Mob had seen square watermelons before.
She didn't understand them. Why they were supposed to be such great gifts. Sure they looked cool but they tasted just like normal melons. She understood wanting something that looked cool, for decoration, but this was something that you were meant to eat….so why make it look cool? You would just feel guilty for eating it, sort of like those cool cupcakes that all the Disneylands had, but worse this time because this was a gift. A very expensive gift, dad had said, and that just confused Mob more. She knew that things could be cheap or expensive, she didn't know what counted as what since she just got more money from the drawer if she needed it, but she didn't understand why something that you ate had to be very expensive.
Or why someone would get dad a very expensive gift, fly all the way from Japan with it, and meet them in America just to give it to him in person.
"Thank you very much for the gift. Here, Daughter." Said Suzuki. He bowed, accepted the gift, and then gave it to Daughter. There. Social obligation fulfilled. He hated doing these things, these social things, and usually it was Fukuda who accepted gifts on his behalf. He got a lot of them and he always let Fukuda keep them. He never refused them, that would have been terribly rude, especially considering who they came from. It was best not to upset Claw financial backers.
Even if they gave the most useless of gifts.
The only reason a watermelon should be square would be for easy transport. That was all. They didn't taste any better than round watermelons, all sweet fruit was vile to him, and Daughter had told him on the occasions when she'd had them that they either tasted just like a normal watermelon or significantly worse since thy harvested these things before they were ripe. It was such a pointless gift, he would have much preferred a normal grapefruit, but he accepted it. That was the polite thing to do. Besides, Daughter liked novelty fruit. She seemed very happy.
"Thank you so much for the gift. I'm sure that it's going to be delicious…and…..um…would you like to eat it with us now? Dad doesn't like sweet foods but I'd like to share it with you….you know…since it's a food." Said Mob as he held this heavy and oddly shaped melon in her hands. She didn't know if she had said the right thing or the wrong thing, the people in front of her didn't have auras, but the man got very sweaty very fast. It wasn't hot in there, well it was sort of warm outside, but inside the air conditioning was on so he should not have been sweaty. The girl next to him, the very familiar pink haired one, didn't seem sweaty. She was just on her phone like normal.
"That's for you Daughter, you eat it. When accepting a gift you have to enjoy it yourself." Said Suzuki. Well now Asagiri was stumbling over himself apologizing. His Daughter was rolling her eyes as she scrolled through her phone. A disrespectful action and one which he did not know why Asagiri tolerated from his child. She had also colored her hair and wore makeup….something which he did not want Daughter to ever do. Well she would end up wearing makeup…not that she would ever need it because she would grow up to be the most beautiful woman in the world just the way Masami was, but he sincerely hoped she never colored her hair. He hated dyed hair. Her hair was perfect the way it was…and he wondered if he should preemptively forbid her from coloring her hair…but then that might give her the idea to color her hair…and also it was dangerous ground criticizing a woman's physical appearance. They did not like that at all….but he really wanted her to stay the same…or at least not to be like Asagiri's disrespectful Daughter. He was so lucky to have her the way she was….
Even if she wasn't the best at accepting gifts.
"We don't want it. Square watermelons suck." Said Minori as she looked up from her phone. God, there was so much to do in this country but instead they had to invite the weirdos dad gave money to over for 'networking' or whatever. She didn't get the point. They had already gone to the stupid party and the only good thing that happened there was she kissed a cute red haired guy. She remembered that girl from before, doll girl.
Weird doll girl.
She as just as weird now as she had been before. She had seemed interesting before, people lined up to talk to her, but then when Minori finally got to her she was all 'do you like Frozen?' and 'what kind of dolls do you have?' which was just….weird. Minori had been ten then and was eleven now. Who the hell still played with dolls and watched Frozen at their age. God, she was so weird. She had her hair in braids and she had on this weird Frozen T-shirt and tutu dress and she had a Frozen backpack that had better not had dolls in it. Dad had told her that she had to make friends with her because the Suzuki family was very important or whatever….
But if he had wanted to hang out with people named 'Suzuki' then they could have just stayed in Japan and not tracked these weirdos down to California and brought them stupid square fruit.
"Minori! She doesn't mean that, President Suzuki, she's just a little bit cranky from the flight the other day. Just a little bit jetlagged. You know how kids are." Said Masashi with a laugh. Minori could be so….well she was very strong willed and very young. She didn't get the importance of this meeting. It was a very rare thing to be able to speak to Suzuki Toucihirou in person, usually he sent his envoy, and he was a very difficult man to track down. But he was there, in his home….well a home, and he had his ear. The ear of his favorite child and the heiress to Claw as well. A shame the son couldn't be there. It would have been wonderful for Minori to befriend both children but the Daughter would do.
She seemed like a sweet girl.
She didn't look a thing like her father but he wasn't going to comment on that. She seemed a lot…warmer…than him. She bowed to him and passed the gift off to one of Suzuki's bodyguards, a man who had to be at least three meters tall, and then told him that when this was over she would share it with everyone….so she was kindhearted. That was good. It was important to not only get in the good graces of the President but also of the heiress. She was the oldest child and one day she would run everything.
So it was best that Minori made friends with her now, while they were children, it could be very advantageous for the Conglomerate in the future.
"If you're jetlagged then the trick it to stay up all night until your body clock gets fixed. That's what I do." Said Mob. She knew that girl from somewhere….oh! The party. Well then maybe she should have kept her advice to herself because she remembered that pink haired girl not being very nice at all. She had been….she had called Mob a baby…but she was not a baby….so it had been a mean thing to call her…and not true…and also now she wanted to go back home and paint Minegishi's nails since theirs were all chipped and stuff and then they could have a movie night too and watch Totoro again since that was Minegishi's favorite or they could watch Across the Universe but with her narrating since that movie didn't have narration….but not Yesterday because that movie was much too sad and Shimazaki couldn't be allowed to know that it existed because then he would cry and he wasn't supposed to cry because it felt unpleasant, he said. She would rather have helped him clean out his eyes after crying than be there with that pink haired girl and end up insulted by her again….
And she REALLY did not like helping Shimazaki clean out his eyes.
"Gee, thanks." Said Minori. She checked the time. Did this count as enough networking? She didn't want to be friends with Suzuki. She was such a baby, it seemed like. She was one of those super sweet types. Those super sweet 'look at me I'm so good' types. They were so boring and not only that but such tattletales too and she didn't need a tattletale who dressed like she was six as a friend.
"You're welcome….I think." Said Mob. She wondered if she had said the wrong thing. She got the feeling that she did. It was so hard to say the right thing, to know what it was, and to know if she had said the right thing when the person in front of her did not have an aura. That was so weird. Well to her it was weird. She went out into the world all the time and she was around people without auras but she was never this close to one of them, never really talked to them, and it was weird. Like there was a missing piece to her….even though she knew that there wasn't.
Normal people were normal.
She was an esper. She had a sixth sense when most people had five. That meant that she was the weird one. She was a weird person in general, she knew that she was, because for her whole life people had said about how weird she was. She felt weird being near that other girl. She seemed so….different. She was so pretty. Her hair was pretty and she had on makeup and her clothes were….well different from Mob's. She was different from Mob but Mob as the weird one.
It wasn't a good feeling being the weird one.
"Minori! Be…make friends. Why don't you and Miss Suzuki go and…have fun? Why not show her your room? I have some things that I would like to discuss with President Suzuki." Said Masashi. Minori could be a little grouchy sometimes, he knew, and she was too young to know the magnitude of this meeting. That was fine. Maybe she would do better hanging out on her own with this girl. They would get on well….well hopefully. Not everyone understood Minori like he did. She could be a little difficult sometimes but no more than any other people….but others didn't see that. She was just a child and she was still learning how to make friends. Well this girl seemed sweet. Minori was a sweet girl, too, when she relaxed.
They would get on well and be the best of friends….hopefully.
"Whatever. Come on, I guess." Said Minori. Dad wasn't going to let her have any fun unless she made friends with this girl. Great. An afternoon spent braiding hair and playing dolls. Maybe they could find some elementary schoolers, they'd probably want to get in on that.
"Um…." Said Mob. She didn't know if she could be friends with Minori. That was her name. Minori. Mob didn't know if she would even want to be friends. They were so different. She had friends, she knew that she could make friends, but she didn't….know how to make friends. Her friends were….well she had met them and stuff…and they were friends…but they were also older than her…and that helped. She knew that it should have been harder to make friends with people older than her instead of someone her own age and stuff….but older people were just easier to talk to. She didn't know how to hang out with someone her own age that wasn't Sho….
It was hard.
She wanted to be back home hanging out with Minegishi. Minegishi and everyone else, of course, even Shimazaki even though he would probably be in one of those moods where he was sort of mean to Hatori. She knew that she would have had to break them up, make Shimazaki say sorry, and make Hatori feel better…but she knew how to do that. She knew how to be friends with her friends. She knew her friends and they knew her…
And she didn't know this girl at all.
"Go on, Daughter. A friend for you." Said Suzuki. He did not want to be alone, socially, with Asagiri….but he did want Daughter to socialize. She had no female friends. She needed female friends. She needed all the female friends she could make. All of her friends were men…and she was Daughter. She needed a friend who she could not be attracted to, who she would not want to go off with, and…and this was good for her.
Besides, he could handle himself.
He was not weak, he was not afraid, and he did not need to hide beside his Daughter. He was fine. He pressed a hand to her back but she did not take a step forward. Not until he pressed his aura against hers. Not hard, never hard, because the thought of causing her pain….it's distressing. He loves her. He loves her and he would never hurt her. He hasn't had cause to in years, it seemed like, and he does not like to think about how he had to punish her. Well she didn't need to be punished anymore because she was special and should be cherished for the gift that she was. Also she never did anything to upset him, to deserve to be punished.
She was such a good Daughter…and she deserved a friend.
"I….yes dad." Said Mob. She followed Minori. She didn't much want to follow Minori. She wanted to thank Asagiri-san for the gift again and then go home and then spend time with dad or her friends or on her own or just…somewhere that she understood. She understood dad. She understood her friends. She even understood herself….mostly. She understood herself enough to not be all…scared. She was a little bit scared as she followed Minori down a hallway. This house was big, maybe even as big as the castle, and Mob…..she liked the walking. She understood walking. She knew how to walk. She knew that right now she had to walk. She knew that she had to walk and…and also she had to talk. There wasn't supposed to be this much silence. There was silence and she had to break it because she knew that a silence could be awkward and she had no idea how to make a silence awkward or when to tell when it was….
So she had to say something.
"Um….I like your house. It's very…big." Said Mob as she followed Minori down a hallway. Her socks felt cold against the floor. She wondered if she should have brought slippers. That was polite, right? When you were in someone else's house? She didn't know. The only other person's house that she had ever been in was her friends' house but she always just went in socks or bare feet though. She didn't even know if the same rules for politeness went here as they did in Japan. They were in America but they were also both Japanese, well she was half Japanese, but that still meant that she had to have Japanese manners…and she had no idea where the other half of her came from anyway.
"I've lived in bigger. Dad just got us this house because he was in a hurry. There isn't even a pool." Said Minori as she came to her door. This house sucked. She wanted to go back to Japan already. At least they had a pool there, a heated one, and also she didn't have to sit through English lessons. Why did she have to learn English? She could just hire someone to translate for her….and while she was hiring people she could just hire someone to make friends with Suzuki. She didn't even know what she was supposed to do?
Play dolls?
She didn't know. She opened her door. Suzuki just sort of stood there. What? Was she a vampire? Did she have to be invited in? She was certainly pale enough. God, did she ever get any sun? She looked like she was a ghost or a vampire or something. Her dad did too. She wondered why they had to make friends with these weirdos just because they had money or whatever. There were plenty of people with money and they were a hell of a lot more normal than these weirdos.
"Um…can I come into your room?" asked Mob. She thought that asking you make sense. She knew that she wasn't just supposed to let herself into places, Minegishi had said so, and she didn't want to mess this up. She hadn't ever been to someone her age's room….or with someone her own age all alone…someone who wasn't Sho. Someone who was….not related to her at all…
Mob didn't know what the H-word she was supposed to do.
"No, I want you to stand out in the hallway for the rest of the day." Said Minori rolling her eyes.
"Oh. Ok." Said Mob. She didn't much want to stand out in the hallway all day but this was at least something that she understood. She hoped that dad wasn't busy for too long. She didn't even care if Dad decided to smother her again after this. She at least understood being smothered and stuff.
"I don't know if you're being slow or funny or whatever but come in. My dad says that I have to be friends with you so come on. Let's get this over with." Said Minori. Suzuki stared at her for a minute…and she had no idea what was even happening in her head. The hair on her arms stood up sort of like there was static electricity in the air or something. It got worse when Suzuki walked past her. She walked past and then just sort of stood in the middle of the room and looked around like she was in a museum or something. Minori didn't get it. This was just a room. She hadn't even finished putting her posters up yet and half of her stuff was still in boxes.
What? Had she never been in anyone else's room before or something?
"I like your room. It's nice. You must really like…bears." Said Mob. She had teddy bear posters on her walls and she had a bunch of them on her bed and she had a teddy bear rug and there was a teddy bear hoodie thrown over her computer chair and a teddy bear backpack sitting on the floor. She…she liked teddy bears too….sort of. She didn't dislike them. Sho liked animals more than her. He would have had more in common with Minori and stuff. He would have been able to talk to her and play with her and stuff and then Mob could have just hung out in the hallway until they were done….but Sho was not here…so she had to make a friend all on her own…and she had no idea how. She'd never made friends with another kid before….
This stuff was really hard.
"Yeah, they're ok." Said Minori as she sat down on her bed and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through Instagram…and she really needed to up her game. She needed….well she needed a lot of things….she'd start a list later. If she had to end up dragged to this country she could at least get some new clothes out of it. Things would have been so much easier fi dad would just give her a card…and also things would have been a hell of a lot easier if there wasn't some weirdo standing in the middle of her room staring at her. Didn't she have a phone? Didn't she have some Frozen, princess, elementary schooler flash game to play or something?
Dad owed her bigtime for this.
"Well? Aren't you going to sit down?" asked Minori gesturing to her bed.
"Oh…right! Sorry. I just….I've never been in someone's room before…well my friend's rooms but…well I've never been in someone my own age's room before…and I don't know what to do. Sorry." said Mob. Sometimes it was best to come clean. That way she wouldn't be in too deep and stuff. There. Now she had come clean and then things would be less awkward….or maybe more awkward. She didn't know how awkwardness was measured in these situations.
"Sit on your side of the bed and do….whatever…until my dad says that you can go home. It's not hard." Said Minori. She probably only had, like, first graders for friends or something. She certainly dressed like it. Seriously. Who liked Frozen? Such a boring movie. Nobody even made out or anything. So boring, like Suzuki. She even sat down all boring. Like she was going to break the bed or something if she moved too fast. She even put her backpack down like it was a bomb or something. God. It wasn't hard. Just sit down already.
Dad owed her so much for this it was going to take all of those accountants to figure out just how big.
Suzuki still stared at her. What? What was there to stare at? She never blinked….and it was so creepy. She was like a creepy ghost or doll or something. That stupid hime cut thing didn't help. Like, braids or hime cut. Pick one. God. She had better not have wanted to braid Minori's hair. She had better not have had a bunch of those ribbons she had in her hair or some Frozen hair ties or something in her stupid backpack and she better not have been getting ready to start braiding hair so they could match and be elementary school twins together or something dumb like that.
God. The things she did for dad.
"What do you keep on staring up me for?" asked Minori
"Um….I like your…bed? I like the teddy bear bedspread. Um….it matches your phone case." Said Mob. People liked to be complimented. Maybe if she just complimented Minori nonstop then they could be friends…or something. She didn't know. She didn't even know how she made friends with the friends she had. Minegishi had decided on the first day that they met that they were going to be best friends…and now all these years later they had the bracelets to prove it. Shimazaki had sort of just started to hang out with her. Shibata had just moved into the house and he had been more of Sho's friend at first, too. Hatori…well she had fallen in love with Hatori and then dad had made him join their group….and all of her friends were at least ten years older than she was….and stuff…..
"They're ok. My mom really liked them best. My dad just keeps on getting me stuff with bears on it. It's whatever." Said Minori with a shrug
"Oh. My dad is like that too. He keeps on getting me dolls and blue stuff even though I don't ask him to…but it like your room. It's nice. Your shirt is nice too. The bear on the front is cute." Said Mob. She really did like Minori's shirt even though it looked like it didn't fit. It was somehow too tight but also sliding off of her shoulders…but she was still super pretty and stuff. Mob wished that she could have been that pretty. She felt so plain looking next to Minori even though there was nobody there to look at her.
"Thanks, I guess. I like your backpack, or whatever. It matches your whole…look. This first grade aesthetic you have going on." Said Minori. Did that come out bitchy? Who cared, really. She knew that she could be kind of bitchy sometimes…but people were just so sensitive. Suzuki had better not have been sensitive. She had better not have started crying or something like that.
Minori could not deal with that right now.
"Um….thank you? You look pretty too. I like your hair. It's pink…but you know that already. I think that dyed hair is cool. My best friend dyes their hair but it's lavender, not pink." Said Mob. She didn't know if she had been complimented or not so she decided to just say thanks. Just in case she had been. She would have been very rude to Minori if she had rejected her compliment.
"You have a friend old enough to dye her hair?" asked Minori looking up from her phone. Huh. Well she had figured that Suzuki hung out at playgrounds and nursery schools or something. Unless she was lying…but she didn't look like she even knew what lying was.
"Yes, my best friend Minegishi, they're going to be twenty eight this year. They're a 'they' though, not a she, even though they were born a she. It's kind of complicated but also sort of easy to remember. Just always use gender neutral conjugation." Said Mob. She didn't know what she had said wrong. She knew that she must have said something wrong because now she was being stared at…and she didn't much like being stared at. She held her braids down with her hands. She wasn't supposed to use her powers, even on accident, around normal people. Even ones who knew about Claw. She wasn't supposed to freak people out and stuff.
"You have a twenty eight year old non binary best friend?" asked Minori. Ok, she must have been lying. She didn't even look like she knew anyone above the age of six let alone some twenty eight year old non binary person….how could she know someone so cool? Minori didn't even know anyone non binary…and she wished that she did. She needed more cool friends. Well more friends in general but nobody was cool enough to be her friend and the people who were cool enough were so, incredibly, sensitive.
"Yes?" said Mob. There was a tone there to how Minori had asked…and Mob didn't know what to make of it. This whole thing would have been much more helpful if she'd had an aura…or if Sho was there. He was the best when it came to talking to people.
"Prove it."said Minori. She put her own phone down and crossed her arms.
"Um…..see? Here. Only best friends can have these." Said Mob. She was being stared at and she didn't like being stared at but there was nothing that she could do, not even think, and she had to think of something…and she felt her bracelet get caught on her skirt. There. That should have been proof enough….
"I meant like a picture of you guys together or something. Anyone can wear half of a best friend bracelet…and who the hell wears best friend bracelets?" asked Minori
"Um…people with best friends? You can see some pictures if you want…I just have to get my phone out." Said Mob. Minori was still staring at her as she got her phone out of her skirt pocket. She almost accidentally got it out with her powers she was so nervous. She needed a drink…or some of her pen. Shimazaki had brought her a bunch of them. He said that this was the greatest country on Earth because it was legal here, for adults in this prefecture…state. They were called states here. It was legal for adults and he didn't have to do anything too shady to get them…which made Mob hope that these weren't stolen. Stealing was wrong…so she hoped that they weren't stolen…and also asking where a gift came from was wrong so she was not going to turn down a gift.
Especially one so desperately needed.
She felt her barrier try to form as Minori got closer. Suddenly Mob felt…embarrassed…about her phone case. It was Elsa and Anna and they were hugging…and she liked Frozen and had liked it since she had been little…but she wasn't little anymore. Minori was eleven and she was almost eleven…so they were practically the same ae….but she just felt….so much younger. Like a little kid. When Minori was this close she could see all the makeup that she was wearing and how pink her hair was and also her shift was hanging down low and Mob could see her bra strap…not that Mob was looking…or jealous. She wasn't. She was who she was and there was nothing wrong with not wearing a bra. Minegishi had said so. They had said that bras were more trouble than they were worth and that it was pointless to get all worried about who needed one and who didn't.
Even though Mob felt like such a little kid in her Frozen shirt and Frozen skirt and Frozen socks and Frozen undershirt and Frozen underwear and Frozen hair ribbons and Frozen backpack.
She clicked her phone on and it went to her lock screen. It was a picture of Sho and her with Nick and Judy at Disneyland, well not the real Nick and Judy because that had only been a movie, but the people in costumes. She went to put in her unlock code fast. She knew that she looked like a kid there…because she had been a kid there. She looked the same then as she did now. She had just still been able to fit into her Elsa dress then…and also Sho had been the same height as her….and stuff. She went to put it in, and she would have put it in, if she hadn't been stopped.
"Hey! I know that guy!" said Minori
"You know Sho? How do you know Sho?" asked Mob as Minori jammed her finger onto her phone screen. She must have been mistaken. Mob and Sho knew all the same people because they were always together…well almost always together. They hadn't been together in so long…but if he had been there then this whole thing would have gone a lot better since he knew her already.
"We made out in the coatroom back at that stupid Christmas party. Why? What is he, your boyfriend or something?" asked Minori. She flipped her hair back and narrowed her eyes. Well if he had been her boyfriend then he should have said something…and also Suzuki should have tried harder to keep her boyfriend. That was what happened when you didn't do what you had to do to keep your guy. It wasn't Minori's fault that Suzuki was probably a bad kisser or a total virgin or something….well kissing virgin. Minori was still the other kind…but that was whatever.
"No, he's my brother…and what does that mean? I feel like it means kissing but Sho hates that…well he hated that back then…at least I think that he did. I don't know. I'm his sister, we don't talk about stuff like this." said Mob. Well now this was awkward. Even Mob could tell. Sho had kissed this girl…and now he had a girlfriend…and Minori would be so heartbroken…and also Sho was the sort of boy who went around kissing girls and then leaving them…which was not something that she had ever imagined for her little brother….and not just about the kissing girls part. She'd have to talk to Sho about how fragile people's feelings could be and how you had to be careful with them and stuff.
"It means when you tongue kiss someone…how do you not know that?" asked Minori as she studied the picture in front of her. They weren't brother and sister. They didn't look a thing alike. He looked more like their dad…and Minori was such an idiot. Red hair, blue eyes, and his family name was Suzuki….she should not have had that glass of champagne. She had been way too sloppy. She could have played it better, then she could have had him as a boyfriend by now, but no she just had to go and try drinking. God, she was so stupid sometimes.
"I've just never heard of that before….also…you did that? With my brother? Why? Why would he…or you…or anyone want to do that?" asked Mob. She…had no idea what to do with this information. She didn't know what to do or…or how to get it out of her head. She did NOT need to know these things about her little brother. No. Just….no. She now knew that he went around sticking his tongue in girl's mouths….yuck….and also…also she didn't know if she should talk to him about this or tell him to stop, because that could not have been good for him, or tell him not to stop because he could kiss whoever he wanted however he wanted. She didn't want anyone to tell her how to kiss, or talk about her kissing, even though she had no one to kiss…and she would not do that to anyone else….also….Sho….
Sho did THAT?
"Because it feels good, duh. That's what you're supposed to do. We were playing spin the bottle and, yeah, that's just how it goes. You've seriously never heard of this?" asked Minori
"No. Never. I had no idea that people kissed like that…well I knew that they opened their mouths sometimes…but I never knew that…that they touched tongues…." Said Mob with a shudder. Her body shuddered and her aura shuddered. She didn't know why anyone would want to do that. It sounded so…gross…and also weird. Just letting someone put their tongue in your mouth…that was where your tongue lived…and also there was spit in there too. That was like spitting in someone else's mouth. She hadn't gotten any of her spit anywhere but inside of her own mouth when she'd had her first kiss…her only kiss…the only kiss she would ever have…..
"You are such a virgin." Said Minori rolling her eyes. Suzuki probably still thought that babies grew in mom's stomachs and stuff too. How did she live this long without knowing any of the important things in life? What a weirdo.
"What's a virgin?" asked Mob. She had heard that word before, olive oil could be virgin or extra virgin, but people were not olives and olive oil was not made out of people. They would have called it people oil in that case.
"Seriously? You don't know that either?" asked Minori
"No." said Mob
"What you don't know could fill a warehouse." Said Minori
"Probably." Said Mob. She knew that it could fill several warehouses and an HQ…and she didn't much like that. It was like Minori was speaking a different language sometimes…or maybe Mob was just the weird one.
"Well a virgin is someone who's never done anything before. There's kissing virgins and being felt up virgins and messing around virgins and virgin-virgins. I'm a messing around and virgin-virgin, I've never met a guy who's worth it and also my dad has his stupid guards follow me around all the time. It's whatever." Said Minori. Also she was eleven but Suzuki didn't need to know that. Suzuki needed to know that she knew what she was talking about, which she was.
"Um….I have guards too….which is probably why I've never heard of any of this. What's….what's a messing around virgin? And a virgin-virgin?" asked Mob. She was such a baby and she was so weird. What she didn't know could fill a warehouse. She was such a little kid, it felt like, because Minori knew so much more than she did…and also she was a few months older than her since she was already eleven…and stuff…but Mob felt like she was a million years younger.
"A messing around virgin is someone who's never messed around, that's doing stuff with a guy under your clothes and below your waist. A virgin-virgin is someone who's never done it before. How do you not know any of this? Don't you, like, have a twenty eight year old best friend or something?" asked Minori
"Minegishi is my best friend…but we don't talk about this stuff…and also done what, exactly? For being a virgin-virgin?" asked Mob. She wondered why they had never said anything…well they didn't really talk about this stuff…and also this seemed like the sort of stuff that went without saying based on the way Minori was talking….and stuff.
"You know….doing it? Sleeping with someone? Having….sex…with them." Said Minori. She whispered that last part. Dad didn't like her talking like this. Dad didn't even like her talking about kissing…and he kept on threatening to send her to an all girl's school for middle school. He would have loved it if she switched bodies with Suzuki or something. How could she have lived this long without knowing anything? Minori didn't even know a lot, compared to her friends at least, and Suzuki knew even less than she did.
"Oh! Um….I know what that is…but that's only for adults. I mean all of my friends, besides my little brother, are adults but we don't talk about that stuff…because I'm a kid…and also I wouldn't want to ask any of my friends about that…because it's private…." Said Mob. She held her braids down and kept her aura in check. She needed to smoke. She needed to calm down and smoke. The thought of taking to anyone about…the adult stuff they did….it made her want to dig a hole and live in it for the rest of her life.
"I honestly doubt you have adult friends." Said Minori. There was no way she had cooler friends than her, first of all, and second of all if she did have adult friends then she would have been a lot cooler. Minori didn't even have adult friends, most of her friends were in middle school. She needed some adult friends. She could not let someone like Suzuki be cooler than her…if she was even telling the truth.
"I do. See? Here's….hold on….here's a picture of me and Minegishi at Starbucks…and here's us when we grew that big fern in the garden…and here's us after we painted each other's nails…and here's just them…well that's just them reading but we're still friends." Said Mob. She felt weirdly….like she had to prove it. That she and Minegishi were friends. She wished that she had more pictures. She wished that Minegishi liked having their picture taken. She hoped that this was enough to prove to Minori that she and Minegishi were friends…even though she knew that she should not have had to prove it….but she also sort of did. They were best friends and….and the thought of anyone doubting that…it made her…not happy.
"Ok, ok, I believe you. You have a twenty eight year old non binary best friend. It's whatever. I have older friends too. That's probably like your only friend or whatever anyway." Said Minori. She was not cooler than her! No way. There, in picture evidence was her doing all of that friend stuff with someone who was way older than anyone Minori even knew! Nope. How did someone like Suzuki make a friend like that?!
"No, I have other friends. See? That's Shibata and a cake he made…he forgot the sugar but it was…ok. Um…and that's Hatori hiding under a table…he gets scared easily. And that's-" said Mob as she went through pictures of her other friends. She could too make friends….and she felt like she needed to prove it…but she didn't know why. She knew that she could make friends so why…why want to prove it to someone? Someone she had just met? She didn't know. She just kept flipping…well she would have kept flipping if Minori hadn't stopped her.
By putting a hand over hers.
Mob almost put up a barrier. She stopped herself at the last minute but the light above them flicked. It wasn't that she didn't like Minori, she was ok, she just…didn't much want to be touched unexpectedly. Especially by someone she just met…and also….not a lot of people touched her. She didn't touch a lot of people either. The person who touched her the most was dad, actually, and then Minegishi and Shimazaki…or Shimazaki and then Minegishi because he could be very touchy sometimes….but those were all people that she had known for years and years.
But still, there was no need to freak out.
"Who's that? The guy with his eyes closed?" asked Minori as she pointed to a picture of a guy with his eyes closed sitting upside down on a couch…and even sitting like that he was so…whoa. Suzuki knew someone like THAT? Ok. This friendship had to happen. She knew hot guys. That was reason enough to be friends or 'network' or whatever dad wanted her to do. All of her friends would lose their shit if she ended up with a guy like that. She might even be able to make some high school friends if she had a guy like that.
"That's Shimazaki. He's my friend. He's being kind of silly in that picture but he's always kind of like that…he acts like a crazy person most of the time, actually, but we're still very good friends." Said Mob. She prepared to flip to the next picture but then Minori grabbed her hand…and she could have just asked…but Mob wasn't going to say anything. You didn't make friends but complaining.
"Do you have any more pictures of him?" asked Minori. She tried not to sound too eager. So he looked like he could have been a member of B.T.S., it was whatever.
"Um…yes. Hang on. Let me just go through my camera roll and-" said Mob. Minori reached out and tapped her screen as soon as she went to the camera roll…and she maybe needed to think about how personal space worked…or whatever…but Mob wasn't going to be mean to her. She could be awkward too sometimes. Still, though, she knew not to go around touching other people's phones and looking at their pictures.
Especially since people could have pictures on their phones which were…not very nice.
This wasn't a bad picture. It wasn't a naked picture or anything like that, Mob didn't have any of those on her phone or anything, but it was one that maybe she should not have been showing to people. She didn't fully remember taking it. This was a picture of her and Shimazaki in his room smoking. She had taken it because…well she had thought that they looked funny there…and they had…but still. She should not have been showing people that…but then again she had never imagined that anyone would be going through her camera roll.
"Are you guys smoking? Also…is he in the yakuza? Those are yakuza tattoos, aren't they?" asked Minori as she took Suzuki's phone from her hands and zoomed in. She knew that she was being rude but it was whatever. That guy…wow…also…what the fuck? They said that you couldn't judge a book by it's cover but…what the fuck? Suzuki apparently liked Frozen, played with dolls, and also smoked with hot shirtless yakuza guys….
Yeah. This friendship had to happen.
"Um….yes, we were smoking…but please don't tell anyone." Said Mob. Dad knew that she drank sometimes, not about all the times she drank but he knew that she did, and he had taken it well…but she did not need him knowing that she smoked, too. Especially not the fun stuff. Minegishi said that people were even more against fun smoking than they were again normal smoking.
"I'll keep my mouth shut as long as you tell me more about that guy." Said Minori
"What do you want to know?" asked Mob. Also why did she want to know what she wanted to know? Shimazaki was interesting and all but Minori seemed REALLY interested in him…but Mob didn't know how talking to people worked. Minori was probably the normal one and she was the weird person.
"Everything. What's his name? How do you know him? What's he like? What's with those tattoos? Why does he close his eyes for every picture? Come on, Suzuki, we're friends. This is what friends talk about. Guys and stuff." Said Minori
"Oh. I didn't know that we had made friends already….um…thank you. Anyway his name is Shimazaki Ryou, he going to be thirty one this year….um….he's really…interesting. He acts like a crazy person a lot of the time but that's just because he hates being bored and likes attention. Also because he's drunk or high a lot of the time since he says that his job it boring now that my brother's gone…he's my brother's best friend and also he keeps him safe…also my brother isn't gone he's just away and-" said Mob
"Yeah, yeah, your brother sounds great. Tell me more about this guy." Said Minori
"He is….but…um….he likes the Beatles a lot? Well he specifically likes English rock and pop music from the sixties to the eighties. He says that Japanese music peaked at city pop in the eighties but I don't agree…um…he likes music a lot. He likes music and chewing on candles and dogs because they're soft and loyal….um…he used to be in the yakuza but he got kicked out of his family for doing bad things…um…we became friends after he started guarding my dad and brother….uh….he's blind, too. He keeps his eyes closed because he doesn't have any and when he opens his eyes stuff gets in his eye sockets and he has to clean them off…and it's gross…and sometimes I help and then we smoke together afterwards…and that's all I can think of right now." Said Mob. She wondered if she had said too much…or maybe not enough…or maybe she hadn't been specific enough…or maybe she had been too specific….or maybe…she didn't know…
She didn't want to mess this up.
Because now she had a new friend. She had a brand new friend and she had no idea how she had made this new friend but she had a new one and…and this was great! She could always use more friends…even though she had no idea how to be friends with someone who was her age…and also she knew how…how she could be. Why did Minori even want to be friends with her? She knew so much more about things…and stuff. Mob was a baby compared to her…
But you weren't supposed to question it when good things happened to you.
"Wait….so you're friends with a bunch of adults, including a thirty one years old blind ex yakuza member who looks like he could be in B.T.S. or Wanna One or Exo or….whatever. He's hot and he's your friend? And you smoke with him? Like he lets you have cigarettes and stuff?" asked Minori. She wondered if maybe she had slipped and hit her head and now she was in some alternate reality or something where someone like SUZUKI could be cooler than her….well it was whatever. She was Asagiri Minori. She'd be back on top soon.
"Um….he's my friend…and we used to smoke cigarettes but my friend Minegishi wanted me to quiet. Now we mostly just smoke fun stuff, and also vape pens, and one time he gave me coke but I'm not supposed to do that anymore…and one time we had sugar cubes with acid on them, not the dying kind but the kind that makes your brain stop working, but I'm not supposed to do that anymore either. So that's…um…what we do together…but please don't tell anyone, ok? Also…um…I guess he's nice looking but I don't notice him like that and also….um…what's BTS? And Wanna One? And Exo?" said Mob. Minori was….someone who she had trouble understanding…but that was ok. She was her friend and that was what mattered…also she thought that Shimazaki was….what? Mob didn't see it. Well he was tall and strong and…and stuff…but he was also Shimazaki.
"So…you….do drugs…and get high…and you have no idea how hot this guy is…and you don't know what KPOP is? How are you…how are you alive?" asked Minori. Suzuki was a weirdo but…but she was also…well they could be friends. She was so lucky that Minori had come into her life. Now she could show her what was important…and also she had never done worse than smoke a cigarette and gave a glass of champagne before…and she could not let Suzuki beat her. Not when she was all….dressed like a mentally challenged first grader or whatever.
"Um….because I am? I'm sorry. I don't understand the question." Said Mob. She knew what KPOP was, she just mostly listened to Disney soundtracks and whatever Shimazaki felt like singing about. She didn't know what that had to do with being alive, though, but what she didn't know could fill a warehouse.
"I mean how do you do….all of that…and still just…not know ANYTHING? God, you are so lucky to have me for a friend. We should hang out more, Suzuki, we really should. We could….do stuff. Like hang out with your friends and smoke and stuff. Or play dolls and braid hair. Whatever." Said Minori. Dad was right about this 'networking' thing. Once school came back in session she'd have so many stories and pictures…she'd totally win her friends back from that stupid transfer student. So she came from abroad, who cared? So she had all the guys after her…that was just because she let everyone under her shirt. It was whatever. Minori would be back on top soon enough…well first she'd have to do some work on Suzuki.
How someone who did all of that cool stuff could dress like a mentally challenged first grader made no sense at all.
She needed new clothes, and a new attitude, and then they could hang out, and document everything. And then when the time came to go back to school she could one up little miss transfer student. No more leaving dead birds in her desk and pouring red paint on her chair before she sat down….well more of that if this didn't work. She'd ruin what was left of her reputation if one upping her didn't work. Then she'd be back on top or whatever.
It was worth it to have to be friends with Suzuki to get there.
"Um….I like being your friend too…..Minori…and you can call me Mob…and um….stuff. Uh…I thought that you didn't like dolls but if you want to play with dolls I have some with me…and I have some pens too if you want to smoke…but please don't tell on me." Said Mob as she opened up her backpack and took out her dolls. She had brought two Annas, two Elsa's, and then one of everyone else. She had packed them before she had known who she was going to be meeting….but this had still turned out nice. Once she had her dolls laid out she took her pens out of her backpack…and she had been letting them lay down on their sides for too long. All the oil had collected in the top. She fixed it fast with her powers before Minori noticed.
She was busy picking which dolls she wanted to play with.
She picked up short haired Anna, Sho had given her a haircut but then he had said sorry so it was ok, with two fingers….and Mob didn't know why. Well it did look sort of gross being all short haired…and also she hadn't been able to get all of the scars that Sho had drawn in permanent marker off of her…so it made sense that Minori would hold it like that. She wanted to play dolls. She must have. She was the one who had suggested it.
"Let's smoke first. Is that weed or vape juice?" asked Minori as she picked up one of the pens.
"Um….that's hash oil. It's made from the same plant though. The one you're holding is…well actually I haven't tried that one yet. We can try that now." Said Mob as she reached over and turned her pen on. Wow. This day had gone better than she ever would have imagined it. She had made a new friend. She hadn't had a new friend since Hatori…and she hadn't had a friend who was her age since Sho had been born. This was…this was great.
It was.
Even though there were a million and one ways, it felt like, that she could mess this up. She didn't know how to be friends with someone her own age…but she could try. Minori wanted to be her friend and…and nobody her own age had ever wanted to be her friend. Even Sho hadn't been the nice to her for a big part of her life. This was….it was scary…but it would be nice. Friendship wasn't scary. She just…had to remember that she knew how to be a good friend. She knew how to be a good friend because she had friends and she'd had friends for a while…so she knew what to do….
She'd just do the same stuff that she did with her friends now.
She wasn't going to mess this up. Besides, Minori had been the one who had wanted to be friends with her….so she had this. She hadn't been the one ask first…so this was ok and she was not going to mess up. So far she had done everything right…..and she had remembered to let Minori have the pen first. That was good manners. She had good manners and she could be a good friend and she would be a good friend and she would not mess this up. This had been…this had been a good day. She'd made a new friend…
Which was a lot better than getting a square watermelon.