Minegishi knew nothing about makeup.
They had never seen the point of it. They were who they were. Even when they had been young, Mob's age, they had never wanted to wear makeup. Aside from a short period of time in which they had drawn on their eyebrows, and had figured out that they looked better as they were, they had never even thought of touching the stuff. Not on their own, anyway. They had been a guinea pig, before, back when they had been young. Back when they had been…well when they had been a lot younger than they were now. Back when there had been someone in their life who lived for this. Back when there had been someone in their life who….back in a period of their life which they chose not to think about. A period of their life which they which they would not be thinking about. A period of their life which they were done with, which they were going to leave behind, and which they had left behind years ago.
They had left all of that behind years ago.
This was their life now. Sitting in the bathroom they shared with three other people, three people who were in a silent competition to see who could make the biggest mess, getting their face painted by an eleven year old. Their eleven year old best friend. Their eleven year old best friend who should not have even been INTO makeup yet. Mob was just a kid. She was just a kid and this was not something that someone her age even needed….not that Minegishi was going to say anything. No. Mob was having fun. She deserved to have fun. Her life was…well it was a shit show…so she deserve to enjoy what portions of it she could.
Like this.
Like them sitting there in the bathroom waiting for Mob to get all of her instruments out. They sat there under the harshness of the bathroom vanity lights, the antiseptic smell of whatever it was the Ryou used to clean his eye sockets out with, the dripping of the shower head, and the shaking of the house. That one was due to the spin cycle going, though. Ryou had put a load of laundry in but then he popped away….somewhere with Mob's little brother in an effort to save him from Mob. She had been using him for styling practice, apparently, which was much better than the games of target practice that he used to put Mob through. Not that they had said anything.
They were never going to say anything when it came to that kid.
The kid had issues. Issues with rage, issues with jealousy, and issues with his sexuality….whatever it was. Minegishi didn't know what that kid was but he had a crush on Ryou, which was getting out of hand, and also he was in that deep in the closet stage. Seriously. The kid was living in Narnia he was so deep in the closet. Not that Minegishi blamed him, he was Suzuki's Son after all, and Suzuki didn't seem like the kind of guy who would have been accepting of his only son being anything other than perfectly straight and ready to carry on the Suzuki family name….because God knew that the world needed more people called 'Suzuki' in it….
Poor kid.
They weren't a cruel person. At least they didn't think that they were a cruel person. They didn't set out to be a cruel person….in their personal life. Work Minegishi was different than personal time Minegishi. Personal time Minegishi….didn't set out to be cruel. They could be cruel, in fact their first impulse was often to be cruel, but they always managed to catch themselves. They hadn't been blatantly cruel since the shit show with Ryou, Mob, and the acid…and they had made it up to him. Mob's little brother…he hadn't done anything nearly as bad, lately, as Ryou had. Nothing to earn their cruelty. So they did not give it to him. They just….let him be. They let him be and they left Ryou to deal with the eleven year old boy who was in love with him. Even though he wasn't doing ANYTHING about it and Sho was becoming IMPOSSIBLE so deal with-
But they said nothing.
They could handle an eleven year old being a little shit to them. They could have shown him why he didn't need to be picking on someone older, stronger, and more powerful than him….but they didn't. He was just a child being raised by another child and in love with a thirty year old child. He probably had his own shit going on, figuring yourself out was always hard, and Minegishi was not cruel. Even though it would have been easier to tell him that Ryou wouldn't return his affections ever….or at least for a few years…a part of Ryou's past that they did not like to think about…..but they didn't say anything. This was between the two of them.
Besides, they already had a kid to worry about.
"Ok, the lighting it good. Now I just need to pick out what's going to work best for you." Said Mob. Minegishi certainly hoped that the lighting was good enough, for the sake of whoever paid for the electricity at least, and they hoped that Mob got on with it. They did not like….well they didn't like a lot of things…but they could put up with this. They had put up with this before. They had put up with this back when they had been….a lot younger. Back when they'd been working as a florist, well a florist's assistant. Back when they had been living in that single room….not big enough for two….so of course they moved….they'd had to move since Jun had gotten a job in Tokyo….
"I like lavender." Said Minegishi. They were fine. They were fine and this was fine. Mob….she was happy and if she was happy then they were happy. They were…content. Ok with this. They hated makeup…well disliked it…well they hadn't always disliked it. They had disliked the idea that they had to paint their face to be found acceptable by society. They had hated how much money they had been expected to spend, and being a newly emancipated fifteen year old they hadn't exactly been in the money, and they had hated the fact that since they had been born without eyebrows they had to draw them on because some people found their actual face disturbing….
Come on. Toshi, you know you're exaggerating.
That was what…someone…would have said. That was what they would have said, what she would have said, after sitting Minegishi down and getting the lighting right and going through their tools…and it had been a lot of tools. A lot of tool in a clear carrying case. The tools of her trade. Minegishi had always been a little jealous. They'd been born with their powers but Jun…she'd had to learn…and she had learned so fast…and Minegishi had always been a little upset about having to sit through this ritual but…but also…
Also they had liked it.
If they closed their eyes they could have seen….they could have seen themselves….but they didn't close their eyes. They left their eyes opened. They left their eyes opened because that was then and this was now. They were in the bathroom they shared with three other people, not one other person, and it smelled like antiseptic, mango body scrub, and lynx….so much lynx. The person in front of them was their eleven year old best friend not their…not a person who had been special to them back when they had been younger and stupider and more selfish…..God they had been selfish….they had been so selfish and they never…they never wanted to be that selfish again…..
They hadn't liked themselves then.
"Ok. I have lots of lavender. I have lavender eye shadows and lavender highlighter and lavender concealer, that's for correcting yellow….and you're not really yellow….but I can still use it. I have a lavender, well violet, foundation….well there's some violet in it….but I haven't tried that yet because I don't have any yellow in my skin." Said Mob. She was getting into this….and that was fine. She was fine. She was getting older and….and it was normal for someone her age to get into this. it was also normal for someone her age who had access to millions up millions of yen to have built up a truly massive collection in only a few week's time. Mob had, at some point, gotten a carrying case for all of her makeup. All. Of. It. She had, also, at some point collected more makeup than Minegishi even knew what she could possibly do with. She had a whole layer just for foundations….which she would not be putting on them. Nope. Even Jun had said that their skin was much too finicky, too temperamental, for any kind of foundation. She had also said that Minegishi was too finicky, too temperamental, too quick to anger, too quick to escape, too much….
But that was then and this was now.
"You can paint my eyes all you want but don't go near me with that foundation." Said Minegishi as Mob held up several powders and tubes. Nope. No way was she going to put any of that on them. They were not going to end up breaking out again. They were just a couple years shy of thirty, their skin should have settled down at this point, but it hadn't. Their skin was just as finicky and temperamental as ever. They were just as finicky and temperamental as ever.
"But….you need it. I mean your skin is very nice but Minori says that you always have to start with foundation….well you have to start with primer and then foundation." Said Mob. Minegishi shook their head. They worked hard on their skin and they did not feel like spending days, if not weeks, reversing what Mob had done. They had only met one foundation that had agreed with them and that had been some obscure professional formula that they didn't expect Mob to have.
She wasn't a professional after all.
"Foundation doesn't agree with my skin. If you have to paint me up then focus on my eyes." Said Minegishi. They did not feel like breaking out. They were happy to help out but they were not going to put their skin on the line. Maybe they were just vain like that…or something. They did care about their appearance. They had been told, shouted at, that they didn't give a damn about how they looked but that wasn't true. They just wanted to be the best version of themselves that they could be. Themselves. Themselves at their best.
So barefaced with clear skin and lavender hair.
"But….ok. But if you ever want me to do your foundation I will. It's not that many steps. It's just primer, then liquid foundation, then concealer, then powder foundation, then bronzer, then blush, then eye makeup, then setting powder, then lipstick makeup, and then also concealer or foundation on your lips, not too much, but just enough to seal the color in…..oh! I forgot the highlighter. That's the most important part." Said Mob as she put the foundations in her hands away. Minegishi stared at her. Well that would explain the spots they could see forming around her hair line and eyebrows. That was….a lot of makeup. Minegishi may not have been an expert or anything but they could remember how it had been done….and it hadn't taken so many steps….
But then again the last time they had worn makeup had been about ten years ago.
They had seen Mob caking it on before, really caking it on, but they had assumed that she had just been overenthusiastic. But no, they had gotten more advice from their new friend Minori. Minegishi was glad that Mob had found a friend her own age, God knew she needed to talk to people her own age, they weren't sure about what she had been learning from this new friend. Mainly that, before, she had known exactly who she was and who she wanted to be and now there was a sort of….doubt…within her. She was doubting herself and changing…or maybe she was just growing and Minegishi was projecting. Maybe this was just something that Mob was doing in order to grow, experimenting with herself and figuring out who she was, maybe this was just what it looked like when growing up wasn't a trial by fire…
It looked like caked on makeup.
"Mob, don't use such heavy makeup. You're eleven, you don't need it, and you're ruining your skin." Said Minegishi. They reached up and tapped one of the red spots on her forehead. They mostly hung out near her hairline and her eyebrows…places where she had trouble getting all of that makeup off from. Minegishi felt the spot under their fingers. That was deep…and probably painful. They stopped poking it. After this they were mixing up some oatmeal and witch hazel. Mob was not going to end up with skin like Hatori's. They wouldn't let that happen to her.
She was only eleven after all.
"But I need to." Said Mob
"More than you need healthy skin? Come on, you must have noticed those spots." Said Minegishi
"That's from makeup? I thought that was just something that happened." Said Mob
"Well yeah, it just happens sometimes, but you shouldn't wear heavy makeup. It's bad for you, your skin needs to breathe, and you definitely don't need two different kinds of foundation….and what the hell even is 'highlighter'?" asked Minegishi. They imagined Mob taking a neon yellow marker to her face….and with makeup being what it was these days they would have believed it.
"It's for making your face look brighter…and you do need two kinds of highlighter. Minori says that you need to make sure that none of your skin is showing at all." said Mob
"She's the one who told you to cake it on, huh?" asked Minegishi. Eleven year olds were not meant to teach other eleven years olds these things. This should have fallen on Mob's mother…but her mother was dead, most likely, and she didn't have any older sisters…so it looked like it fell to Minegishi…even though the last time they had worn makeup had been 2005.
"Yes. She taught me everything I know. She says that I still need a lot of practice, though, because I'm still not ready to be seen with her." said Mob. Minegishi wanted to tell Mob that her new friend sounded like a bitch, not that they were in the habit of calling eleven year old girls bitches, but they held their tongue. Mob was happy that she had met this kid….and Mob needed more friends her own age….but at the same time they didn't want Mob to have to deal with all of that mean girl shit that girls her age pulled…but then again if they just came in and saved Mob then she would never develop coping skills…but then again what did she need coping skills for? Her father was going to take over the world…or at least he had the audacity to try…and anyone who tried to pull that mean girl shit was probably an idiot….but they didn't want Mob to deal with idiots either….
They didn't know what to do about this. They knew about skincare. They were going to stick to skincare.
"Uh-huh, and I'm guessing that Minori's all spotty underneath all of that makeup?" asked Minegishi
"Yes….but I don't say anything so I don't make her feel bad. She covers it with makeup, anyway, so it doesn't ever show. She says that I'm the only person who sees her skin…but I wasn't supposed to talk about her skin like that….and please don't tell her that I was talking about her. If we all ever hang out together, I mean, she wants to. She's always saying that she wants to meet my other friends." Said Mob.
"I won't say a word, I don't really like embarrassing eleven year olds…and don't cover your whole face in makeup like that. I'm sure that this girl thinks she knows what she's talking about but, well, she's eleven. The blind are leading the blind here….and Ryou would have had something to say to that if he had been home." Said Minegishi
"He would have said that only he got to say things like that…and then he probably would have told you that he loves you." Said Mob. She smiled while she said that….and the shippening was still going full force…and worst of all Ryou was feeding into it. He was telling them that he loved them at least five times a day…and it never got old….but he was saying it for himself. He was saying it because HE felt it and not because they felt…they had no idea what they felt. They felt like they didn't want to go down that road again. They felt like they didn't want to cause that sort of pain to themselves or anyone else again….
They also felt like they maybe should have said….
They felt like they needed to spend less time talking to an eleven year old girl who was obsessed with love, romance, and the G-rated things that kids her age got up to. They knew who they were, they knew what had happened last them they had said that to someone, and they knew that they never wanted to cause anyone that sort of pain again. They had been down this road before. They'd woken up every morning to someone they…they cared for…saying 'I love you' and they had heard it throughout their day…and they had been down this road before. They had loved before. They had been loved before. They had even sat down and been painted before…
But that was before and this was now.
The person standing in front of her was her eleven year old best friend. The place they were sitting in was the bathroom they shared with three of the messiest people on earth. It smelled like mango body wash, whatever antiseptic chemicals Ryou used to clean out his eyes, and the lynx that Hatori occasionally used as a substitute for a hot bath. The room was harsh and messy and the house shook not from the fact that there were people living in units all around them but because someone, Ryou, had put an uneven load in the washer. This was their life now. This was them at twenty eight, not their teens or their early twenties, and this was…this was now.
This was now.
"Yes he would have." Said Minegishi simply. Maybe they would be lucky enough that Mob would drop it. Maybe she would get back to explain why someone needed…however many layers of makeup on their face. Maybe she would explain all the tips and tricks she had learned from the only other eleven year old she knew. Maybe she would, for once, not pry into Minegishi's love life….
Who were they kidding? This was Mob.
"Um…what would you have said? If he had said that to you?" asked Mob. Minegishi wondered if any of that makeup she had was toxic. They hoped that it was. If it had been then they would have eaten it all just to avoid this conversation. They had no idea what they would have said to Ryou. Most of the time they pretended like they hadn't even heard him say anything. They didn't want to start….whatever it was that Ryou wanted to start with them.
They just wanted….they had no idea what they wanted.
They wanted to wake up with him beside them again. That had been more sensual than sexual, them waking up wrapped up in his arms, and it had also been warm and…and there had been a sense of safety there too. Even though he always dropped his barrier in his sleep there had still been some safety there. They were smaller than he was and…and it had all been instinct…and that was why they stayed there all wrapped up in his arms even though they had been awake….
And then he'd had to go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like 'I love you'….but Mob didn't need to know about all of that.
"I would have told him to put his laundry more evenly in the washer." Said Minegishi. The thumping was almost done now, they could tell by how long it had taken, and now all that was left was putting it in the dryer and then dealing with the noise from that…they had a headache. They had such the headache now….but they could go and deal with it later. Right now they had to hang out with Mob.
"But….that doesn't have anything to do with him being in love with you." Said Mob
"No, but maybe I would like him a little more if he could put in an even load." Said Minegishi
"Oh….I get it. It's like how I'm happy to show Hatori how to do laundry but I didn't want to spend the rest of my life doing his laundry. You just don't want to spend the rest of your life doing Shimazaki's laundry….but it's also different because you said, before, that you were happy to help him out with the things that he couldn't do on his own." said Mob. God. She had a Dictaphone for a brain. Did she have to remember EVERYTHING that they said? Mob…she was a good kid…and she just….absorbed everything that Minegishi had told her…
And they weren't sure if they wanted that.
When they had met Mob she had been eight and they hadn't expected to be anything more than an occasional babysitter. Now they were friends….as much as an adult and a child could be. They were friends but this friendship carried with it a certain responsibility on their part. Mob looked up to them, Mob listened to them, and Mob cared for them…and they cared for Mob. They had already gotten her drinking and smoking, they had done that before they had realized how much Mob meant to them and how much they meant to Mob, and…while it was a necessary evil they still felt like they had started her down the path of….well a bad path. They had given her their substance abuse issues, well nowhere near as bad as they had been when they had been young but still, and they were not going to give her their terrible taste in partners too….
Because she already had questionable taste.
Not Ryou, no, she didn't have feelings for him. She liked her men pale and spotty smelling of lynx and Doritos. Minegishi had no idea what she saw in that guy….well hormone goggles could make anyone look good….but still. She would get older and she would looked for something more in a partner than cute sweaters and square glasses. Hopefully she would. Hopefully she never got involved with anyone like Ryou…or Ryou himself. Ryou was….well he never said things that he didn't mean…and that was the tip of the iceberg when it came to him. He was a good man, he was impulsive and could do terrible things but he could and was a good man underneath it all, and Minegishi…well they had been with him…in some capacity long enough….long enough to be all clichéd and see who he was on the inside…and who he was on the inside was who he was on the outside but sappier and also with A LOT of issues that he would rather teleport from than address. Mob…Minegishi could handle him, or someone like him, but Mob…she deserved better….
Because she was smarter than Minegishi….and she had to stay that way.
"He can do his own laundry…mostly. But this isn't about laundry. Mob…it's complicated. Things between me and Ryou are complicated and I know that you want me to be happy, and I know that you want him to be happy, and I know that you want to put us together like we're your dolls so we can be happy…but adult relationships aren't like that. Ok? Adult relationships are complicated, too complicated for a kid to understand, to just…let it be. If I feel like I love him back then I'll say so but as of now I won't, ok?" asked Minegishi
"Um….ok. I just don't get it. He likes you so much, he loves you, and it seems like you love him back. You're always with him and kissing him and touching him and letting him kiss and touch you and you guys are always doing nice things for each other…and isn't that what people do when they love each other?" asked Mob. God. What a question. Minegishi reminded themselves that she was a child at the beginning of that terrible time in life and she needed guidance….and Minegishi was the only person in her life to give her this guidance. Better her best friend than the eleven year old she had been getting her advice from lately. This was a part of having a kid for a friend, you guided them through things, you didn't just let them figure everything out on their own in some terrible sink or swim scenario.
Ryou would have to talk to Mob's little brother at some point.
Mob had Minegishi and she…she may have been asking some questions that Minegishi didn't want to answer…and she may have been trying to push them into a relationship with Ryou…but she was just a child that needed guidance and Minegishi was the adult in this situation. They would tell her…well they would tell her something…and then they could get back to playing makeover or whatever.
"Mob, I've told you before that there are different ways for people to be together. Ryou and I…we have our situation and it is what it is and what it is, Mob, is a lot for a child to accept. I do things for him because I care about him and he does things for me because he cares about me. Love…it's a very complicated emotion and it's not something that…that comes easy, ok? Now can we please get back to putting on makeup? I'll even let you cover me in….God….foundation if you agree to stop shipping me and Ryou for the rest of the day at least, ok?" asked Minegishi. They had a headache and they only had so much mental energy. Mob was a child and she acted as a child did. Minegishi….they would talk to her later. Right now they just wanted to relax.
And also maybe move those clothes to the dryer.
Ryou was out and he couldn't tell him. He could ask his phone and feel the movement of the sun but well, he just had trouble with feeling time passing. Probably because he was high or drunk all the time. He would end up leaving his clothes in the machine all day and then they would smell like mildew and then he would have to wash his clothes again and he'd tie up the machine all day….so really the thing to do would have been to have moved his clothes to the dryer….
And then probably fold them up and put them away for him.
….and they would do that…because they cared for him. They didn't care that the last person that they had done this for had been….they didn't care what else they had done to that person…and they certainly didn't care that they could mess everything up again. God. Why were they even thinking about this? Because they were getting all made up for the first time in ten years? So what? The past was in the past. Minegishi had watched Frozen enough times to know about saying goodbye to the pain of the past and all of the other lines from those songs. They were…they were fine. They were just….slipping down memory lane for some reason….
Maybe they would just end up letting Mob cake that makeup on.
"Ok…but I won't do the foundation steps because you said no." said Mob. She seemed down when she said that, people thought that she didn't have a lot of expression but she did…you just had to know what to look for.
"Mob…if it'll make you happy then you can put foundation on me….but only a layer after the primer and none of that other stuff….and only the powder. The liquid foundation doesn't let your skin breath and makes it look way too wet. I'd rather not look like I'm literally sweating my face off thank you very much." Said Minegishi
"Ok….I can do that if you don't want me to do all the layers." Said Mob
"Good. Also don't put any lip gloss on me. I'll tolerate lipstick but not lip gloss. I hate how sticky it feels." Said Minegishi
"Me too….I can do that. I have lip tint and lip stain, too. Also liquid lipstick and matte lipstick and lipstick that comes on a sticker…but that doesn't work so well." Said Mob
"…what the….just the lipstick….I don't even know what most of that stuff is." Said Minegishi
"I'm surprised that you know what any of this stuff is….sorry. That came out mean. I just meant that I never expected you to know about makeup since you wear boy clothes and have your hair short like a boy's…and also you hate things that make you do extra work." Said Mob
"I…know some things. I spent about half of my life as a girl before I started living life on my own terms after all and….well…my ex-girlfriend was a stylist. She did hair and makeup for a living, I mean." Said Minegishi. She didn't need to know about that but….but Mob was always happy to hear about their life and…and also all of that was in the past. They could talk about this. They were over it, over Jun, and over what had happened. They could be as blasé about this as Ryou could be about the fact that he spent the first five years of his life locked in his room pissing in a bucket with only a record player for company. That had been a chapter in their life, that was all, and of course they could turn to that chapter and…and share what had happened….and stuff.
They were ok talking about this.
They were ok with what had happened. They took responsibility for what had happened. Hell, if they were ok with taking responsibility for Ryou's laundry then they could take responsibility for what had happened back when they had been young and stupid and insecure and ridiculous and trying to be something that they couldn't be. They were ok….with what had happened. They were ok with what had happened and they had learned from it which was why they were not going to tell Ryou what he wanted to hear….even though they wanted….
They had no idea what they wanted.
They knew what Mob wanted. She had abandoned her makeup collection entirely and now her full attention was on Minegishi. Maybe this would stifle the shippening…or maybe Mob would meet some woman and then ship them with her….God. Mob needed a healthy outlet for all of this….this hormonal-ness. She really did. She needed to stop living vicariously through people…..through her friends….
So maybe this would help put a stop to the shippening….for at least a little bit.
"Are you talking about the same lady from before?" asked Mob
"Yeah. Jun. She was, probably still is, a stylist. She did hair and makeup back in Tokyo last I checked…and don't ask me why we broke up. I'll answer any question other than that. You're trying to learn about love and relationships and all of that and, yeah, I accept that I'm the only one qualified to teach you but there are some parts of my life that you are just too young to hear about." Said Minegishi
"I'm eleven now." Said Mob. She looked put out when she said that…because she was put out. She always got so put out when Minegishi treated her like the child that she was. Well Minegishi was not going to treat her like an adult. Everyone else did but everyone else was a moron. This was an eleven year old child, a little girl, not a short woman.
"I know. I was at your birthday party. I gave you eyeshadow palettes." Said Minegishi
"I know. I love them. But that's not what I meant. You keep on saying that I'm too young to know things, that you'll tell me things when I'm older, but I am older but you still keep stuff from me." Said Mob
"You're not old enough to hear that story. You're old enough to hear some stories but not that one." said Minegishi
"Why?" asked Mob. Minegishi wondered what they had done to deserve this….oh. Right. The murders.
"Because there are parts of adult relationships that you're too young to know about." Said Minegishi
"Oh…you mean….bed stuff?" asked Mob. She actually looked around before she whispered 'bed stuff' like she was talking about giving cocaine to schoolchildren….and Ryou had better not have been planning on repeating that stunt…Mob was not mature enough for that and she was not mature enough to hear how badly Minegishi had screwed up their first real relationship. They hadn't been talking about sex, well it had been a part of it, but Mob wasn't mature enough to hear any of the details. She could hear about the good, she could handle the good, but not the bad.
She was still too little for the bad.
"See? Not old enough. You can ask me anything you want but not about why we broke up. Ok?" asked Minegishi
"Ok." Said Mob. There was some silence while the wheels in her head turned. That silence grew and grew and grew until Minegishi just could not take it anymore.
"Mob, come on. While you're young." Said Minegishi
"Um….ok. I just want to know….did you say 'I love you' to her?" asked Mob. Minegishi sighed. Of course she would ask about that….but there was no question that Minegishi was not prepared to answer. That was their job, this was what you did when you were someone's best friend, especially when that someone was just a kid.
"I did." Said Minegishi simply. There was no other way to say it but simply. The fact of the matter. The flat fact of the matter.
"Oh….why?" asked Mob
"What do you mean?" asked Minegishi. There were more 'whys' there than Minegishi was even prepared to go through…and a lot of those whys were…well not easy to articulate.
"Why did you love her?" asked Mob. That had been….well that had been a question that they knew that she would have asked, they had expected her to ask, but it had still felt like a kick to the side of the head when she had asked it.
"Because….she was honest. She was always upfront with what she wanted from me…and she also…she accepted me. She saw me for who I was and she accepted me. That's pretty much it." Said Minegishi with a shrug that they did not feel. That was, is and was, all that they had ever wanted from someone….and when they had gotten it they hadn't know what to do with it. They'd never had anything so good in their life up to that point and once they had it they had been so busy worrying about the other shoe to drop that they had become their own self fulfilled prophecy…and they were never doing that again. Ever.
"Oh…I understand that." Said Mob simply.
"You do?" asked Minegishi. They blinked. How could Mob possibly understand? She was just a kid….
"Yes. I want that too. If I ever love someone I want them to love me for who I am and not who they want me to be. I don't know. Sometimes it feels like….like I can't be Mob. When I'm with dad, mostly, because he wants me to be 'Daughter' and then also with Sho because he wants me to be 'big sis' but with you guys….I can be Mob and stuff…and if I ever find someone who wants to be with me, who wants to be my boyfriend and stuff, then I want him to love me for me. For Mob….if that makes sense." Said Mob. There were moments to her where she made all the sense in the world. Moments where she could be weirdly mature for someone who ate Frozen cereal out of the box and thought that cat ear headbands and princess dresses were the height of fashion. Moments where somehow she could make all the sense in the world despite being only eleven, only a kid, and the one who always went to Minegishi looking for guidance.
This had been one of those moments.
"Mob…never change. Just…never change and….wait here a minute. I have to go put some laundry in the dryer." Said Minegishi. They patted her on the head as they got up and walked past. They needed….they needed a minute. That had been….it should have been easy to talk about. They had been talking to Mob of all people and if anyone was easy to talk to it was her…and that should have been easy for them to talk about. The past was in the past…but this was not the past, this was the present….and the past was in the present and….and it had felt sort of like opening up an old wound….
But that was ridiculous.
They could talk about things. They were not so hung up on the past that they could not talk about things. They also weren't all twisted up inside over Ryou saying three stupid words to them. Words that…that they had heard before…and words that they had never expected him to say before. Words that he meant. Words that he said for himself but still meant….words that they couldn't say back….
Even if they wanted to.
They wanted….they wanted a lot of things. They wanted to say it back and…and they also wanted him to never say that to them again. They wanted him to just shut up…and they wanted him to say it to them every day a thousand times a day….and they wanted…they wanted to get this laundry in the dryer for him….so that was what they did. They put the laundry in the dryer, you're welcome Ryou, and then they went back to Mob to get painted up…and hopefully to talk about something besides their train wreck of a love life.
At least they sort of understood makeup.