Paul and Ringo and George…..living on Penny Lane…." Said Shimazaki. He opened his eyes and felt the air. He knew what the air felt like in Liverpool, sort of salty but also like….smoke? Smog? He didn't remember. When he had been little he had thought that it would smell like a record. He had listened to this album back when he had been locked in his room….and he only had his records for company…and they smelled so good….God, he loved the smell of vinyl…

He smelled vinyl.

Penny Lane smelled like vinyl. It smelled like vinyl and dust and piss because he sometimes spent the entire day locked in…mom couldn't get a chance to let him out….and he had to stay in because he was such an embarrassment…..he was such an embarrassment that the bloodline would end with him because the worst thing that a man could do was bring a son like him into the world….someone as useless as him….and now he smelled piss and vinyl and he didn't know if he was actually smelling Penny Lane or that room and he doesn't know which room he's in and-

A very small hand in his.

A small hand in his and a pressure across his chest. One of his arms is wrapped around her. This is a girl. This is Mob. He tucks his head down. Weed. He smells weed and now he knows where he is and he knows who he is. He isn't useless. He's Shimazaki Ryou. He's not worthless. He's Shimazaki Ryou. He's not blind. He's Shimazaki Ryou. Just because he wasn't sighted it didn't mean that he was blind. He could see this person in his arms. He could extend his aura around her. He could see the blood rushing through her veins, the way her lungs expanded and contracted, even the way her tongue pressed up against her teeth as she spoke.

He wasn't blind. He just wasn't sighted.

"It sounds like a nice place….but your aura feels so upset. Oh no! Did I do something? I feel like I did something. Sometimes I do things without even knowing what I did. Like when I was little and I would be talking to my mom and then she would get mad at me. Or like how Sho used to hit me all the time…but I deserved it. I always deserve it. I always will deserve it. I always do something. No wonder Sho's gone and mom's gone and everyone's gone….I always do something wrong…." Said Mob. She was amazed that she even had friends. She was Mob. She had powers she couldn't control and she couldn't take care of Shio and she hadn't been able to take care of baby Mukai and that was why she had been taken away and mom had left because she was a terrible daughter…..and she was just the worst person ever and when Shimazaki realized it he would leave her all alone too….

She didn't want to be alone.

She clung to him. She clung to him as tightly as she could. She held him close and he held her close. The song had switched. This one wasn't about Penny Lane, this one was about Eleanor Rigby, and how lonely she had been….and Mob was lonely. Even when she was with people she was lonely. She was lonely for mom. She was lonely for Sho. She was lonely for the Castle and the school satchel that she was supposed to have and the Hello Kitty book he had read every night and the Treasure Room full of stuff to explore and the mom who was supposed to be in the Castle and the dad who never smothered her and was mostly gone and Fukuda who came to visit and always played with her and never called her Suzuki-san or made her want to get away from him and never talk to him again and she was a terrible person for wanting to get away from Fukuda and never talk to him again because he liked Sho and Sho was gone….

Sho was gone.

Her little brother was gone. Her little brother was hurt. She was in a place that smelled bad. Little brother was hurt and momma was hurt and they had to sleep there and she had sleep somewhere else and daddy was talking her home and she was all alone in her room and her walls were yellow and there was a happy duck family on the wall across from her but that made no sense because the walls in her room had been blue….but the walls here are yellow and there's a happy duck family like her family with momma and daddy and Ritsu and who's Ritsu she doesn't know a Ritsu she knew a person named Ritsuki in school but she's too little for school and it takes three tries to get out of bed without her powers and….and she did…

She did something with her powers….

Little brother had been happy but then he had been sad and then he had cried and momma had cried and then they had owies and she didn't have any owies but they were gone and she got out of bed and her bed had been yellow and there had been more happy ducks on her blanket and her blanket was blue and had Elsa on it but was a yellow blanket with happy ducks and she's wearing yellow pajamas also with ducks and she IS NOT A DUCK but there are ducks everywhere and she has duck slippers and she needs momma to help put them on and momma wakes her up but momma isn't there and she leaves the room and WHERE THE HELL IS SHO!?

Sho is her little brother.

She goes to her little brother's room and it's green and he has happy frogs on his wall but that makes no sense because she has ALWAYS shared a room with Sho and now Sho isn't there and his bed is empty and it's a bed with bars and she floats up into the bed and it's empty and WHERE IS RITSU?! Ritsu was supposed to come home in the morning with momma after their owies got better but he's not there but he might be in momma's room and she goes to momma's room and the walls in the house are brown but that makes no sense because the walls of the castle were not brown and the floor is not the floor and the windows are not the windows and momma's room is not momma's room and momma ISN'T THERE and momma is gone and not momma and daddy is there but he's not daddy and WHERE IS RITSU?!

….who is Ritsu?

"Who's Ritsu?" asked Shimazaki as he pried her eyes opened with his fingers. He got slapped on the aura for his trouble but even in his state he knew a bad trip when he felt one. He needed to snap her out of it. She had been muttering about her parents and her brother and someone named Ritsu for an entire album now.

"I….I don't….know. I messed up. I don't know. I messed up." Said Mob. She held herself being pulled closer. She buried her face in the crook of his arm. She could smell his sweat and his cologne and also the salt of his skin….and also….pepper? Black pepper. He had a thick black line here, where one dragon met the other, and dragons smelled like pepper.

"No you didn't. No negative self-talk. That's the enemy. Think positive. You didn't mess up. You're awesome. I love you. Remember that. You are love. You are so loved. I love you, Toshi loves you, Hatori loves you, Shibata loves you, your dad loves you….a little too much….your brother loves you….you are very loved…" said Shimazaki. He was talking to himself. He was holding himself and he was talking to himself but a version of himself who was also Mob…he didn't know. Mob was herself and she was small and he was himself but he was also not small and he was big but he had once been small.

And he held himself when he had been small.

He had been small and he had been alone and nobody had ever even LOOKED AT HIM and he COULD TELL he didn't know how but he JUST COULD but they never looked at him or talked to him…because he had been a mistake. He should have been drowned at birth. Mom had stopped dad from drowning him and dad had only listened to mom because he loved her but dad hated him and he was a mistake and he never should have been born and why should anyone look at the MISTAKE. The useless MISTAKE. The MISTAKE is crying. The MISTAKE is hungry. The MISTAKE is talking. The MISTAKE is out of his room. The MISTAKE is still alive. The MISTAKE is your problem. The MISTAKE won't turn the damn HI-FI down. Drown the MISTAKE. Let the MISTAKE die. Let the MISTAKE die in the woods. The MISTAKE made a shelter. The MISTAKE found food. The MISTAKE followed the road. The MISTAKE made it home.

Hey Ryou, don't be afraid. Sing a sad song and make it better…..

The MISTAKE is singing again. LOOK AT ME. The MISTAKE is talking to me again. LOOK AT ME. The MISTAKE is in the house again. LOOK AT ME. Why won't you look at me? You're looking at the wall. You're looking at mom. You're looking down. You're feeling your gun. You're pointing your gun at me. I know you're pointing your gun at me. I can feel it. There's a gun pointed at me. I know that you're pointing your gun at me. Mom, why is dad pointing his gun at me?

Mother superior jumped the gun….mother superior jumped the gun…..

"Shimazaki? Shimazaki? Ryou!?" said Mob. She used her powers to get him to let go of her. He had been crushing her. He had been trying to squish her into the colors on his chest. He had been trying to feed her to the dragon. He had been trying to add her to his colors collection. She was colors. He was colors. There were colors everywhere. She could see the colors. She could taste the colors. She could taste the colors of light and feel the taste of sound and it tasted like McDoanld's fries with black pepper which was a good way to eat them and Sho had been wrong…

She loved Sho and Sho was never wrong.

When you loved someone then they were never wrong. When you loved someone then you gave your whole self to them. You gave and you gave and you gave until there was nothing inside of you left to give…and that was alright. That was alright because you got love. You had a life and that life was for all the people that you loved….so it was ok for her to become colors now. She wanted to become colors. If he loved her then she would gladly become colors for him.

Because that was what love was.

"11/12/95." Said Shimazaki. He muttered it over and over again. Or maybe he screamed it. He didn't know. Maybe he was screaming or whispering. He didn't know. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't hear anything above the bang and mother superior jumped the gun! Mother superior jumped the gun!

"No, it's 4/5/2015. The date you said was almost twenty years ago." Said Mob as she counted on her fingers…and then she counted again and again because her fingers felt left out even though the fingers who weren't being counted were lucky because she wasn't smothering them and being smothered sucked but being loved sucked too and there was no medium and nothing was medium and she was a medium at the Disney Store in America but in China she was a large.

"I'm ten." Said Shimazaki. He was ten and he was ten and he was ten and he was ten and his birthday had passed and mom had brought him a cake and he had remembered and she had cleaned out his room and she had emptied out his piss bucket and he had a new album and this one was just Ringo because they had broken up and he would never be able to move to Penny Lane to be with them and he would never visit Eleanor Rigby's grave and oh! Look at all the lonely people! Shimazaki Ryou singing the words of a song that no one will hear because no one comes near because he's a mistake and all the lonely people belong in the woods and dad says don't eat the green berries and he has no idea what green even is but he eats berries and he gets sick and here comes the sun and I say it's alright! The sun comes out and he's sick and he's been throwing up and he stinks and he's sick and he wants to be away from there and he wants to be home and he can feel the sun and he can see the sun and it's there and it's the warm thing and it's up there and here comes the sun!

It's alright.

"Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…." Said Shimazaki. He felt movement and then he felt warmth. He sat up and went to the warmth and he pressed his hand against….glass…and he can feel the sun and he made it out and he's home and he has no idea how he even made it home because the world had moved and he hadn't but he's home and here comes the sun! It's alright!

"Yeah, there's the sun…and you're not ten, I'm ten. You're thirty. Remember? You're thirty….and you're an adult….and I'm a kid….but I'm not a kid….I haven't been a kid for so long….but I want to be a kid…but maybe I should just let it go…." said Mob. She was not a child anymore. She was not a child and she hadn't been a child. People needed her. People needed her and they depended on her and she was not going to walk away.

She was Suzuki Shigeko.

She was not going to walk away from the people who needed her. She was not going to walk away from Shimazaki when he needed to feel the sun and she was not going to walk away from Sho no matter how badly he had treated her before and she was not going to walk away from dad even though he smothered her and she was not going to walk away from Claw just because there were so many things that she had to do…and sometimes she felt like she was too little to do them…

But somebody had to.

There was only her. She was the girl. Mom had been the girl but now she had to be the mom. She had to be the one to take care of everyone and she had to be the one who made everyone feel better and made sure that everything was ok. She was Sho's mom and everyone's mom and that was who she was and she did not get to just let that go. She did not get to climb the ice mountain and she did not get to live in her ice castle. She had to go back. She maybe have hit her brother in the head with a blast of magic but

He had been red on the inside.

A lot of red had come out of him. Red was a color and it tasted like cinnamon hearts and those tasted like Valentine's Day and she had only gotten Valentine's day chocolates once and it had been the best day of her life no wait that had been White Day and that was also a chocolate day and she had gotten some from Sho and he had red hair but the black haired boy was red on the inside and there had been a lot of red and then a lot of white and then a strange place and then more red and the man with the red hair was back and he had milk this time and that man was dad but he was not dad and she had a daddy and that was not daddy but he was and he was red and she was pink and blue and now she was blue and she was Mob and she was blue and she tasted like Sprite.

She drank a Sprite.

She crawled to the edge of the bed and drank a Sprite while Shimazaki shouted at the sun. He shouted at the sun and she drank a sprite and then she put the bottle down and then when she put it down it was full again and she took it and she drank it and she put it down but then it was full again and it was full of green and it tasted like Sprite but only when she closed her eyes but when she opened them it tasted like mushy peas like she and Sho had eaten in England and she loved him and she loved him so much and she was gone and now…

Now she was being pulled back into bed.

She was pulled back onto Shimazaki's chest and he covered them both with the blanket even though he had just been yelling at the sun. Well maybe he had greeted it. You had to greet the sun before his lovely daughter moon. Now goodnight, sleep tight, mommy and daddy love. Mommy and daddy love Sho and Shigeko. Mommy and daddy are in the next room. Mommy and daddy will always be there. Mommy loves you.

Mommy loves you.

Mommy loved you. Mommy is gone. Mob is here. Mob loves you. Mob loves Mob. Mob loves her friends. Mob loved everyone. All you need is love. Love is all you need. Mob is loved. Mob is loved by Shimazaki and Shimazaki is loved by Mob and also they are both loved by the Beatles. All you need it love. All you need is love. They come from the land of submarines and the love you. They come from Penny Lane. They come from England. In England all you need is love. Love is all you need.

Love is an open door.

Say goodbye to the pain of the past because we don't have to feel it anymore. Love is an open door. Love is all you need. Love is an open door and the door is closed and Mob doesn't know what's outside of this door and there's nothing that she can know that isn't known and she knows that she doesn't know any trolls so if she does freeze Sho's heart with a blast of magic then she's out of luck and she never should have left her tower because mother knowns best listen to your mumsy on your own you won't survive but she does survive and she's been surviving and she's been living and life is to live and all you need are the bare necessities but she isn't a bear, she's a cat, and she needs to know her scales and arpeggios and mom loved those cats and she should have stayed because Mob doesn't know her scales and arpeggios and she has no idea what those even are!

"Shimazaki! What are scales and appregios? Tell me now!" shouted Mob. She shouted and she felt him pull her closer and now she's laying all the way one his chest and he's very warm and sweaty and she's getting him sweaty and he's getting her sweaty and their sweat is mixing and his colors will run and he's got so many of them and he tastes like rainbow sherbet when she looks at him for too long and rainbow sherbet is not vile like dad said and she's never been this close to dad before but she has but dad's never been this undressed before and thinking about dad feels super gross right now or maybe she just feels super gross because that weird feeling is back and now she feels super gross and she just needs to let it go for the first time in forever and then there were will be a yellow submarine and she can go to the land of submarines because she knows that Shimazaki wants to go there even though she wants to go and live with Elsa and Anna in their castle and be their sister and she would bring Sho too and he would come and her skin is wet and their colors are mixing and whenever she puts her head down on his chest her hair gets stuck and her braids have come undone and her hair it everywhere and it's floating and she would have been floating if not for how both of his arms were around her and it was still snowing inside and the white stuff came down from the ceiling and the ceiling was the house sky and it was a whole new world! A new fantastic point of view!

And it was sweaty.

"No one I think is in my dream. I mean it must be mine alone. I mean you can't tune in, you know, but it's alright. I mean I think it's not too bad. That was scales and arpeggios. Those are music. Music is life. Music is here. I'm ten." Said Shimazaki as he held her close. She was trying to float away because she was alive and things which were alive tried to float away and they left like Toshi left and Toshi was gone and he needed Toshi and he needed to hold Toshi and all you need is love and Toshi as love and beauty and truth and pain and pleasure and love and pudding and candle wax and dog fur and seamless t shirt and all he needed and also strawberry fields.

Toshi could make strawberry fields.

Toshi could make them last forever. Just him and them in the strawberry fields. They would be able to live there. It was near the land of submarines after all. Everyone one of them would all have all they needed. He could sing out of tune and Toshi would not stand up and walk out on him. He could smell them. He could taste them. Toshi was there and he loved Toshi so much. Toshi was everything to him. Here comes the sun and the sun is Minegishi Toshiiki!

Minegishi Toshiki was their sun.

Minegishi Toshiki was their strawberry field. They needed him and they went on forever and he needed somebody to love and he had someone to love and he believed in love at first sight and he was certain that it happened all the time. He had loved Toshi from the moment he saw them. He loved them then and he loved them now and he would love them for the rest of his life! He loved Minegishi Toshiki and he wanted….he wanted….

"I want to hold your hand Toshi. All I've ever wanted to do was hold your hand. I want to hold your hand for the rest of my life. I love you Minegishi Toshiki. I love you and I want you to love me right back. Please….please love me." Said Shimazaki. He held his hand out and it was held. He could feel who was holding his hand and it wasn't Minegishi. It was Mob. She was there. She was sitting up now, on top of him, and he has the vague feeling that Toshi would be mad at him for this….he has the vague feeling that Toshi would be mad at him if they knew that he loved them…he had the vague feeling that he was mad at himself for loving Toshi….

I love you yeah, yeah, yeah….

"I'm Mob….but you can hold my hand. That's ok. Just don't kiss me. I don't want that. Not with you, anyway." Said Mob. She held his hand in hers. She was sitting up on him now. His hand was up and it met hers and she laced her fingers with his. He was all sweaty and sticky and slippery and wet and so was he…and this was gross….but also not…because he loved her and she loved him and they loved each other…and also he loved Minegishi…and she loved Minegishi too…and who didn't? They were the best person ever.

"I want to kiss Toshi! I want to kiss them and never stop kissing them! And I suck for it! God, I suck! I couldn't saw John Lennon and I can't be in love with Toshi!" said Shimazaki as he held Mob's hand close. He could see her blood moving through her body. He could see his blood moving through his body. Their blood but close but it did not mix…because they did not mix blood…but he wanted to mix blood with Toshi…he wanted….he wanted to have a baby….or a kid…or maybe a grown adult so he didn't have time to fuck it up…..or something.

"You don't suck! Don't ever say that! None of my friends are allowed to talk about themselves like that….ok? And if you want to kiss someone then you can kiss me but don't ever tell yourself that you suck because you don't." said Mob. She didn't want to kiss him at all but if kissing her made him feel better than he felt now then she would let him kiss her. It wouldn't be so bad…and Minegishi would understand…and also it had been a very long time since she had last kissed someone…..but still….ick….this was Shimazaki…but if she made him happy, if this made him happy, then she would kiss him.

There was a hand over her mouth.

He sat up so fast that she almost toppled over. He put his hand over her mouth and then he kissed his hand. Mob was happy. This was better than actually kissing him. That would have been gross and stuff. Yuck. Her head felt light…but not in the kissing way. Just…light. Like she had been running for a long time but now….she felt…she knew where she was again. She was in the room. What was on the other side of the door of the room? She didn't know. She did know, however, was that there was sweat on both of them….and they both needed to drink something….

When you loved someone you took care of them.

Like now. She had been about to let him kiss her for real because she had wanted him to be happy. Who cared what happened to her so long as the people around her were happy? That was her job, to make people happy, and no matter how hard the job got she would never walk away from it. No, she would always be there for everyone around her no matter what. She was Mob. She was there for people. That was what she did.

The hand moved from her mouth.

"You're ten. I'll kiss you for real when you're older." Said Shimazaki. He was thirty, not ten, and he could not go around kissing ten year olds. He was thirty and he was in love with Toshi and Toshi was almost twenty eight and he was thirty and he…he was in love with Minegishi Toshiki….and he….he had to tell them…and he had to keep this to himself for the rest of his life….

"Ok, if you want to. Here, you need something to drink. This is a magic Sprite. No matter how much you drink from it the bottle never runs out." Said Mob as she handed Shimazaki a green bottle from off the floor. She didn't want to kiss him when she was older, not at all, but if he wanted to kiss her then it was alright. Well so long as it didn't bother Minegishi of course. She could never hurt her best friend…but in not hurting her best friend she may have had to be mean to her other friend…and this whole thing was very complicated…

"This is green tea." Said Shimazaki as he took a drink.

"No, it's magic Sprite. I know. I've been drinking it and it hasn't stopped refilling its self. We live in the land of submarines now like in the song and in the land of submarines each one of us has all we need." Said Mob

"If we're in the land of submarines then where's the sun? If each one of us has all we need then where's the sun? I can't feel it." Said Shimazaki

"It went down because you greeted it. You have to greet the sun before his lovely daughter moon." Said Mob

"You can't forsake the journey for the safety of your room." Said Shimazaki

"You know that book?" asked Mob

"It's a song." Said Shimazaki

"Words can be two things." Said Mob

"Yes they can." Said Shimazaki

"We have to forsake the journey for the safety of your room." Said Mob. Mom had said that….a long time ago…when she had been very small.

"No, we have to go out there." said Shimazaki

"Why? In here each one of us have all we need. Sky of blue and sea of green in the land of submarines. Like the song said." Said Mob

"No, we have to go out there. We both have to piss and I am not pissing in a bucket in the corner of my room ever again." said Shimazaki. He finished his tea and then tossed the bottle somewhere. It hit something. He didn't care. He was coming down now…and his playlist had gone back to the beginning….and now he had to piss and he had to take care of Mob to that was what she did. He picked her up and opened his door, he was only a little bit afraid, and….and he was the happiest man alive when he opened that door.

"Toshi!" screamed Shimazaki as he dropped Mob. She was fine. She caught herself with her powers. He reached over to pull Toshi into his arms and to never let them go and-

And they slapped in across the face.

"What the ever loving FUCK happened here today?! I leave for one day and I come back to…..the house is TRASHED! We have to LIVE HERE! The refrigerator is SOMEHOW sticking out of the living room wall! Why is there plaster EVERYWHERE!? Who tore up the CARPETING?! Carpeting is…it's….it's everywhere….and WHO THE FUCK WAS IN MY ROOM?!" screamed Minegishi. They were going to have a heart attack. They could feel it. This was…..what even was THIS?! Mob was talking to herself about magic Sprite and Ryou….he was trying to hug them….

And he had succeeded.

"Toshi, I love you. I want you to know that I love you. You're the sun and here you come and you're the sun and you're here and I want you so bad it's driving me mad! I want to hold your hand and hold you and make love to you and make you feel loved and don't let that fucking moron eat you because I can and I will eat you and you'll love it because you always do and I have to take a piss and so does Mob and the Sprite is not magic and I'm thirty." Said Shimazaki as he held Toshi as close as he possibly could. He needed to hold them and squeeze them and never let them go. Just like how Shibata had been fired from Wee World and just about every other job he'd ever had.

"What the….I am not fucking you! You trashed the house….my ROOM and you think that I'm going to let you go down on me…and Mob is in the ROOM! Watch your mouth!" shouted Minegishi. Well this room certainly smelled like someone had been trying to relive the sixties…and also…why were there sugar cubes everywhere….

That. Moron.

"We're all in the room. The room is this place. The Sprite is all we need. I need to pee." Said Mob as she looked at the wall. She could hear Minegishi but if she saw Minegishi then Minegishi might have left and she didn't want that. She didn't think that she could deal with another person leaving.

"Mob…..how are you feeling?" asked Minegishi as they broke out of Shimazaki's death grip. They got down onto Mob's level…and her pupils….her eyes were pretty much all pupil….and now they were being pulled into another attempted hug.

"I love you yeah, yeah, yeah. I love you yeah, yeah, yeah." Said Shimazaki as he tried to pull Toshi close. Didn't Toshi get it? He loved them!

"Ryou…..go lay down in bed until Mob is done in the bathroom…and then you take a piss….and then we're all going to be here together until you two come down from this…and then you and I are going to talk…after Mob and I talk…and then I am going to bed for the foreseeable future. Is that clear?" asked Minegishi through clenched teeth. They could not tear into either of them. Not that Mob was the guilty party in this. He'd been hanging on to that vial of acid for years now….and he had been talking about dosing a kid to see what would happen for years…and that kid had been Mob….and now the house was trashed and they were going to have to move to the one on the other side of Suzuki…and then he might ask questions….well Hatori had his ear now they could just have him spin some story about a fight or something….something that did not involve giving his precious little girl ACID….and then….then they would have to talk to Mob about going along with Ryou's plans…and then they would have to talk to him about…..

They would ignore him.

They would ignore him until they could stand to look at him again. They would ignore him and let him lose his mind. He deserved it for doing this to Mob…and for what he did to their bedroom….and for all the damage control Minegishi was going to have to do. Thank God that this other two weren't back yet…and that it wasn't anywhere near Sunday….or Suzuki would make them all dig their own traitor holes.

"Sure…but Toshi….I love you." Said Shimazaki as he let Toshi go. God….he loved them so much….and he just wanted to hold onto them forever….but he also did not want to ever have to piss in the same room he slept in ever again.

Ever.

"Yeah….I heard you….now let me take Mob to what's left of the bathroom…." Said Minegishi. They helped Mob to her feet. She clung to them too…and they could not stay mad at her. They hadn't even gotten mad at her. She had been just going along with this and….and she was the child in this situation. Ryou had no excuse.

"Minegishi….I love you." Said Mob as she hugged Minegishi as hard as she could. She loved them so much…and she would never leave them…she would always be there for them….and she also had to leave the room too so she could pee…but she also wanted to be with Minegishi….and she wanted to never let them go….

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love you too. Now come on, Lucy, let's get you out of the diamond sky and to the bathroom before you make a mess for me to clean up." Said Minegishi as they took Mob by the hand. The glared at Ryou with their aura as they left. After tonight he'd be lucky if they so much as glanced in his general direction for….for until he learned his lesson…

"My name isn't Lucy, it's Shigeko, but you might have forgotten since everyone calls me Mob….but that's ok. You can call me whatever you want. I'm a good friend like that." Said Mob. She had always considered herself to be a very good friend…and now she knew that she was. She was always there for her friends and she would never walk out on them. Because she loved them. When you loved someone you stuck with them no matter what. You helped them out no matter what. Everything that you were and had you gave and you were happy to do so. That was what it was to love someone, to be a friend, to be a very good friend….

And Mob had always considered herself to be a very good friend.