Mob loved this sweater.

It was blue, Elsa blue, and she knew that she and Minori had agreed to wear pinks and purples because those were the colors they looked best in she still wore blue sometimes because she liked it. She also still liked Frozen even if it was for little kids. She was a little kid…well she wanted to be a little kid. She wanted to go back to wearing a little kid…and she sort of felt like a little kid in this sweater.

It went down to her knees.

She sleeves went down over her hands and the bottom of the sweater went down over her knees and the neck was so wide that she and Sho could have both fit in it at once. She felt like she was little again, like when she was little and she would go into mom's closet and try on her clothes, and she liked this feeling. She liked this sweater. Not just because it was Elsa blue and not just because there was a white snowflake on the front but also because she could drown in it. She could put this on and not see any part of herself…..and that was nice.

She felt less gross this way.

She had been feeling gross since last night. Taking a bath hadn't helped. Taking a bath had involved her being naked and being naked had meant that she'd had to look at herself…and she didn't like it. Seeing herself. Seeing how she was now. She wished that she could have just gone back in time to before…all of this had happened. Before she started to look…like this. Before…before she had gotten old enough that people could look at her and think that she would do….stuff. Stuff that adults did together. Stuff that they did together when they were alone and in love, or sometimes just for fun, and she didn't even fully understand. She didn't want that….or at least she thought that she didn't. She wanted to be kissed and held and stuff…and the thought of a boy, a boy she liked, touching her like Minori said boys were always trying to do…it was scary and embarrassing but also…it made her feel all weird….

And that weird feeling was gross.

The weird feeling that she got when she thought about boys was gross and…and she didn't like it. She just wanted it to go away. She wanted it to just go back to where it had come from. She just wanted…she wanted to be little again. When she had been little…well she had liked boys then too….but she hadn't been so weird about it…and also everything else had been simpler, too, when she had been little. She'd had less to do, less to worry about, less to think about, and she just…she could just be Mob….but now she was Mob and she was big sis and she was Daughter and she was also second in command of Claw….and that was a lot of people that she had to be.

But somebody had to be those people and that somebody was her.

Right now she had to be the breakfast maker. Sho was awake already and he was drawing at the kitchen table. Dad was up too, she could feel it, and he would be wanting his breakfast soon….and she hadn't made him breakfast yesterday….so she had better go and make him breakfast right now…and that was what she did. She gave her sweater one last tug, just to make sure that it was still long enough for her to drown in, and then she left her bedroom and went to the kitchen. She walked slowly, she didn't want to aggravate the cut on her leg, and also…also she knew that it was selfish but she didn't want to make breakfast. She wanted…she wanted to go next door and have breakfast made for her. She wanted to have someone else cook for her and Sho and then she wanted to spend time with people who didn't really ask anything of her and…and she wanted to spend time with Minegishi because they never made her feel gross…not that her family made her feel gross….

The sense of grossness just clung to her.

She tugged her sweater down with her powers as she walked. She didn't know why she still felt like this. She was with her family and her family didn't look at her like that. They didn't think about her like that. They didn't think that she was having….stuff that adults had. She wasn't old enough and she didn't want to…and certainly not with Shimazaki. Just….no. He looked…she liked to look at him…and sometimes she felt weird when he was near…but then she remembered who he was and how he was and how he was always acting like a crazy person and also how he just….did stuff without even thinking his actions through…and just….just….

No.

She wasn't in love with him and you were only supposed to do that sort of thing with people who you were in love with….or just sort of felt like it with…if adults were to be believed. Adults were weird….very weird…and maybe she was the weird one. She was the one wearing a big, thick, heavy sweater in the summertime. She was the one who was still grossed out by something that had been said to her last night by a person who wasn't even around right now. She was the one who was being all weird and stuff…and stuff. She didn't know.

All she knew was that she had to make breakfast.

Make breakfast, order more food, do a load of dad's laundry, do a load of Sho's laundry, do a load of her laundry, clean the hair out of her brush, clean the hair out of Sho's brush, make the birthday list for next month, wash her hair, do her homeschool work, try and get Sho to do his homeschool work, play with Sho because she hadn't done that in a while, figure out how to make the cut on her leg heal faster without asking Fukuda for help, teaching Sho about moderation at some point, make lunch, make dinner, do the dishes from last night and from this morning and from lunch and from dinner, and also the million and one little things that popped up throughout her entire day.

No wonder mom had been so sick and tired all the time.

There was a lot to do. Mom had been a normal person, Mob could at least use her powers as extra hands when she needed to do stuff, but mom…she'd had to do all of this on her own. Mob wished that she had been able to tell how hard mom worked back when she had been around. She would have done more to help if she had noticed. But she hadn't helped, not at all, and maybe…..maybe that was why mom had run away from home like she had. Well Mob wasn't going to do that. She wasn't going to run away from home. No matter how hard things got, no matter how much she had to do, no matter how many things piled up, and no matter how tired she got she was never running away from home.

Dad and Sho needed her.

"Good morning, Sho." said Mob as she walked into the kitchen. She used her powers to get things ready as she walked in. She put the pan on the stove and then put the butter in, she got the eggs out of the fridge and started to crack them into a bowl, and she got the toast going too in case Sho was hungry right now. Not that she had any idea how he ever could have been hungry again considering how he had eaten all of the snacks in the house, his and hers, and…and she did not want to think about this now. Not about how he had been smoking…and about how she had so many weird feeling about him smoking. She smoked because she had to….and he had to smoke too….but because of his feelings, not his powers. Once you started it was hard to stop and….and she wanted him to feel better…but she also wished that he hadn't been feeling so bad that he thought that smoking was his only option to feel better….

Well considering how much of a jerk dad could be…it sort of was.

But dad wasn't there yet. He was still in his room, she could feel him, and she almost wanted him to just….go back to sleep. She had slept next to him last night. He had been on her hair, which had hurt, and he had woken her up in the middle of the night to ask her if she was still mad at him….which she hadn't been at first….and she still wasn't. She had just been annoyed that he had woken her up before the sun to ask her if she was still upset with him…but she hadn't told him how she really felt. She had just told him that she loved him, waited for him to fall asleep again, and then gone to sleep in her own bed. She knew that he had probably woken up lonely and she knew that she had been a jerk but…but she had been tired…

She was still so tired.

"…hey. Good morning…big sis." Said Sho. He had stopped drawing. Mob leaned over to see if he had finished. It looked half finished, or even less since she couldn't tell what it was. He was drawing and that was good. That meant that he was back to normal…and even though she wanted more than anything else for him to stay like normal she knew that once you started it was hard to stop….and he had no reason to stop. Once you found a way to make things better, if even for a little bit, then you stuck to that way….

And he had every reason to try and make things better.

She took care of him. She knew how hard his life was. Sure she was the one who did everything for him, she made his meals and washed his clothes and kept him on his schedule, but dad didn't like him and…and if she could make a deal with God or whoever and switch their places she would. She'd had to beg dad to be nicer to him…and that…that wasn't good. She wished that dad could take the love he gave to her and then transfer it over to Sho…but that was not how it worked. Dad was a jerk to him, had always been a jerk to him, and that….that was enough to make anyone want to smoke and stuff….

Sho didn't deserve to be treated like that.

"How do you feel?" asked Mob. She watched his aura…and she thought that he was ok….ok-ish. He was fine-ish. He was sitting and he was normal and he was…he was….he was ok-ish. She didn't know. She was bad at reading people…even her own little brother sometimes. She could see his aura and…and maybe his feelings were just confused. It would have made sense if they were. Hers were still sort of mixed up…but breakfast still needed to get made.

"Fine. Thirsty." Said Sho. Mob used her powers to pour him a glass of water. She knew that he wasn't in the best mood when he gave her one word answers….and she had no idea how to put him in a better mood. She just…could not let him be upset. The glass of eater bumped into the bowl of eggs…but that was ok. She could multitask. Nothing broke, that was what mattered. She hadn't broken anything with her powers in a while. She was glad that nothing broke. That would have just been more for her to do. More to clean up….

She was making more dirty dishes.

The ones from last night were still in the sink. She still had to wash those and then the dishes from this morning and then from lunch and dinner…and she would do it and not complain because they had to get done…and stuff. Stuff had to get done…so she was going to do it. She was going to…to do what she had to do…

Make breakfast and make sure that Sho was ok.

"Coke is better." Said Sho. Mob frowned. She knew that he liked soda…but it was breakfast time. Also the last baby tooth he had lost had this big black spot on it…and that could not have been good. She knew that Fukuda was there to heal then when they got hurt…but she just…well he loved Sho and Sho loved him so….so it was ok for Sho to see him and hang out with him….

Mob pulled her sweater tighter around herself.

"You can have a coke with lunch." Said Mob. She would make…she didn't know what she was would make for lunch. She didn't even know what they had. Breakfast food. Plenty of breakfast food. She didn't want breakfast for lunch. She already made breakfast for dinner and breakfast for breakfast and…and breakfast was getting sort of boring. She wanted to make…she would figure out what she was going to make later.

Right now she was just going to focus on breakfast.

"There aren't any left. You drank them all." said Mob. She could have to order more…and hope that the Awakened came back with Coke this time. Pepsi was not Coke. Store brand cola was not Coke. Dr. Pepper was not Coke. Sho could only have Coke, real Coke, unless he wanted something other than Coke. But he wanted Coke and Coke was what he would get…but only one a day and only at lunch because she didn't want him to end up being unhealthy and stuff.

"….Shimazaki drank a lot of them. He likes Coke." Said Sho. He looked down at what he was drawing when he said that. Mob looked down too…and she still couldn't tell what it was.

"He does. Don't worry. I'll get you more…and more poptarts, too, and all the other stuff that you like. Eating all the food….that's normal when you smoke. You get really hungry when you get…when you smoke a lot…and that's normal." Said Mob. She knew how weird it could be, when you first smoked, how weird being so hungry and thirsty and not knowing why…how it felt. How the world got sort of hazy at the front and sharp at the edges. How your skin felt everything. The softness…that was the best part. She knew how weird it could be…

And now Sho knew how weird it could be.

"Yeah….I thought that I was starving to death or something…but Shimazaki said that it was normal. He said…he said a lot of stuff to me…and I said…a lot of stuff to him. At least I think I did. I think that I said…some stuff. I don't know. Get more Coke. Get more Coke and…and some double chocolate pudding too…and some chocolate pudding. He likes that too….he likes…he likes chocolate." Said Sho. Mob nodded and put that all on her mental list. She wished she had her phone with her…but it was still on the charger and walking out of the room…well she had trouble multitasking without being in the room. She had to see what she was doing. One day she would be as strong as dad and then she wouldn't have to be in the room anymore.

She was already pretty strong.

She was stronger than Shimazaki…when she went by her powers, of course. He was stronger than her if they went by real strength. He could lift her up…and he had lifted her…and she decided not to think about that. The thought about…about the grocery list. Lots of chocolate…but maybe the sugar free kind because that may have been better for his teeth. She didn't know. She knew how important it was to keep him healthy but…but they had someone to keep them healthy and…and she just…

She pulled her sweater tight around herself.

"I'll get us more chocolate things." Said Mob. Sho nodded but didn't look at her. He drew another line, and another, and another. He drew lines and…and she had no idea what those little lines were coming together to make.

"Yeah…that would be good. He likes chocolate…and he told me why. His mom used to give him a lot of chocolate. When he was little his dad made his mom lock him in his room but she would see him whenever she could and…and she knew that he liked chocolate and stuff…and she would bring him stuff to keep in his room to eat when she couldn't bring him food. He told me that….he talked a lot…and I talked a lot…too." said Sho. Mob knew….some of that story. It was a very sad story, Shimazaki's life, and she didn't want to think about it. She was setting the table, now, well she was about to. She almost lost her telekinetic grip on the plates. She didn't like it when things were sad like that….she hated when sad things happened to her…and to the people who loved her…and the people she loved.

"That's normal. When you smoke you talk a lot." said Mob. She wondered what else she should warn him about. She wondered what it had been like for him. She wondered a lot of things…all kinds of things. She didn't know. She didn't know what to say or what to do…so she just…got breakfast going.

"Do you smoke a lot?" asked Sho as Mob used her powers to mix up some more eggs. She almost dropped the whole egg into the bowl instead of cracking it. Sho had asked…she could not lie to him. She was his big sister and she could not lie…even though she wanted to. She wanted to tell him that she almost never smoked and she could control her powers and her feelings all on her own….but that would have been a lie and lies….telling lies was much worse than smoking.

"I do. More than I should." Said Mob. She added some milk to the eggs, now, because that was how you got them light. Cream worked better, mom had said, but Mob didn't have any cream. She only had regular milk. She had to work with what she had.

"Shimazaki said that you guys smoke together a lot." said Sho. Mob nodded. She was not going to lie and she was not going to make a liar out of her friend.

"We do. Me and him…or me and Minegishi…but Minegishi is always trying to teach me about moderation and-" said Mob

"He says that you guys do other stuff together too." Said Sho. Mob…she almost knocked the bowl off of the table. She knew what Sho meant…and she knew that he was too young for that. Drinking would make him sick and she didn't want him to get sick…and she also didn't want to have to clean up his throw up either. That was never fun. Coke, fun coke, had been fun and she hadn't lost control of her powers…but Minegishi said that she could have messed up her brain and her heart and stuff like that and sugar cubes with acid….Sho did not need to go inside of his own head like that. She…her brain had invented a little brother because she had missed him so much, that had been the biggest hurt that she had felt, but she knew that the hurts that he felt were much worse than hers…and she had no idea what his brain would end up coming up with…and she did not want him to try any of that…not while he was this little, and his life was this hard, and not without her, either.

"We do…but it's stuff that you're too little for. You're….you can smoke…because you started…but I don't want you to do that stuff…any of that other stuff…until you're older." Said Mob

"He wouldn't want to do any of that stuff with me anyway." Said Sho

"That's not true. He's your best friend and you're his best friend…and also he's Shimazaki." Said Mob. She knew that he would try and do all of that stuff with Sho…and she did not want to think about it. She had so much to worry about already.

"Yeah…he said so. He said…a lot of stuff to me…and I said a lot of stuff to him." said Sho. Well Mob was glad that they had gotten to talking at least. It was good to talk to your friends about stuff….even though Sho thought, for some reason, that he had said something stupid. He obviously hadn't. He was Sho, he could never be stupid, and even if he had said something dumb Shimazaki wouldn't have cared. He didn't care if people were dumb or weird or stuff like that. Well he did, but not in a bad way, he just liked interesting stuff.

"Sometimes people talk a lot when they smoke." Said Mob. Well talking about smoking…it was getting easier. She felt a little better, even, talking to her brother about this. Like it was one less secret she had to keep. They didn't keep secrets from each other, brothers and sisters couldn't keep secrets from each other, and this was just…better. Not having to keep this a secret from him…and he didn't have to keep this a secret from anyone, either. Not that she smoked. That he smoked, yes, that was a big secret…but he didn't have to keep any of hers. That would have been too much to put on him. He would have been a good secret keeper and al but it was too much to put on him.

If Fukuda, who was dad's age, couldn't keep a secret then it was unfair of her to ask the same of Sho.

She pulled her sweater even closer around herself as she thought of Fukuda. She just…did not want to think about him…and what he thought of her. What he thought that she was capable of. What he saw her like. If he thought that she was doing stuff that adults did then…then that meant he was looking at her like she was an adult…and normally she liked it when people thought that she was an adult but…not…not like this. She was…she was a and was not a kid…and she felt so…so gross thinking that Fukuda, someone she had known since she had been a baby, looked at her and thought about her…like that. She was a kid but…but she was also not a kid.

Because kids were not in charge of making breakfast…and she was…so she was going to make her family breakfast.

She used her powers to dump the eggs in the pan and keep them moving. She was tired of making omelets and rice with ketchup. That was all dad ever asked her to make….and she was getting tired of making the same thing every single day a thousand times a day. She was making eggs and toast…and that was what she was going to make and if dad didn't like it then….

Then she would probably end up making something else for him.

Because he was dad and what he said went. He was her dad and he loved her and she loved him and they loved each other…and when you loved someone you took care of them. That was why Mob took such good care of the people around her. She loved all of them. She loved her family and her friends and…and she would always take care of them. Even if taking care of them made her tired…and she was tired. She wanted to go back to sleep but she couldn't…and that was ok. She could just go to bed early tonight. She could lay down next to Sho and read to him until he fell asleep and then she could fall asleep and it would be just like it had been when they had been little.

That would have been very nice.

"Do you ever say stupid stuff? I mean when you…never mind." Said Sho. Mob knew what he meant. She said stupid stuff all the time. Mostly about her socks and how soft they were…soft was the best feeling. Soft and warm and safe….and she was glad that Sho had felt soft and warm and safe, before, even though she still wasn't sure about how she felt about what he had done to feel like that.

"I do…sometimes. Stuff that makes no sense, like how everything is soft and stuff, but that's normal…and I'm sure that whatever you said wasn't stupid." Said Mob. She leaned over to see what Sho was drawing…and then she pulled back. His aura got really close…and she didn't know why. Had she surprised him or something?

"You weren't there, you don't know what I said, and I…I don't even remember, all the way, what I said. But I know that I must have said something….dumb. I don't know. I'm trying to draw. Let me draw." Said Sho. His aura was all closed off and…and she didn't want him to be like this. She needed to make him feel better, to make him happy again, or at all. She kept on making breakfast, she did the hand motion to keep the eggs moving…and she looked around the room like she expected it to be written on the walls or the ceiling or the floor.

What she could say or do to cheer her little brother up.

Her eyes landed on his drawing. He was drawing….lines…a bunch of them. She wondered how he knew what those lines could become. The whole thing had always seemed so complicated to her. Drawing for real pictures, nice pictures, pictures that looked like when they were supposed to be. Mob didn't know how to draw, not really, not like Sho could. He was a great artist, she would have called him the best in the family but she couldn't say that because she had no idea if he had gotten it from mom or not, but he was the best artist that she had ever met.

Drawing always cheered him up.

"What are you drawing?" asked Mob. She leaned in closer. She could see the outline of it. Something with a lot of wavy lines….a snake? Or a lizard? She didn't know. It had always amazed her how Sho could take a collection of lines and make it into something new. It was amazing, more amazing than what she was doing anyway, since she had always been able to do this. She had always been able to move things without touching them. She had always been able to pick up an egg, crack it into a bowl, and then scramble it with a fork. She had always been able to take a piece of bread, toasting it, and then spreading butter onto it without breaking it apart. She hadn't even had to work at this. She had just been able to…to do it.

She wondered what it was like to have to practice at something.

"A picture." Said Sho as he filled in with some more lines. He always started with light lines. When Mob drew she always started with just…what she was drawing. She just sat down and drew. Not like how Sho drew. He sat down and started with a bunch of light lines and then he slowly filled them in with more and more lines until the drawing was done…and he was such a good artist like that. When they had been little, much littler, he had just sat down and drew like she did…but now he was better.

He'd had a lot of practice.

She had never had to practice with her powers, not like how Sho did anyway, she used her powers but using them was like walking or talking or breathing. That was just…they were just…there. They were just there and she has always been about to…to use them. Sho was more talented than she was at this…and she just wished…

She just wished that dad could see what she saw in Sho…..but she could help him see Sho the way she saw him….and then things would be better.

"A dragon." Said Sho. Mob nodded. She could see it now. It looked like the one that was on Shimazaki's back. That was one he had gotten back when he had still been with his family. It meant wealth and prosperity, or at least it was supposed to mean that, Shimazaki just said that he thought that dragons were neat. Maybe because his name had the character for dragon in it….if he even knew that his name had the character for dragon in it. Was it the same in braille? She didn't know. She would have to ask him later…once she stopped being upset about him teaching Sho how to smoke or about how he had left Fukuda all alone outside with no shoes on…

She pulled her sweater in closer.

It was hot during the day but chilly at night. Fukuda could heal but only so much…and she had no idea what Shimazaki had done to him before that….the specifics of it…and she didn't want to ask him…but she knew that she had to have him use specifics in the apology that he was going to have to make to Fukuda. Even if Fukuda wasn't his friend, even if he could be kind of mean, and even if the thought of him made Mob feel like she hadn't had a bath in years he still didn't deserve what Shimazaki had done to him.

Even if he could be a jerk sometimes.

"That's cool. You're good at drawing dragons." Said Mob. She wondered if dad would try and steal this one. Sometimes he stole Sho's drawings because he liked them…and she would have to talk to him about that, too, if he ever felt like coming out of his room. He had been in there for a while. He must have known that breakfast was almost ready and that everyone was awake now….right? She'd go and get him later when she was done talking to Sho and stuff.

"Yeah…I started one yesterday but I fucked it up." Said Sho. Mob wanted to put her hand over his mouth like when they had been little…but that wouldn't stop him from cursing. The only thing she would end up with was a very gross hand. Still. There had to be some way to get him to stop cursing all the time. She didn't know why he had to. She had never got the point of cursing. Talking like that would just end up getting you in trouble, dad hated cursing, and there was nothing worse in this world than getting in trouble with dad.

"Sho…please don't say that where dad can hear. You don't want him to hear that. Trust me." Said Mob. She looked around even though she knew that dad was still in his room. She didn't want to know what dad would do to Sho if he knew how Sho had been talking. He hated cursing, he hated it more than any other kind of talking, and that included people who talked way too much. She loved her dad, she really did, but she also….she wished that he was less…easily upset by things. Especially the things that Sho did. Sho didn't mean to upset him, he had never meant to upset dad, but dad….

He and Sho didn't get along at all.

But Mob…she could fix this. She had already made dad promise to be nicer to him and that was a start. She knew that it would be hard, she knew that mom had spent years trying to get Sho and dad to get along, but maybe Mob could do it. She could maybe do what mom never could. She wasn't sick like mom had been, after all, she had plenty of energy to do things…and even when she didn't she still knew that there were things that had to be done. She didn't have anyone like Fukuda helping her, she wasn't going to ask any of her friends to help since they had their own stuff going on, and she would never have asked Fukuda for help like mom had either because that would have involved talking to him…and she didn't need to or want to…she could do this on her own.

She could do everything on her own.

"Why not? He knows I curse. I cursed at him yesterday on accident and he was all…all that he wasn't going to punish me because….because it would upset you and…and he said that I wasn't worth it." Said Sho. Mob….well she had been plating up their breakfasts at the time…and she had almost dropped everything on the floor. That would have been bad since she had just used up the last of the eggs. Sho had talked about that so casually….and there was nothing casual about how close he had come to getting beaten up. He should have been happy that dad hadn't hurt him. He should have been happy that…that things hadn't gone as bad as they could have gone without her there to protect him…

Not that she was planning on saying anything like that to him, of course, she may have been clueless but she wasn't THAT clueless.

"Sho….you are worth it…and I don't want you to be punished and….and I love you. Remember, I love you." Said Mob. That was the important thing, reminding him that he was loved, that at least one person in their family still loved him…well mom loved them both…or at least she had before she left. Mob didn't know, her information on mom and her feelings was four years out of date.

"….yeah. I know. You love me…and I'm sorry if I said weird shit to you last night…or whatever. I was just…I couldn't saying weird shit…and being weird. I was just being weird and…and it sucked." Said Sho. Mob took Sho's hand in hers. She knew that they needed to get to breakfast, and she also knew not to touch his hands while he was drawing, but she also knew that sometimes he needed comfort and she knew that she was just the person to give it. She was his big sister after all and this was her job and she was happy to do it.

"Sho, you're fine. There is nothing weird about you." Said Mob

"You weren't there yesterday. You didn't hear what I said." Said Sho. Mob shook her head. She had already told him that everyone said weird stuff when they smoked. That was normal and he was normal and…and he shouldn't have been so worried about not being normal. He was Sho. He was fine the way he was. She would love him no matter how many weird things he said. Why did he even think that she cared? He was trying to get her to marry Hatori and stuff and Hatori wanted to eat people. If that wasn't weird then she didn't know what was.

"You didn't say anything weird, Sho, and even if you did that's ok. People say weird stuff when they smoke…and Sho…um…please don't smoke very often." Said Mob. She knew that it might have been wrong to ask that of him and all…and she knew that she smoked all the time…but she wanted him not to smoke that often because she smoked all the time…if that even made any sense at all. She didn't know if it did or it didn't….and she had no idea if he would even listen to her. She hadn't listened to Minegishi…and now she sort of wished that she had. She knew how they felt, now, and it…was not the best feeling.

"But….I like to. I like to and you smoke all the time, Shimazaki said so, so why can't I smoke if you smoke all the time?" Said Sho. Mob sighed. She let go of his hand and sat down at her side of the table. She needed to think. She needed to think of how she was going to talk to him about this without sounding like a jerk. She loved her brother, she loved him the most out of anyone else in the world, and she just…didn't want him to depend on this like she depended on this. That was all. She knew that she couldn't make one rule for herself and one for him…she knew that doing things like that wasn't fair…but she just…didn't want him to depend on this like she depended on this.

"I know you do but….it's hard to stop once you start…and your tolerance goes up so you need to smoke more and more…and also it's just...I love you….and stuff." Said Mob. She didn't know why she was being so weird about this. She knew that it was wrong to tell him not to do something that she did all the time…maybe she was just a weird person. That would have made sense.

"I like to…and I want to again…but…I was so stupid…" said Sho. Mob shook her head. He wasn't being stupid. Nothing that Sho could have done, nothing that he was capable of doing, could ever be considered stupid.

"Sho, no, don't ever call yourself stupid. You're smart. You were weird from smoking. I get weird too….and stuff. Smoking makes you sort of weird and sometimes you say weird stuff but that's ok. There's nothing stupid about how you acted…or what you did. You were sad, you were so sad, and I understand why you were sad. Fukuda told one of your secrets, something you trusted him with, and that's enough to make anyone sad enough to start smoking. I…don't mind what you did…anymore…but I want you to only do that with me, ok?" said Mob

"Big sis…why didn't you tell me you did stuff like this? Why were you keeping secrets?" asked Sho. Mob…what a question. She didn't even fully know the answer to that question. Because she hadn't wanted to get in trouble with dad, because she hadn't wanted to get her friends in trouble, and because…because she didn't want him to do as she had done…if that last part was even a good reason.

"Because….I thought that you were too little….but I guess you aren't. I also just…didn't want to get myself or anyone in trouble…and I won't get you in trouble. I can keep this secret from you. I'm not Fukuda, I know how to keep a secret, and I won't tell dad that you were smoking…and it's ok for you to smoke and stuff. It-it is…ok? But only with me, ok? Shimazaki…is a nice person…but he doesn't know about moderation…or it might just be that he doesn't believe in it….but we can smoke together, ok? And I'll teach you about moderation…and stuff." Said Mob

"That's…that sounds good….big sis." Said Sho. Mob smiled and took his hand. He let her hold his hand and then he squeezed hers…and she squeezed his right back. She loved him so much. She loved Sho and Sho loved her and they were loved together and…and he had done some stuff, some stuff that she still felt weird about, and she would never stop loving him no matter what he did. Even if he did smoke…and he would probably take up drinking next…and stuff….but she still loved him and she would always love him.

She would always be there for him.

Even when he pulled away from her…like now. He took his hand from hers and then went back to drawing. She knew why. She had heard dad's door open and now she could hear his footsteps. He was coming. He was coming and…and he might have still been mad at her for leaving him in the middle of the night…and for leaving him at dinner…and also he might have still been mad at Sho for cursing at him….and she just….

She would deal with whatever he did.

But he didn't do anything. He just came to the kitchen and looked at them. Sho didn't look at him, not once, even though Mob knew that he knew that dad was there. He must have been able to sense him. He must have known that dad was there…and looking at him. Looking at both of them. He might have wondered why breakfast was different. They usually ate the same thing…and they were out of eggs so he got what he got. If he wanted a grapefruit or something she could make him one but she had power over plants, not eggs, and the closest thing that she could make him to an egg was an eggplant, and she had no idea how to cook with eggplant.

If she had been mom then she would have said something like 'you get what you get and you don't get upset' or something like that…but she was not mom so all she did was pull his chair out for him with her powers.

"Do you want to have breakfast, dad? It's scrambled eggs and toast." Said Mob. She knew that he could see it, well she was pretty sure that he could see it he squinted a lot so he might have needed glasses, and she knew that he liked eggs and she had no idea what he was staring at….oh! Right, she had forgot the ketchup.

"That…would be nice. Thank you, Daughter." Said dad. He sat down and she used her powers to put the ketchup in front of her. He was still looking at her. Sho was still looking down at his drawing. He was looking down in the way that he did when he was trying his best not to look up. She didn't blame him for being afraid of dad, he was a scary person sometimes…a lot of the times…

And he had better not have started being mean to Sho.

Because they had JUST talked about that yesterday. He needed to be nicer to Sho….and he had promised. He had promised that he would try to be nicer….to at least say nicer things…and dad may have been a jerk but he was not a liar or anything like that. She trusted him….and if you couldn't trust your own dad then who could you even trust? She trusted him that he would be nicer to Sho…but he wasn't being nicer to Sho at all. He wasn't being anything to Sho? He was just being…there…and stuff. He was just there and he was just staring at her…

Oh, right. The ketchup.

"Sorry. I forgot your ketchup glass. Here." Said Mob. She used her powers to grab a glass from the cabinet and she filled it with ketchup for him. That was he could dip his bread. She didn't know why he always had to dip his bread in ketchup but she wasn't going to make fun of him or anything for it. That would have been mean and she could not be mean to her own dad….even if he was mean to pretty much everyone he came into contact with including his own Son…

"Thank you…this was very nice of you…so thank you." Said Dad. She could see his aura there. He was sitting still but his aura was fidgeting…and she had no idea why. Why was he being like that? If he needed something then he should have just told her instead of waiting for her to figure it out.

"You're welcome. Do you need anything else?" asked Mob. She wanted to eat her own breakfast now, she hadn't eaten since yesterday at lunch, but she had to see if dad needed something. She had to do a lot for him…but that was ok. She loved him and when you loved someone you took care of them.

"No…just…are you still angry with me?" asked dad

"About what?" asked Mob

"I have no idea. I just woke up and you were gone so I was wondering if you were angry with me….and please don't tell me that you're fine when you aren't because I have no way of knowing that you aren't telling the truth when you say that you're fine." Said dad. Mob….well she was fine. She was and was not fine. Just thinking about all the stuff she had to do today made her tired…and also she was still all mixed up inside about how she felt about Sho smoking…and also she still felt gross about what Fukuda had said to her….she pulled her sweater closer. She was a lot of things but mad was not on that list.

"I'm not mad at you. I just went to my own bed because you were on my hair…and I didn't mean to leave you all alone at the table last night. I just realized that I had to do something when I went to get Sho…that was all." said Mob. She knew that dad felt sad about being left all alone…even though it hadn't been a Sunday…because he was a very clingy person…and she should have been nicer to him…but she'd had a lot of other people who needed her last night and she had done her best. She was only one person after all. She could only do so much.

"Oh. Alright." Said dad. He said that but he didn't do anything else. He just kept on looking at her….and she had no idea why. Did she look weird? Had she done something? Was he staring at the spots on her face up by her hairline and eyebrows? She didn't know. She looked across the table at Sho. He looked up at her and then went back to his drawing.

"Um…dad? Sho's here too." Said Mob. Maybe he should have looked at Sho…and said something nice to Sho too. He had promised to be nicer to Sho but right now he was ignoring him and that was not nice at all. Sho was a person too, a person with feelings, and he did not need how own dad hurting his feelings so bad that he thought that the only way to feel better was to smoke.

"I know. I can see him. He's drawing at the table when he knows that he should be eating. You didn't go through the trouble of making breakfast for your brother not to eat it." Said dad. That…had been mean….and he had made her a promise…but she just had to…to stay calm. He just had to stay calm and….and work with this. With them. Dad might not have known how to be nice. Dad might have just needed niceness lessons or something…well she could teach him. When someone didn't know how to do something you had to help them out. Like how she'd taught Hatori how to do his laundry and make his bed and stuff. There was nothing at all wrong with helping out someone you cared about…even if your breakfast was getting cold and you were getting hungry.

"I don't mind him drawing at the table, dad, actually I like it. I like Sho's drawing. Don't you like Sho's drawing, dad?" asked Mob. She smiled at dad, he liked her smiles he had said so, and she motioned over to Sho. Maybe now he would get that he had to say something nice already. Sho was just drawing because he was upset that dad was near….and with how dad had been for their entire lives mob didn't blame him…but things could get better now. She could make sure that they got better.

"Yes. It's a dragon, and a very detailed one at that, and the shading is very intricate. It's amazing that your brother can do all of that by hand with just one pencil. It's impressive." Said dad. He'd had to stare at Sho's drawing for a little but before he said that but Mob didn't care. He had said something nice and that was progress…and progress was good. That was more than mom had been able to get dad to say…not to be mean to mom. She just hadn't known dad as well, back before she ran away, as Mob knew him now. She hardly spent time with him because he was away all the time and she was sick. She hardly talked to him. Mob had no idea why they had even gotten married, to be honest, since they never spent time together.

She wondered if mom even knew anything about dad at all.

She wondered if mom knew the names of dad's favorite episodes of Galaxy Express, his favorite show even though he pretended that he only watched it to show it to her, and she wondered if she knew that dad liked the second movie better than the first. She wondered if mom knew that dad was always clingy in his sleep but then when he woke up he said that you were the clingy one. She wondered if mom knew that dad actually really like videogames even though he pretended not to. She wondered if mom knew that dad was afraid of mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, and borrowers. Pretty much anything small enough to live in the walls. She wondered if mom knew that dad liked to have his socks ironed and then tied off at the ends, not rolled together, because he hated it when the elastic wore off.

She also wondered if mom knew just how hard it was to get dad and Sho to get along.

She had been married to dad since before Mob and Sho had been born. Mom had told her that story. She and dad had met and fell in love so fast that they couldn't wait to make her. That was why mom looked so fat in their wedding pictures, because she had been growing inside of mom's stomach then, and that was why she and dad had gotten married. Because they had fallen in love and made a whole new person. She wondered how well mom had known dad before all of that happened. Love could hit you hard and sudden, like with her and Hatori, and she was glad that Hatori hadn't asked her to marry him back when she had been in love with him. She liked him a lot, and she wanted to kiss him, but the thought of doing everything that she did for her dad and her brother for her husband too…and then for all the kids that they would have had…well she was glad that she hadn't rushed into anything.

It was important not to rush into things.

That was why Minegishi and Shimazaki weren't boyfriend and theyfriend. Minegishi said that they weren't going to rush into anything before they knew exactly how they felt and what they wanted. Mob got the feeling, based on the story, that mom and dad had fallen in love too fast and rushed into making her. Mom hadn't understood dad at all, from what she remembered, because mom had always complained to Fukuda about how dad never did the things she wanted and how he couldn't understand her. Mob knew that she had not been meant to hear that, she had been eavesdropping and that was a rude thing to do, but if she could have gone back in time and told mom that she needed to tell dad exactly what she wanted him to do and when she wanted him to do it and how often then she would have.

She would have told dad a few things too.

She would have told dad that he needed to take the clinginess that he gave to her and he needed to give it to mom. She would have told dad that he needed to take all of them with him when he moved. Moving all the time was hard but at least they would have been together. She would have told dad that he needed to learn to be less clueless, even though she herself was clueless, because mom always complained about him being clueless and she had been complaining because she had been unhappy. She would have said…a lot of things…if she could have gone back in time…and stuff…

But she was in the present, not the past, and she had to say things to her dad and brother not her mom and dad.

"Sho, did you hear? Dad liked your drawing." Said Mob. She smiled at him, too, because he needed someone to smile at him. Maybe now he would smile back and then he would be happy. He should have been happy. Dad had said something nice to him like he had always wanted….and that was a good thing…but he wasn't acting like it was a good thing. He was looking down at his drawing and pressing so hard with his pencil that she was sure he was going to end up ripping through the paper, the sketchbook, and then the whole table they were sitting at. That wouldn't have been good. She would have had nowhere to serve them their meals and stuff.

"I heard him, I have ears." Said Sho after a while. He was still drawing like he was mad…even though he had no reason to be mad. Dad had been nice to him and…and if he wasn't nice right back then dad would never be nice to him again and they would just end up back to where they started. It would be like when she and Sho player Sorry and he landed on one of her pieces only nobody would be saying sorry or having fun or anything at all.

"Don't you have something that you want to say to dad?" asked Mob. She knew that if she just came out and told him that he had to tell dad 'thanks' he might not take it well…and then he would get upset and then dad would tell him that he was being tiresome and then they would just end up back where they started…and Mob did not want them to end up back where they started. This was not Sorry, this was life, and in life getting back to where you started was not fun at all.

"Nope." Said Sho. A one word answer…which meant that he was bothered…but she had to get him to thank dad. She knew that he would get upset….but he needed to thank dad. Dad was looking at her and she was looking at Sho and their breakfast was getting cold…and all she needed from him was a simple 'thank you' and in Japanese, too. He spoke Japanese, they all spoke Japanese, and they were speaking it right now. He just had to say 'thank you' and…and maybe she should just tell him to say it. Just to save time. Just so she could finally eat something. She could always smoke so she didn't have to eat…but then she would have been back to smoking….and smoking once did not mean that she had un-quit….because then she would have to re-quit and quitting had been so hard the first time…and she really needed a cigarette…

And she really needed her breakfast, too.

"Come on. Don't you want to say 'thank you' because dad said something nice to you? Because it's polite to say that when someone is nice to you?" asked Mob. She knew that she was pushing it, that he was either going to get mad or…or get very mad, there was a small chance that he would do what she asked of him and…and she would take that chance. She was hungry, she was very hungry, and she just…wanted to finally eat something already.

"Fine. Thank you, dad, for saying that my drawing is nice. Can we have breakfast now? I have important stuff to draw today. Very important stuff." Said Sho. He rolled his eyes when he said that…but Mob would take it. He had said something nice, and she didn't think that dad even knew what eye rolling meant, so now dad would be happy and they would eat already. He would just say 'you're welcome' to Sho and then it would all be over and done with.

Any minute now.

She knew that dad knew the rule about thank yous and how to receive them. She knew that dad knew some of the rules. She knew that…that he was bad at stuff like this…but he was not that bad. She knew that he knew what to do…and she knew that he was being mean to Sho again….and she knew that she was not going to just sit there and let him be mean to Sho like that. Sho…he didn't deserve to have someone being mean to him. When dad had been mean to Sho at the table…mom had said something. She sometimes said something to dad but most of the time she had said something to Sho…because usually Sho was the person who made dad mad…

But this was not one of those times.

"Ok…but as soon as dad says 'you're welcome'. You really should say that, daddy, it's polite…and it would make me happy." Said Mob. She wished that she hadn't had to tell dad to be nice to Sho, and that she hadn't had to call him 'daddy' to get him to listen to her. Minori had taught her that, that by calling your dad 'daddy' like you were little you could get him to do just about anything, and that was because dads never wanted their kids to grow up….and she…she had no idea if she wanted to grow up or not. Being grown up, being an adult, meant that you had to do a lot of things. You had to take care of yourself and the people around you no matter how tired you were. You had to make sure that the people around you were ok before you made sure that you were ok…

And that was ok.

She could do that. She could do that part of being an adult. She could take care of everyone, make them happy, and she could….she could do all of that. Being an adult also meant that you got power…and she had power. She'd had to use her power last night to boss Fukuda and Shimazaki around to make them stop fighting, and at some point she would have to make it up to both of them because she had been very mean, and she didn't much want this power…but she could at least use it for good….but being an adult also meant that you felt gross inside of your own body…and she hated feeling gross inside of her own body…

But if she were little again then things would have been as bad as they had been before.

Dad wanted her little….but he also wanted her to grow up…and sometimes it felt like he wanted her to do both at the same time…and she didn't get him sometimes. Like now. Like how she'd had to tell him what to say even though she was the kid and he was the dad. He should have known…and he had known…he just hadn't wanted to be nice to Sho…but she could fix that. It was her job to fix that…

Everything was her job.

"You're welcome." Said dad finally. Mob let out a breath that she hadn't known that she had been holding. Maybe this was why mom had never forced dad to be nice to Sho. Maybe she had known how hard it would have been….but mom was just mom. She was Mob. She wasn't sick and tired all of the time. She could take care of her family. She would take care of her family. She would do all the stuff that she had to do. The cooking and the cleaning and ordering the food and washing the clothes and ironing them and putting them away and then getting Sho in the tub and getting him fed and getting him to bed and then spending time with dad because he was lonely and then getting her own stuff done with and taking care of her friends. She could do all of that, she would do all of that, and she would do it all with a giant sweater on even though it was hot during the day because she couldn't stand the feel or the sight of herself and sometimes she just wanted to-

She would never run away.

"Good, now we can eat." Said Mob. She was fine. She meant it. Not like how dad had accused her of saying that she was fine when she wasn't. She really was fine, the most fine, and everything was fine. Breakfast had been made and now dad was going to go off to do dad stuff and Sho was going to go off to do Sho stuff and then she would do Mob stuff and…and it was fine. This was fine. She was fine. This whole thing was fine. She could do it all, all of her Mob stuff, and she would do it all in this giant sweater, too, even though she was still getting sort of hot despite the fact that the air conditioner was as high and as cold as it could get.

She wasn't going to take off this sweater though, she loved this sweater, and she would spend the rest of her life in this sweater. She just couldn't be without this sweater.