Sho had no idea what he was even hearing…but he knew that it was weird.
"….think so, boss…."
"I know so."
Well he knew what he was listening to. Hatori was in his house. Hatori was talking to dad. Hatori was in his house talking to dad. The world had gone crazy. Sho had to pinch himself to make sure that he was still awake….even though he had no idea why he would dream about Hatori being in his house talking to dad. He dreamt about dad sometimes, bad dreams where dad beat him up and good dreams where he beat dad up, but never about dad hanging out with Hatori. Also he never dreamt about Hatori, either. Why would he? Hatori was big sis's boyfriend. He wasn't going to just lay there and dream about his own big sister's boyfriend.
Or anyone's boyfriend.
Or any boy at all. He didn't dream about boys, especially not Shimazaki, and he certainly hadn't had recurring dreams where Shimazaki told him he liked him and they certainly hadn't gotten worse since the time that Shimazaki and him went to the beach….certainly not. Not at all. In fact if he were to close his eyes and go to sleep then he would have dreamt about something other than him and Shimazaki and the two of them being together and….yeah. He did not have those sorts of dreams. He would dream…he would dream of other things.
But not dad and Hatori hanging out.
Sho rolled over. He could hear dad and Hatori talking about….something….through the door. He didn't know what. All he knew was that he was supposed to be asleep. Big sis had put him to bed, well he had let her put him to bed he was ten years old he could put himself to bed, but it made her feel better to put him to bed so he let her put him to bed. In his own bed. He had a bed now. True to her word she had gotten him a bed…and he had no idea why he had thought that she hadn't been telling the truth. She was his sister and she loved him so of course she had gotten him his own bed…
Even though it had been nice sleeping next to her.
She was in her bed under her covers. He could tell, by the glowing, that she was on her phone. That wasn't fair at all. If he had to go to sleep then she had to go to sleep. She as awake and she was on her phone and…and he would not get mad at her. Maybe she couldn't sleep. Maybe the weirdness of all of this was keeping her up too. He didn't know why it wouldn't have. This whole thing was just…it made no sense. Dad was Fukuda's best friend and they didn't even hang out like this. Just….sitting together and having fun and stuff. It seemed like they were having fun, anyway, based on their tones and auras and the fact that Hatori wasn't hiding in the bathroom like a scaredy cat. This was too weird and he couldn't blame big sis for not sleeping.
He couldn't sleep either.
He reached over with his powers and took his phone off the charger. He could watch something or read something or play something….his 3DS would have been better for games…he sat up. The little light was still red. Damn. Well he could at least be on his phone until the sun came up or dad and Hatori shut up or he fell asleep, whichever came first. He didn't bother hiding under a blanket. If she got to be up then he got to be up too. It was only fair. He minute he clicked his phone on she pulled her blanket off from over her head and sat up. Her phone vibrated in her hand. She was messaging someone….and Sho wondered who. Minegishi maybe…but they lived right next door. Who else did she know? Well Hatori…but he was hanging out with dad….
Which was weirdness beyond any level of weirdness that he had ever known.
"Sho, go back to bed. It's in the middle of the night." Said Mob as she got up. She had been talking to Minori, another one of her friends was being a b-word to her, but now she was talking to Sho. Minori would be mad that Mob wasn't texting back fast enough but maybe she would understand…or not. She didn't have any brothers or sisters. Well then she would just have to deal with her friend being mad at her in that case.
Because Sho needed her.
Sho needed her and she needed to be there for him. She had made a big mistake in not thinking to get him a bed…well she'd had no idea if he'd be joining them….but still. She had made a mistake and now she was never going to make any other mistakes again. Ever. She was going to take the best care of her little brother, the very best care, because that was what he deserved. If he needed to be tucked in again she would tuck him in and if he needed another story then she would read him another story, well she would read aloud in the room with him because he liked to say that he was too old for stories, and if he needed her to sleep next to him then she would sleep next to him. She would do anything for her little brother.
Even if Minori would get mad at her for not texting back fast enough.
"I can't sleep." Said Sho. Big sis's phone vibrated again. She put it face down on her bed. She was looking at him now. He could see her face in the light that came in from the outside. Her aura was on him too…and he used to dislike it when she paid attention to him….and when she bossed him around. That had been back when he had been little, back before he had been someone's big brother. Now he knew that she did this because she cared about him….and who else would? Dad? No, he didn't care about Sho. He only cared about what Sho would be able to do for him once he grew up.
"Do you need me to tuck you in again? Or another story? Or do you want me to sleep next to you?" asked Mob
"No, it's fine. Just let me be awake. You're awake." Said Sho. He had been able to stay up as late as he had wanted to back when he had been staying with Fukuda….but he wasn't about to go off and spend the night with Fukuda again. No, he was back with big sis where he belonged.
"I'm awake….but you need more sleep. You're littler than me." Said Mob. Little people needed more sleep. Sho may not have been a lot younger than her but she was still the big sister and caring for him was her responsibility.
"This is that part of the year when we're the same age." Said Sho
"That's true but….I just don't want you to be tired in the morning. So please just tell me what I can do to help you go to sleep." Said Mob. She was supposed to help him get to sleep. That was one of the things that she had to do for him. She was out of practice, maybe, since he had been away for so long….but now she was going to have go get back in practice. She had to be a good big sister. She had to be.
"Can you tell dad and Hatori to shut up…and to stop being weird. Seriously. That's just…it's just weird." Said Sho motioning towards the door. Dad and Hatori were talking…about games it sounded like…but that made no sense. Last time Sho had checked dad didn't like games because they were fun and dad was allergic to fun. How could big sis be so…normal about all of this? That was her boyfriend sitting out there with dad. Dad who beat people up and even worse. Didn't she care about him? About what dad could do to him? Didn't she think about how dad would react if he found out the truth? Didn't she remember what had happened to Shimazaki? About how dad had beat him up so bad that he bled?
Sho knew that he would be able to forget.
"Um….I can. I mean not tell dad and Hatori to shut up…because that would be mean…but I can have dad sleep next to me. Then he'll send Hatori home….and I'll do that if you want me to but I want to be near you since you've been gone for so long." Said Mob. She also wanted to keep on talking to Minori…and also she didn't want to have to make dad breakfast at three in the morning again. That hadn't been fun at all. Dad had woken her up because he had been having a bad dream, about mom it sounded like, and instead of talking to her he had sent her to make him food. Maybe he had been eating his feelings. Sometimes people ate their feelings but that was not a good thing to do because it wasn't healthy. Minegishi had said so. She wished that dad would have just talked to her, it wasn't like she had been planning on making fun of him or anything, she would have helped him through whatever bad feelings that he had been feeling….
But dad liked to pretend that he didn't have any feelings.
She didn't want to have to make him middle of the night breakfast again. She wanted him, next time that happened, to just tell her what he had been feeling. She had been sleeping but then dad had pulled her close and started talking about mom and kept on telling her that he loved her and stuff. She loved him and if he had just woken up and told her what had been wrong….but that wasn't what dad did….
She didn't understand dad at all sometimes.
"And you have to talk to whoever you're talking to." Said Sho motioning towards her face down phone. He didn't know why he said that. He didn't know why he cared if she had been talking to someone else. He didn't know why it bothered him that dad let her sleep next to him. He didn't know why he cared that her boyfriend was in their house talking to dad. He didn't know….he didn't know a lot of things. All he knew was that….that he had been very close to sounding like a jerk then and he could not let himself talk like a jerk, be a jerk, to his big sister.
She loved him and he loved her and when you loved someone then…then you were always nice to them….even when you got upset in the middle of the night for no good reason.
"That's just my friend Minori. She'd be mad at me if I didn't respond to her but that's not why I don't want to sleep next to dad. I want to sleep next to you…or at least in the same room as you." Said Mob. She felt her phone vibrate again. She knew that Minori would get mad at her, probably think that she was being a b-word, and she didn't want Minori to talk about her like she talked about her other friends….and stuff….but Sho was more important.
"Minori….she doesn't have pink stripes in her hair, does she?" asked Sho. He knew someone named Minori. He would never forget that name. That had been….that night had been the best and the worst of his life.
"No, her whole hair is pink…but she might have had stripes in her hair…when you met her." said Mob. She didn't know what she was supposed to say about that…so she said nothing. Sho could kiss whoever he wanted in whatever way he wanted….and she did not want to even begin to think about her own little brother going around kissing people….especially not like how Minori said that it happened. Mob could have lived a nice, long, comfortable life without knowing that her little brother had kissed someone….like that.
Not that she didn't want him to be happy, she did, she just didn't need those sorts of details.
"Wait…how are you….how do you KNOW her?" asked Sho. He made no move to keep his voice down. How could he? Big sis knew that crazy girl? The one who ha d climbed on top of him and had tried to cram her tongue into his MOUTH!? That girl? How had….Sho wondered if the universe was punishing him for all of those cheating thoughts he kept on having. That would have made sense. That would have made all the sense.
"Her dad is one of Claw's financial backers and he's staying here for business and stuff. He invited me and dad over and gave us a square watermelon, you can have it by the way I don't want it, and then Minori decided that we were going to be friends." Said Mob
"A square watermelon? Those things suck they're never ripe enough and the corners just make eating it hard...also how are you friends with her?!"" Said Sho. He didn't care if dad heard him. Dad didn't give a damn if he was awake or asleep. He would just tell big sis to put him to bed again….or whatever. He had to figure this out. Big sis had made friends with that crazy girl? Her? She had been….Sho had been kissed a million times before by a million girls before but no girl had ever kissed him like she had…and he never wanted a girl to kiss him like that again.
"She invited me to her room and then she decided that we were friends." Said Mob
"But….why? What do you…what do you even DO with her? And why did you keep this a secret?" asked Sho. That was the worst part, that she had been keeping this a secret from him, even though he had no idea why that even bothered him. He had been keeping secrets from her, so many secrets, so he had no right to be there getting upset with her for keeping secrets from him.
"We play dolls and paint each other's nails and play dress up and she does my makeup and we take pictures….she loves to take pictures….and that's it. I wasn't keeping it a secret I just….well she told me that you kissed her….um….that you guys kissed a lot and I know you have a girlfriend now and I didn't want things to be awkward. Also the way she talks about boys….I didn't want her to talk about you that way….and stuff." Said Mob. She was not going to tell her own brother that she knew all about how he had tongue kissed her friend…..and also she knew how Minori was about boys. She didn't think that it was wrong to try and kiss a boy with a girlfriend….and also talking about which boys were hot and what she wanted to do with that…that was one of her favorite things to talk about…and she did NOT need Minori to talk about her little brother like that.
"She said that I kissed HER?" asked Sho. That was not how it had gone at all…but he didn't want to talk about any part of that night with his own big sister. He didn't want to talk to her about how just….really fucking not good…kissing Minori had been. He didn't want to tell her about how kissing Hideki had been the best moment of his life…how it had felt so good and right….and stuff. He didn't want to tell her how wrong it had felt, how wrong he had felt, when it was over and it felt good….when he realized that he had felt good….how everyone had been reacting…and stuff. She didn't need to know any of that. She didn't need to know and he wasn't going to tell her…so….so…
So maybe it was better that she thought that he had been the one to want to kiss her friend….that way at least she wouldn't know the truth…even though he didn't like lies and secrets….
"…yes…and I just…you can kiss whoever you want. I mean you have a girlfriend now and you only kiss her but you can….I mean when you were single you could have….you could have kissed whoever you wanted…even….um….in the way that she said you guys kissed. I love you and all but I just….don't want to know about how you kiss girls and stuff…and all. Um….and that's why I never asked you to come and hang out with me and Minori. You have a girlfriend and she's kind of like an ex…sort of. It wasn't a secret though…not really." Said Mob. She hoped that Sho wasn't going to get mad at her….and she had never meant to make him mad…she just didn't want things to be awkward.
"Yeah….I don't want to talk to you about that either…because you're my sister and stuff. So let's not talk about this anymore. I mean I don't ask you about kissing Hatori so-" said Sho
"Sho! I've never kissed….not so loud! He might hear you." Said Mob. She glanced over at the door. Hatori and dad were still talking about which was better, Galaga or Galaxian, and that was good. Hatori could not know that she had been in love with him…or that being near him made her feel…a lot of different feelings. Nobody could ever know about that. Ever.
"He can't hear me…and you never kissed him? Aren't you guys in love or something?" asked Sho
"Sho! Don't talk about that! You just said that you didn't want to talk about that." Said Mob
"I know, I know. It's just….I thought you guys were going out. I thought that you guys were in love or something…." Said Sho. No. She had to like him. She had to like him because….because she didn't like Shimazaki like that anymore. Since she didn't like him anymore she was Hatori's girlfriend.
"I….I liked him before but….but then I stopped liking him…and it's complicated and….and also it's just…he's not my boyfriend, ok? Let's talk about something else. Um…Shibata says that he's going to make crepes….so maybe he'll make us crepes…and stuff." Said Mob. She loved her brother, she really did, but she did not want to talk about love with her own little brother. She wanted to talk about….about crepes. Crepes were good. Crepes were…they were good with strawberry…and stuff….
"Yeah….ok. Crepes are good but he had better not put anything on mine." Said Sho. He would rather talk about crepes than some guy who didn't have the guts to go out with his sister. What was so complicated? She liked him and he didn't exactly have girls chasing him down the street. He should have been jumping up and down that a girl liked him. What? Was something WRONG with his sister? Huh? Did Hatori think that he could do better? What, was he holding out for a princess or a movie star or one of those girls who took their clothes off for money? Well he had better stop holding out!
Sho knew that he was supposed to beat up guys for liking his girlfriend but he wondered if it was ok to beat up a guy for NOT liking his big sister.
Hatori…Sho wondered if he had brain worms or something. He must have had brain worms or maybe he had broken his brain with too many energy drinks and videogames or something. Sho had to knock some sense into him. Big sis…she liked him and he had to like her and that way she wouldn't like Shimazaki again….so there had to be something that he could do to make sure that never happened….because if she fell back in love with Shimazaki then…then….
Sho didn't know what he would do.
"A least have some fruit. At least some strawberry or something. Ok?" asked Mob. Good. They weren't talking about her love life…well the love life that Sho thought that she had…anymore. She understood taking care of Sho. She knew how to make him eat his food and all the food groups and how to take care of him and this was what she was going to talk about for the rest of the night if she had to. Even though she knew that she had to get back to Minori or else she was being a b-word….but if being there for her brother made her a b-word then….then she was a b word.
"…fine…but on another plate." Said Sho. She deserved to be happy. She deserved to be happy and if she wanted to be with Hatori then he would make sure that big sis ended up with Hatori….because he was a good little brother, that was all, and not because he knew that if she got back with Shimazaki his heart would break in half….and stuff….
"Ok. Whatever you want." Said Mob. She would make sure that he had at least one plate of strawberries. In syrup, of course, because otherwise Sho wouldn't eat them. He didn't like fruit because of the time with the grapefruit…but strawberries would not kill him….and she needed fruit because they were a food group and stuff. She would make sure he was ok and happy and stuff. She was his big sister and that was her job, to take care of him and make him happy.
"Ok….and if you want to sleep next to me…if you want…then you can sleep next to me." Said Sho. He loved her and he wanted her to be happy. If she wanted to sleep next to him then that was fine. Even if they didn't both fit it was fine. He just wanted her to be happy.
"I would like that a lot." said Mob. She put her phone on the charger, Minori would be mad but Mob could deal with that in the morning, and climbed in bed next to Sho. She knew that they were too big to share a bed. She knew that they didn't both fit anymore. She knew that he kicked in his sleep and also wet the bed. She knew that he could wake her up at any time and then she would be tired the next day…but she didn't care. She just wanted to be near her brother….especially since he had been gone for so long.
She loved him so much.
"Yeah, ok, me too I guess." Said Sho as he put his phone on the charger with his powers and then made room for big sis. Dad and Hatori were still talking and it was still weird…..but big sis was near him and that was normal. She was near him and they had been apart for so long….but now they were together. They were together and he was making her happy…and he would keep on making her happy.
He heard Hatori laugh.
Dad and Hatori liked each other enough to be friends….which was so weird…but that was good, too. If dad liked him then he wouldn't beat him up bad enough to bleed once he started going out with big sis. He would end up going out with big sis, Sho would make sure of it, and then big sis would be so happy. She was going to be happy and then…and then she wouldn't try and go out with Shimazaki again…and stuff…and Sho didn't want to think about the way he felt about Shimazaki. No, that was just…not something that she needed to hear about and not something that he wanted to talk about….because it was weird…
Even weirder than dad and Hatori being friends.