Mob had never seen Minegishi's legs before.

Well she must have, at some point, and maybe she just couldn't remember. This seemed sort of like the thing she would have remembered, though, since her legs weren't nearly as werewolfy as Minegishi's. No wonder they always wore long pants. Mob would have too. She forgot, sometimes, that their hair was black. She had half been expecting Minegishi's legs to have been lavender like their hair was…but this was not an anime, people did not have naturally lavender hair, and Minegishi's hair was black like most people's was in Japan. They had black hair and she had black hair and they both had black hair on their legs and now they were going to get rid of it.

Because that was what you were supposed to do.

Minori had said so and Minori always knew best about these things. She was the one who went to school with people their own age and she was the one who had friends their age and stuff. Most of Mob's friends were adults and they treated her like an adult…and in a lot of ways she was an adult…but she as still a kid and she didn't know all the things that adults knew. Nobody had ever thought to teach her…and really nobody was around to teach her. Mom was gone and all of her friends were boys.

Well Minegishi wasn't a boy.

They did boy things but that didn't make them a boy. They weren't anything. Mob still didn't fully understand that but I wasn't for her to understand. Minegishi was a they and in being a they that meant that they did boy things and girl things, and didn't count themselves as either, and that was why Mob had never thought that they would have done this for her…and also she had been worried about them knowing but now she knew that she had nothing to worry about. Even if they did know they would never make fun of her for this…or tell her that she was gross or anything like that…and not just because they were in the same boat, either, no.

Best friends did not make fun of best friends.

So Mob wasn't embarrassed or worried or anything like that even though her socks were down and Minegishi could see what had become of her. They were her friend and they would never make fun of her and she would never make fun of them. They had it even worse than her, actually, but she didn't draw attention to that either. This might have been something that they had been embarrassed about since they never wore shorts and stuff. She didn't know. They might have just not thought to get rid of their leg hair because they didn't consider themselves to be a girl. Mob didn't know. All she knew was that she was glad that she had someone to teach her what to do about all of this.

Because she did not want to end up cutting herself again.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Once you start it's hard to stop." Said Minegishi. They felt exposed standing there in some short they had borrowed from Ryou. They hated shorts. They didn't like people seeing their legs, they didn't like having their legs all exposed to the open air, and they especially didn't like shaving. They were an adult, they had body hair, that was just how adults were meant to look. Shaving irritated their skin and left them with itchy stubble that they knew was going to keep them up for however long it was going to take to get back to this level of growth….but for Mob they would go through with this. She needed them and they…well they were the closest thing to a stable adult in her life. Her mother was dead, most likely, her father wasn't winning any parenting awards, and Mob could not be trusted to teach herself this so this, amongst other things, fell to Minegishi. God, they were never having kids. Mob was enough kid for them.

"I want to…and I already started. See?" asked Mob. She put her foot up on the rim of the tub and showed Minegishi her cut. It had seemed worse than it was because of all the blood. She had been worried that she had cut down to the bone or something but she hadn't. she had just taken off some skin from the middle of her leg but Minegishi had wiped it down with an antibacterial wipe and then taped some gauze over it. It wasn't that bad, not really, but she didn't want to have to go through that again….and she wouldn't have to.

"Yeah, I've seen it. Very…thorough." Said Minegishi. That had not been fun. Who wanted to be woken up at five in the morning to Mob bleeding everywhere because she had tried to skin herself alive? That had been worse than waking up at seven in the morning to Ryou trying his best to burn the house down because he liked to melt caramels together for some unholy reason….and that hadn't been fun either…actually this whole morning had not been fun….but this was life and life was not always fun.

This was not going to be fun.

"Well Mob, this is not going to be fun. Just warning you." Said Minegishi. They had one of Ryou's razors and his shaving cream beside them. They had to steal from someone and that someone was going to be him. Hatori wasn't at the point where he shaved yet and Shibata…well he was touchy about his stuff thanks to Ryou and his complete lack of respect for other people's property. Not that Minegishi was one to talk. Yes, they were being a hypocrite. It had nothing to do with the unspoken agreement between them and Ryou that what was theirs was his and what was his was theirs. It had nothing to do with whatever upgrade their…situationship…had gone through….

It was way too early for any of this.

They had two things to deal with right now, Mob and Ryou, and they were choosing Mob. Ryou had been an idiot again, he brought it on himself, and Mob at least had an excuse. She was eleven and nobody had thought to teach her not to shave dry. So that was where Minegishi came in. They were going to help her through this and then they were going to lay down with a beer, a bar of chocolate, and a hot water bottle…and that was going to be the end of that. A quick shaving lesson and then they could lay down and just….be still for a very long time.

Still and itchy, very itchy, because they going to end up with a one way ticket to stubble city…and they hated stubble city…but it was worth it. For Mob.

"I didn't think it was….I mean it never looked fun when I saw my mom do it." Said Mob. She touched her leg. It hadn't been fun when she had done it either. The whole thing seemed like a lot of very dangerous work, maybe, but it was necessary work.

"Didn't seem like you were having fun when you were trying your hand at it, either." Said Minegishi. They put their leg up on the tub next to Mob's. That cut…they hoped that cut didn't end up getting infected. Then she would have had to deal with Fuckuda and that was a fate that Mob did not deserve.

"I think that maybe I should have used shaving cream for this." said Mob as she felt the gauze on top of her cut. It still hurt when she touched it but it had stopped bleeding a while ago. That was good. She had been worried, when she and Minegishi went back to sleep, that she would have ended up getting blood all over their bed. She hadn't, though, so that was a good thing.

"You think?" asked Minegishi rolling their eyes like they were the one who was eleven. This kid….well Minegishi didn't blame her. What did she know? She was just a kid and…well Minegishi had taught themselves…but they were a different person than Mob was. Mob needed guidance and that was ok. Mob needed someone, an adult in her life, who could guide her.

And Minegishi was the only person who could provide it.

There was so much, so very much, that Mob was going to have to be taught…and Minegishi was going to stick to the shaving lesson for now. They were on day three, the worst day, and they didn't have the energy to give Mob the full talk…and they had no idea what the full talk would even entail. The only talk that they had gotten pretty much boiled down to 'it bleeds, babies come out of it, and boys aren't allowed in it' and that had been it. Well Mob…she was eleven. She could only handle so much and Minegishi…they had no clue what Mob could and could not handle. Love, sex, reproduction, body image, giving consent, getting consent, all of it. There was so much that Mob needed to be taught…

And Minegishi…they needed time to prepare…and to marshal their energy too…

"Yes. I think that they invented shaving cream so people didn't cut themselves." Said Mob. She wished that mom had told her what the shaving cream had been for back when Mob had been watching her…but maybe that was just the sort of thing that she should have known on her own. She didn't know. Without mom around it seemed like she had to figure out everything herself…or from her friends. Minori told her what was important but Minegishi helped her out when she needed it…

Like in times like these.

She needed help and Minegishi was going to help her. She wondered if dad was planning on helping Sho with all the stuff that boys were supposed to know, that Mob didn't know, because that was dad's job. That was why people had both a mom and a dad, she thought because there were things that boys were supposed to know and things that girls were supposed to know…and she wished that mom had taken the time to show Mob the stuff that she should have known….

But that was ok….because it was what it was. Mob had Minegishi, at least, and Minegishi was way better at this sort of thing than mom would have been…even though that was a mean thought to think about her own mother…and stuff…

It was mean but it was true.

"Why didn't you use it, then, instead of skinning yourself like a potato?" asked Minegishi with a sigh. They wondered if her skin was just as finicky as theirs. Ryou's shaving cream was not going to be easy on their skin, they knew as much, and they were going to have to deal with…for Mob. This was all for Mob and she was worth it.

"Because then my dad might have noticed and then if he had noticed he would have known that I had shaved my legs…and I don't want my dad to know.' Said Mob

"Your dad doesn't have the right to tell you that you can't shave your legs. It's your body and you're the only one who can make choices about it." Said Minegishi. Suzuki seemed like he would have been the type to tell Mob what she could and could not do with her own leg hair. He already forbade her from cutting and coloring her hair. He was a controlling asshole…and Minegishi wished that there had been something that they could do about that controlling asshole…but they had fought him before and lost…so they were doing whatever they could for Mob now in whatever way they could. He seemed like the type to lose his mind over this but…well….it was better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. Not that Mob ever should have had to ask permission to shave her own goddamned legs.

"He didn't say anything about me not being allowed to shave my legs….I just don't want him to know that my legs are all gross and hairy and stuff." Said Mob. Dad knowing….dad knowing would have been the worst. Dad could not know about the hair on her legs or under her arms or….or other places which of course she would never talk to her own dad about. She wondered if she had to get rid of all the hair….but this was already a lot. She loved Minegishi and she knew that Minegishi loved her too…but she didn't want Minegishi to know about anything else that was different about her. Private. The whole thing was just…private.

"There's nothing wrong with having hairy legs. There's nothing gross about it. You're supposed to have hair on your legs, it's part of growing up." Said Minegishi. They should have warned Mob about this. God. They should have warned her about this….but they hadn't thought to warn her about this. Nobody had warned them about this. They had figured it all out on their own…and they had to warn Mob about…about so much…but they would stick to one thing at a time. Certain talks were best had when they'd been able to stand upright without pain shooting through their body….and they needed to sit down…and they would. In a minute. When all of this was done.

"I figured that it was a part of growing up since my mom shaved her legs…but it's gross if you're a girl. Minori said so." Said Mob. She wondered if she had said the wrong thing. Minegishi didn't have a lot of an aura but they could still make their aura flare…and also it flared on it's own….and maybe it didn't have anything to do with her. Sometimes their aura just flared for no reason when they got sick. Mob could tell that they were still sick. They would stop being sick by the seventeenth. Monthly illness, they had said, it never got any easier….but Mob still felt sort of guilty for putting them through this. When this was all done with then they could camp out all day in the living watching that anime that Minegishi liked a lot and stuff.

"Again with Minori?" asked Minegishi. God, that girl. Minegishi had never met the famous Minori but they didn't much like what she had been teaching Mob. She didn't need to be self-conscious about something as stupid as leg hair. It was hair, it grew on her legs, that was it. Mob didn't need to feel self-conscious about her body…but there was nothing that Minegishi could do about that. Growing up sucked and it seemed that there was nothing that could be done to avoid it, it seemed…but Minegishi still felt crappy that Mob had to feel this way about herself.

"Yes. She said that it was gross for girls to have hairy legs. Boys can have hairy legs but not girls, she said, and she knows about stuff." Said Mob. The rule didn't seem fair but rules were rules. She didn't decide the rules yet so she just had to follow them…but when she made the rules she was going to tell people that they could do whatever they wanted to with their own legs.

"Seriously?" asked Minegishi. They shook their head. They could not have heard that right. Where had Mob even HEARD that stupidity?! They made themselves calm down. The spider plants were becoming overgrown. They needed to keep calm and…and undo whatever stupidity Mob had been taught.

"Yes. That's the rule." Said Mob
"Uh-huh. You know I was born a girl, right?" asked Minegishi. Well now that was just the stupidest thing that they had ever heard. Double standards. All the fucking double standards that Mob should not have had thunking around in her head. It. Was. Hair. It grew. It grew no matter what you were. The value of it did not change just because you had one x chromosome or two.

"I know. But you aren't a girl anymore. You're not anything. Well you're non binary, Minori taught me that word, and that means that you're not a boy or a girl." Said Mob. She was happy that she knew the right word for it. She didn't understand it, not fully, but she was going to do her best. Minegishi was Minegishi and boy or girl they were her friend.

"Well I was still born a girl and, hey, look at this. Lots and lots of leg hair." Said Minegishi. They patted their leg for emphasis. God, they were going to miss this. It had taken years to get this hair this soft. They were not looking forward to the stubble and then the coarse new growth…but this was for Mob so it was worth it.

"More than me." Said Mob. She didn't know if she was being mean when she said that. It was just a fact. Minegishi had hairy legs than her. Maybe it was because they were seventeen years older than she was. Maybe that was just how your legs looked when you grew up. She didn't know. But she did know, however, was that she didn't want werewolf legs like that. That must have been so itchy all the time. No wonder Minegishi always wore long pants.

"Exactly. There's nothing gross about it for anyone. If you're just doing this because you're worried about what other people think then….well it's your body and your choice…but make sure that you're making this choice for the right reasons." Said Minegishi. Peer pressure was a bitch and a half. Minegishi hadn't had to deal with that since they had been Mob's age. The group home uniform had come with long socks but still, everyone had found other reasons to make fun of them, and they had been young enough to care somewhat. They had stopped caring, eventually, once they had that last growth spirt with their powers….and they did not want Mob to end up like them….but they also didn't want her to grow up insecure….this was hard. This thing, this close to parenting thing, was hard to figure out. They were trying to do their best….and hopefully their best was going to be good enough.

"But….Minori said it was gross." Said Mob. She trusted Minori because Minori knew about stuff like this. Minegishi knew stuff….but maybe not about stuff like this…or maybe they did. She didn't know. She just didn't want to get made fun of.

"Did she?" asked Minegishi with a shake of their head. Mob could have filled books with all of the things that this Minori girl had told her. Minegishi wanted to tell her that her friend was starting to, had sounded for quite some time like, a little bitch but they weren't going sit there and go on and on about all the faults they had found with an eleven year old they had never met.

"Yes. She says that it's gross and a girl in her school got made fun…well she made fun of that girl…because her legs were all hairy. Minori said that she had to because her friends betrayed her to hang out with the transfer girl. Minori said that she needed to be like that…and she can be sort of mean to other people…but that's just how she is. She says that sometimes you have to be hard on people about things. Minori says-" said Mob. She could have gone on all day about the things that Minori had said….but they didn't have all day. She was hungry and she had help get the caramel out of the waffle maker…and also if Sho hadn't eaten any poptarts she would have to go home and feed him…and other stuff that she had to do.

"Minori says a lot of things, doesn't she?" asked Minegishi. They had heard about enough out of Minori….and they had never even met the little monster.

"Yes. She tells me important things like how we have to wear pinks and purples and why only she can wear crop tops and why all of her friends and b-words and about-" said Mob

"Mob, I get it. She says a lot of things. You don't have to listen to everything she says, you know. Your life is your own." said Minegishi. That was the best way that they could say it. Mob's life was her own and she needed to take as much control over the life as she could…as much as she could with how her father controlled her. Mob…she needed to stop taking everything that she was told as gospel. Especially the things her eleven year old friend told her about life. Children were not supposed to learn from other children.

"I know…but I want to be normal. I want to be normal and she knows about being normal…and I want to get back to normal, too. I don't like it when my legs get all itchy and stuff. It's annoying and it wakes me up and I have to wear long socks all the time…and I don't like wearing long socks all the time. I hate having werewolf legs." Said Mob. She shouldn't have complained. She knew that she should not have been complaining because Sho had it a lot worse. He had to wear long pants and long sleeves all year round because he was covered in scars. She knew that having werewolf legs was nothing compared to how Sho was covered in scars….but she still didn't like having werewolf legs.

"Werewolf legs?" laughed Minegishi

"Yes, I look like a werewolf." Said Mob

"Then what am I?" asked Minegishi

"You're a werewolf too…sorry." said Mob

"Should I ask Ryou if he has a silver razor, then?" asked Minegishi with a laugh.

"Should we use one?" asked Mob

"Well do you know of any other way to cure being a werewolf?" asked Minegishi

"I didn't mean for real. I just meant that we were all furry and stuff like werewolves." Said Mob

"I knew, I was just trying to be funny." Said Minegishi

"Oh. Ok. You were very funny….but do we really need silver razors?" asked Mob

"No, this is going to do just fine. What you really need is a good body razor. There are differences between men's razors and women's razors, not much but the little differences add up." Said Minegishi

"Um…should we got get a girl's razor then?" asked Mob

"No, this is going to work just fine. Next time we're at a store I'll show you what to get. The kind with the moisturizer in them, those are good, and the kind with the swivel head…what you want is something that can move with your skin. Ryou's are ok for now." Said Minegishi

"He's not going to be mad is he? That we're borrowing from him?" asked Mob

"Probably not." Said Minegishi

"Pr-probably?" asked Mob

"Mob….fine. Ryou! Hey!" shouted Minegishi. They didn't have to do much shouting, he could hear like a safecracker, and he always came when he was called…and also when he wasn't. He either had a sixth sense for when people were talking about him or he could just hear that well. Either way he always came when he was called.

And Minegishi did not feel self-conscious.

Mob did, they could tell. Her body language became more closed off and her aura came in close, too. She tugged her socks up, too, even though she knew that Ryou didn't really see clothes…or maybe she didn't, actually. It had taken them a while to figure out how Ryou's 'vision' worked. He could see the shape of things, he could see movements, and the more he focused the more motion and shape he saw. Clothes didn't really factor in when he saw people. He could see the shape of things but he saw bodies before anything…so people were always essentially naked to him…and maybe it was best that nobody told Mob about that.

For everyone.

"I've been summoned?" asked Shimazaki as he teleported in and took in what was going on. He could feel Mob and Toshi but he couldn't smell any of their skin stuff…so not a spa day. Damn, he liked spa day. It always smelled so good around here. Not that Toshi didn't always smell good, of course, because they did. They were Toshi of course they did.

"Can Mob and I use your shaving cream and razors?" asked Minegishi

"Yeah, if you need to…but you never shave your legs." Said Shimazaki

"Well Mob needed a practical demonstration." Said Minegishi with a shrug. They knew that Ryou liked them, the hair on them, the way it felt under his fingers. He liked fuzzy things….and they felt almost guilty but…but their body was their own and what Ryou liked and did not like about them did not factor into their decisions about their body. He didn't factor into their decisions just like they didn't factor into his decisions….God…that damn skin portrait….they made an effort not to look at good but very creepy portrait of themselves that Ryou had gotten. They still didn't know why he had done that to himself. They saw each other every day. He was never going to see that woman again. He had loved her…and now he loved them….

And Minegishi did not want to think about this right now.

"Wait, is that how you cut yourself?" asked Shimazaki. He tried his best to stifle a laugh. That was hilarious…and he was only laughing because he had done the same thing to himself. Not his legs, no the forest would grow long and tall for at least a thousand more years, but he had taken a hold of his dad's razor when he had been fourteen and he was amazed that he hadn't left a scar from that. Shaving cream. If you thought you'd put on enough you'd better put on even more just to be safe.

"Yes…but don't laugh. It was an accident." Said Mob. Shimazaki thought that it was funny…and it wasn't. It had hurt a lot. That was why Mob didn't stop Minegishi from elbowing him in the stomach even though hitting people was wrong.

"I'm not laughing at you. I'm just laughing because the same thing happened to me. Not the leg shaving thing, no, I accidentally took a chunk out of neck back when I was like fourteen." Said Shimazaki

"I can't tell." Said Mob. He had scars but none of them were on his face. He had scars on his back on his chest and some were on his arms and legs too but none were on his face.

"I know. I'm amazed I didn't end up with a scar." Said Shimazaki. She was being weirdly closed off. He hated it when she got like that. She was so boring when she was like that and she didn't do boring...well he didn't do boring and he hated it when she was boring…and how she could possibly be boring when her brother was so much fun he would never know. He wondered what Sho was up to today. Maybe they could go and throw rocks at people or set birds free from cages or something. Fun Sho stuff like that.

"You didn't." said Mob. She stopped looking at him. She liked looking at him, his tattoos were very interesting, and that was why she liked looking at him…though why she got weird Hatori feelings when she looked at him sometimes.

"Don't know why you want to shave your legs though. That's not going to make them tell a coherent story, you know." Said Shimazaki. There, that got her smiling again. He could hear her aura and when he focused on her he could see her expression.

"Stop reading people's skin, Ryou, it's never a coherent narrative." Said Minegishi. They could tell how Mob was looking at him and…and they did not need another one on her hands. Nope. Ryou was Ryou, he was an attractive guy, and Minegishi was not going to end up mopping up more Suzuki drool. Well at least now they could tell how she and her brother were related….great. Just great.

"Hey, Hatori's face tells a very sad story…or at least it did before you got him to wash his face and stuff." Said Shimazaki

"Um…it does?" asked Mob. She had never felt Hatori's face before, and also she couldn't read braille either, but now she wished that she could have read braille…and now she is thinking about stuff that she knows she should not be thinking about. Hatori was home, she could feel him, and he was there and…and for some reason she wished that she had been wearing more clothes. She was in her nightshirt and long socks…and she wanted…she wanted to put on more clothes even though she was fully dressed…and it made no sense at all…

"It did and now it doesn't. Thank you very much for the use of your razors and shaving cream, I'll put everything back where I found it when we're done, so you can get back to doing whatever it is you were doing." Said Minegishi. Nope. They were not going to deal with whatever this was turning into. Mob was eleven and on the cusp of the worst time in her life…and Minegishi was not mopping up any more drool. Nope. Not dealing with this.

"Ok…but can I say goodbye?" asked Shimazaki. He was going to miss the soft, Toshi fuzz. He had always liked that about them, how soft they were. The soft coating of hair they had everywhere…and he really hoped that they weren't going to chop down the whole Toshi forest. He liked the Toshi forest, all of the Toshi forests, and it would take him a while to get used to the lack of Toshi forest. It would grow back…unless Toshi kept on chopping it down, all of their forests, but he could get used to that. Toshi was still Toshi no matter what they changed about themselves.

"Fine, if you have to." Said Minegishi rolling their eyes even though they knew that he couldn't see it. He got down and ran his hand up and down their leg. They shook their head. He could be such an idiot sometimes. The biggest idiot. Their idiot. Their favorite idiot.

"Goodbye soft Toshi legs, you will be missed." Said Shimazaki

"Um…you know it grows back…right?" asked Mob. That seemed sort of overdramatic…but then again Shimazaki was an overdramatic person. She didn't get why he was sad to see all of that go, though, since Minori had said that boys didn't like it when girls had leg hair…but maybe that was just because Minegishi wasn't a boy. Also Shimazaki liked to touch things.

"I know…but I'll still miss it." Said Shimazaki. Toshi shook him off and he got back up. He was going to miss how soft Toshi was. Their hair, well not their head hair, was so soft…and their skin was so soft…so maybe this was a good thing. He would be able to enjoy more soft Toshi skin. He did like their soft skin…but not in a make a blanket out of their skin way. Just an appreciation for the person he loved most in the world, that was all.

"Ryou, come on. You're being ridiculous. It's my hair and I'll do whatever I want to it." Said Minegishi. They did what they did for their own reasons and they didn't give a damn about how he felt…and anyway it would grow back on it's own. They didn't have to take him into account for this just like he hadn't taken them into account when he'd gotten that skin portrait of them on his arm.

"I know, I just love how soft you are. That's all. I still love you, though, no matter what you do." Said Shimazaki. Well now someone's aura was shouting…and not just Mob's. She liked to live vicariously through people, probably because her dad was going to lock her up in a tower or something when she got older, but it wasn't just her aura that was being all loud and happy for once. Toshi's aura was happy and they were happy. They acted like they didn't want to hear it, when he said that he loved them, but he knew that they did. They never said it back but they didn't have to. He knew how they felt.

"Yeah, ok, it's a love fest in here now." Said Minegishi. Well Mob was going to have a field day with this. Wonderful. The shippening…the never ending shippening…..and it wouldn't end. Not until she either finished growing up or met a guy her own age. Stupid Ryou….he was such a moron…why did he have to go and just say something like that….stupid crazy idiot…their stupid crazy idiot.

"I thought it was a leg shaving party." Said Shimazaki

"Well are you going to stay for the leg shaving party?" asked Minegishi

"Hell no. I hate stubble." Said Shimazaki. He reached down and felt his legs just to make sure that they were normal. That was why he had so few leg tattoos. He had t deforest the area before it could be tattooed and the way his skin felt while it was growing back was the worst. He didn't get people sometimes, how they could stand that feeling, but then again he had a very sensitive sense of touch.

"Then go and throw rocks at strangers with Mob's little brother or something." Said Minegishi. They cared for him, they really did, but he could be a lot sometimes and they did not have the energy right now. They needed to lay down and they needed to do it soon…and also they needed to, at some point, explain to Mob why they were laid up five to eight days a week every single month…but that conversation could come later when they were up for it.

"Um…maybe don't teach Sho to do that." Said Mob. She loved Sho, and she loved Shimazaki, but she didn't like the things that he taught Sho. It was wrong to throw rocks at people. She didn't know how someone as nice as Shimazaki could have such a mean streak but she would have liked it if he stopped teaching Sho to do stuff like that. It wasn't very nice at all.

"Hey, what I do with my time is my business just like what you two do with your time is your business…but Toshi, you're just getting rid of the leg forest, right? Because I actually like the-" said Shimazaki

"Ryou! Child in the room! And no, of course not. Why would I put sharp objects near that whole…area? God, can't you ever think?" said Minegishi. Nope. They were not talking about this now. They, of course, were not going to take a sharp piece of metal to that area. That was stupid. That was a type of stupidity that they had never tried and never would try because, yeah, they did not want to have to explain to the healer or whoever how they had managed to get a cut in that particular area…AND Mob did not need to hear about this because the cut on her leg was bad enough….and also that whole thing was not Minegishi's business…and their whole thing was not Ryou's business. They didn't care that he liked running his fingers through it or whatever else he felt like dong. They did not exist to make him happy…and also he knew that they liked the attention that he paid to…and now they were going to stop thinking about this now.

"Sorry, just some people like to chop down all the forests. I like forests and I just wanted to know if you were planning on-" said Shimazaki. He knew full well that there was a child in the room. He also knew that she was only eleven and had no idea what they were even talking about. She was too young to know things yet and Toshi was just over reacting like usual. They got really overprotective when it came to Mob.

"Ryou! Child in the room! Do you not see the child in the room? And no, don't even think of making any blind jokes." said Minegishi. They had no idea what Mob understood but they did know that they didn't want to have to explain any of this to her. They just didn't have the mental energy.

"She's eleven, she doesn't know what things mean yet." Said Shimazaki. Even if she did then so what? He didn't get what it was that she wasn't supposed to hear about…but then again he wasn't the best when it came to taking care of kids. He could have fun with them and all, that was the part he liked best.

"Will you get out of here already!?" asked Minegishi with a sigh. They did not have the mental energy or the physical energy for all of this. They needed to lay down and they needed a couple handfuls of Motrin and a stiff drink and a bar of chocolate…and also a fast forward button so they could just get through all of this already.

"Alright, alright. I'll leave to the deforestation." Said Shimazaki before he teleported away. He could sense Sho playing out in his yard. He was bound to be up for something fun…like collecting rocks or shells and then throwing them at people. That was always a good time. Then when they were done Sho could be the seeing eye kid and he could help find that chocolate that Toshi liked. Without nuts since they hated nuts. Yeah, this would be a good day.

"Um….you guys weren't talking about the woods…right?" asked Mob after Shimazaki teleported away. Mob wasn't good at talking but she did know when people were talking about something other than what they were talking about. She wished that people would have just said what they meant and meant what they said all the time but that just wasn't how things worked. Maybe when she made the rules, well when dad made the rules, he could make a rule where people could only say what they meant and they had to mean what they said. Then people could understand each other better and stuff.

"Mob….come on. I said that I would teach you how to shave and, unless something changed in the past five seconds, we're still doing that. Ok?" said Minegishi. They needed to lay down…well they needed to do this and then they needed to lay down…well they needed to do this and then they needed to get back into their own pajama pants and then they needed to lay down. Maybe they were iron deficient or sleep deficient or something else deficient…or something. They didn't know. They just knew that they needed to lay the fuck down.

"Um…right. Ok. Now that we have permission we can start." Said Mob. She got the feeling that Minegishi didn't want to talk about whatever all of that had been about…and that was ok. They could talk about whatever they felt like talking about and if they didn't want to talk about that then that was ok. Mob wasn't going to be pushy, especially not when Minegishi was helping her with this, and especially not when Minegishi was helping her while they were sick. It was hard to do things while you were sick. Mom had been sick for years and she hadn't been able to do a lot of things…and maybe if she had been there, if she hadn't run away from home, then she wouldn't have been able to teach Mob about this because she would have been sick…but there was no point in thinking about all of this since she had Minegishi to teach her stuff….and stuff.

"Ok, step one run a wet washcloth over your legs. Mob, wet a washcloth for me." Said Minegishi. They watched as Mob grabbed a washcloth from the clean communal pile and ran it under the sink for a few seconds before wringing it out with her powers and passing it over. Minegishi decided that a practical demonstration would work best. Then Mob would know what to do and then she would do it and then they could go lay down.

"Ok I did it….but why did I have to do that?" asked Mob

"Because you want as much moisture as you can get. Never shave dry unless you want to skin yourself." Said Minegishi motioning to the cut on Mob's leg. Mob nodded. Good. They weren't going to have a repeat of all of that.

"Oh…ok. Now I get it. Um….can I use water instead of shaving cream? Just because I think that my dad will notice if I use his shaving cream and I don't want him to ask questions…and I know that he's going to ask questions if he notices." Said Mob

"No, you need shaving cream first….and we'll go to a store when I feel better, ok? Then you can have your own stuff and if your dad has a problem with it then you can tell him to choke on it because it's your body and you can do whatever you want with it." Said Minegishi

"Ok….but I won't tell my dad to choke on it because that would be mean and stuff…and also I don't know if he'll say 'no' since sometimes he says yes to stuff that I thought he would say 'no' to. Like how he says that I can smoke but only with moderation." Said Mob. She wondered if she had said the wrong thing. Minegishi stopped working and stared at her. Mob wanted to tell them that their leg was going to dry off and that they should get back to it because they said o use as much moisture as possible….but that might have been the wrong thing to say, too, and she didn't want to say anything else wrong.

"Mob….what, exactly, did your dad say that you could smoke?" asked Minegishi. This was…what? Just…what? Suzuki….what? Minegishi didn't know. They just…had no clue what they were even supposed to do about this…if anything….just….what?

"He didn't say. He just asked me if I had to smoke and then I said that I did and then he said that it was fine but I had to use moderation." Said Mob

"Mob…don't smoke hash oil pens or joints around your dad…or anything really…just….here. Let's get back to it. Step two is the shaving cream and this is the most important part. If you think you have enough on then you should put more on just to be safe. Just like this." said Minegishi. They did not have the energy to deal with Suzuki's terrible parenting right now. Hell, they were already dealing with Suzuki's terrible parenting. Why did he even have kids? Minegishi knew that they would have been a shitty parent and that was why they had taken precautions so they never became anyone's parent. Suzuki was shit it everything that wasn't planning on how he was going to take over the world. If you don't want to parent then don't have kids. There. Simple.

"OK." Said Mob. She wondered what had been wrong with what she had said. She loved how dad hadn't gotten mad at her and she would have thought that Minegishi would have been happy about how she wasn't going to get in trouble and also dad was trying to teach her about moderation too. But she didn't understand people sometimes, even her best friend.

"Then, and only then, you take the blade to your skin. See?" asked Minegishi as they pressed the blade down and dragged it upwards, slowly, so Mob could see how it was done. They wondered if they could just do one strip and leave the rest be…but then the new growth would feel different from the old growth and then they'd just be picking at that all the time. No. They did another line. Once they started they had to keep going.

Great.

If Mob had been anyone else they wouldn't have done this…but Mob wasn't anyone else. She was Mob and she was just a kid and she was getting zero guidance in any area of her life…and Minegishi was the only adult in her life with any sense so these things fell to them. They wondered if this was what parenting was like, good parenting, the kind you say in sappy movies. The kind where you did something you hated, really hated, for the kid in your life. They didn't know. They didn't want to be Mob's parents anyway. No, they had enough responsibility towards her as her friend. A parent…that was way too much. This was a lot, the responsibility that came with her friendship, but parenthood…no. No way.

This was already a lot.

"Wow. That's a lot…" said Mob. That was amazing! They had gone from werewolf to person like the moon had set. Mom had shaved her legs too but the change had never been so dramatic. That was so cool.

"Yup. That's pretty much it. Shave up, not down, and always use water and shaving cream. Oh, and never use a dull blade either. So…yeah. That's all I have to teach you right now." Said Minegishi. There was still so much more to teach her. How to get rid of those spots on her hairline and around her eyebrows, what to do with the weird feelings she had probably started having if her constant drooling over just about anyone with a dick who came within a meter of her was anything to go by, how to buy a bra is she chose to wear one, what to do about her period when she got it, how to say no, how to say yes, how to accept when someone else said no, what to do when someone else said yes, how to avoid getting pregnant, how to avoid getting sick, how to avoid getting caught by her possessive and over protective father, and about a million other things that Minegishi hadn't thought of yet. There was so much that Mob needed to know, so much that Minegishi had to teach her, so much that nobody else was qualified to teach her…

And not just because they both had two x chromosomes.

Her father should have been the one to teach her this shit. He had been married, presumably to a woman, so he must have figured that this was coming. He knew, at least they hoped he had noticed, that his wife must have shaved her legs and taken care of her skin and also that once a month blood came out of the same place he had, amazingly enough, stuck his dick on more than one pity filled occasion. He must have noticed at some point that his daughter and his wife were the same sex. He also must have thought, hey, my daughter won't be a little girl forever so maybe I should make an effort to teach her things before she takes my razor and skins herself alive. But that would have required Suzuki to get up off of his ass and do some parenting. He couldn't even bother to raise his own children….

Poor Mob's little brother.

Well at least boys had less to deal with. Let someone else deal with all of that. Minegishi was tired. They were tired and their insides were trying to become their outsides. They needed to finish this and lay down. Then they could worry about the talks they would have to give and the stuff that she would be going through in the coming years…and how much of a bitch puberty was….God. They were so tired.

And also they nicked themselves…..wonderful.

"Ok. Thank you, Minegishi." Said Mob. She couldn't thank them enough. They helped her out so much…and she wanted to hug them…but they were holding their stomach. They did so much for her and they were sick…which was more than mom had done when she had been sick. Mom had been sick for a big part of their time together….Mob didn't know with what…but she hadn't been in pain. She had just been tired. Minegishi was in pain but they were still standing there in the bathroom teaching her how to shave….and also they didn't like to do stuff like this it seemed like…..but they were still doing this for her…and it was…nice. Minegishi doing this for her.

She had never seen Minegishi's legs before in her whole life. Now she was. But that wasn't what made her happy, no, not even the fact that she could see her own legs again. She was happy because even though they were sick and tired they still did all of this for her….and they didn't even have to.

They wanted to…because that's what friends were for.