Mob was the master of the non sequitur.
"Minegishi, have you ever been on a date before?"
That had come out of nowhere. They had been in the middle of the latest installment of Divorced Doll Manor when Mob had decided to drop that into Minegishi's lap. Minegishi….well they knew that these questions had been coming. Questions about their personal love life. Mob was older, she was getting curious about things, and they…well they could answer her question. They would answer her question. It wasn't like she had asked anything outlandish.
Of course they had gone on a date before.
"Yes." said Minegishi. There. They had answer her question. They picked up a tiny doll brush and began to brush out Rapunzel's hair. Why did this doll even have so much hair? In the movie she got her magic hair cut off, a metaphor that they hoped Mob didn't ask her about anytime soon, so really this doll should have had a pixie cut. There was nothing wrong with a pixie cut. More dolls needed pixie cuts. Maybe they could give some dolls some tiny haircuts.
Maybe it was time to cut their own hair.
Maybe it was time to cut Mob's hair, too. Her bangs were in her eyes again. She had terrible split ends, too, from never even doing so much as trimming her hair. Maybe they should go from dolls to haircuts. That would be...something. Something to do. They could go home and…and Ryou was there…and so was Mob's little brother but that didn't matter. So what if he had most likely done something idiotic again? Minegishi didn't have to be a true detective to figure out where all the beer in the house had gone to. Fine. Whatever. If he wanted to do stupid things than that was fine.
He could do all the stupid things that he felt like. They didn't care.
They had more important things to do. There were dolls that needed their hair brushed and their outfits changed and they had to go over who hadn't been taking out the tiny doll garbage and who hadn't been doing the tiny doll dishes and this was a whole rich world that needed expanding on and Minegishi…well this was what they did. This was what they did with Mob day in and day out and they didn't have the space in their mind to deal with Ryou's…stupidity.
And he had done something stupid. They knew that he had.
"Um…did he ask you or did you ask him? Or she…if it was a she…who you went on the date with." Said Mob. Minegishi groaned. They did not want to talk about their many romantic failures. They wanted to get lost in the tiny world of Disney dolls and this unnecessarily ornate dollhouse that Suzuki had commissioned for his daughter. They didn't want to dwell on their romantic failures….especially not the romantic failure that was next door sleeping out hopefully just a hangover from drinking everyone's beer…and hopefully he wasn't doing anything stupid in there with Mob's little brother…and they didn't care. It wasn't like they cared if he ended up getting himself maimed or killed because he did something stupid with Suzuki's only son…like giving the kid acid or whatever else he had on him….
Stupid Ryou. Stupid romantic failures. Stupid questions that they just did not feel like answering.
"Mob, I don't like to talk about this…and if you're talking about my first proper date it was with a woman, ok? I was fifteen, she was eighteen, and we drank beers in the park and sat on the grass. It was nice. The ending of that relationship is not very nice. Now can we please get back to the dolls? Elsa was angry with Anna because she kept on leaving her dirty dishes in the sink I believe? Well you know that Rapunzel is going to back her up." Said Minegishi. They didn't feel like taking any walks down memory lane. They were happy just being in this tiny world of their own, well their and Mob's and the Disney company's own, creation. They didn't need to think about their many romantic failures.
They didn't need to think about the subject of romance in any capacity.
They had woken up alone that morning…and that was fine. They'd had breakfast alone, that was also fine. They'd taken a bath alone, nobody popped in to bother them, and that was fine. They'd gotten dressed alone, nobody bothering them again, and that was fine. They had gone through their whole day up until coming over to see if Mob wanted to hang out all alone and they had no problem with that. Sometimes they wanted to be alone…and sometimes they just were alone…and they didn't need Shimazaki Ryou popping in every ten seconds bothering them because he hated being lonely and telling them things that either never happened, had better not have happened, or were so heavily embellished that they might as well not have happened. They also didn't need him popping in every five seconds telling them that he loved them….
They didn't need to hear him say it.
They hadn't gotten used to him saying it. They hadn't gotten used to waking up with his arms pressing them into his chest and his fair buried in their hair. They didn't need him saying 'I love you' to be the first thing that they heard when they got up in the morning. They could get up in the morning without him. They could…they didn't need….they didn't need him. They didn't need anyone. They didn't need…
They needed to brush out this doll's hair.
"Oh…I'm sorry that your relationship didn't end well…and I'm sorry that your heart got broken….not that you said so….I just get that feeling." Said Mob
"Mob. Dolls." Said Minegishi. Mob nodded and then picked up her Elsa doll. She held it in her hands but made no move to make it walk or talk or anything. Minegishi sighed. They were being unfair to Mob…but they didn't want to talk about this…but they really should not have been mean to Mob like that….
But they did not want to talk about that…about all of that.
But it didn't matter what they wanted. Mob was curious and she was asking and who else could she ask? Her dead mother? Her living but insane father? Her eleven year old friend who seemed to think that she knew everything….and really needed someone looking in on her? Mob only had Minegishi for these things…and they were not going to push her away just because they were feeling…out of sorts.
They were fine. They had no reason to feel out of sorts.
"Right….I guess. Um….I just….what are dates like? I mean what do people do on them? I mean….what do boys do on dates? I mean…" said Mob
"Fun. Dates are fun…when they're with the right person. I haven't gone on a lot of dates and what I have done you are too young to know about. Just know that dates, when you're with the right person, can be very fun. There's movies and dinner….or you can just hang out together…you can do a lot of things. What you do doesn't make it a date, who you're with makes it a date. Ok?" asked Minegishi. They were short…but not as short as they could have been…and they had answered Mob's question. She was getting to that age, if she wasn't at that age already, and she would have questions and ideas and she would want some answers…
And it was better that she got those answers from Minegishi than her little friend Minori.
Seriously, if Minegishi had to hear 'Minori says' one more time they were going to scream. That whole friendship was just a….a waste of Mob's time. That girl was unpleasant and Mob didn't need that. She was trying to be older than she was…and Minegishi couldn't fault her for that…but Mob didn't need to get herself in a great big hurry to grow up. It wasn't worth it. Being an adult…dealing with love and sex and all of that…it just was not worth it. Love…or whatever they had with Ryou…it was more of a headache than anything else…
Such the headache.
Mob didn't need this sort of headache. She didn't need to have some guy catching feelings for her….well Mob was more likely to catch feelings…and Minegishi was projecting. They were projecting their own shit onto her and they had to stop it. Mob was too young for what Minegishi and Ryou had…even if she did know that exact word for their situationship…and even if she did think that she wanted…whatever she wanted…
She was only eleven. She didn't need to have this kind of shit in her life.
"Oh…so do you have to know for sure that you're in love with the other person before you go on the date? Or do you figure out if you're in love with the person after the date? Because I've been watching a lot of movies today…well before you came here since Sho is still at his sleepover….and I've been trying to figure this whole thing out." Said Mob. She put the doll down and now she was playing with her own hair and she was looking down…and Minegishi got the feeling that Mob had a story for them. They got the feeling that this was some sort of Mob crush related crisis. Well Minegishi could deal with this. Better Mob's crush related crisis than their own crush related crush.
Their own more than crush related crisis.
Ryou had just had to go and ruin it all by saying something stupid like 'I love you' and they just…they had go and ruin it all by not telling him to shut his mouth. They should have told him to shut up with all of that, that they didn't need to hear all of that, that they knew. They knew and they didn't need confirmation….and they didn't need to think about how they had…about how they wanted…they just hadn't needed Ryou to make them think about all of this and now…well now they were in their own crush crisis….
But they would rather help Mob deal with hers.
"It depends. Sometimes you already have feelings for the person and sometimes…well sometimes those feelings come later. Don't stress too much over dates, they're supposed to be fun. Always have fun. If you're not having fun with the other person then it's not worth it. No matter how attractive they are, no matter how they're trying to sweep you off your feet, if you aren't having fun then…it's pointless." Said Minegishi. There was a hell of a lot more to it than having fun but Mob…well she was eleven. She didn't need to know about the big questions that you had to ask yourself. Figuring out who you were and what you wanted in another person. She was just a kid and at her age dates were….what? Holding hands in the park? Taking walks? Minegishi had no idea. They hadn't been dating anyone at her age. They had been…well they had been twelve when they had first…but that was not a story that Mob needed to hear…and that was not something that Mob needed to get up to, either.
Not at her age.
Minegishi had been a year older then her when they had gone looking for love in the only way that they had known how. They had gone looking for love and they had found…well they had found a lot of things that they had been too young for. They had…not had the best judgement at the age of twelve…and also they had no idea who they ever had been at twelve. They hadn't figured it out until later. Now they were exactly who they were and who they wanted to be…and they never had to go back to that age…back to that…
But they felt like that again.
But Mob did not need to know how they felt like the rug had been pulled out from under them. That they felt like they had gone to bed assured of everything and woken up in another world….in another world like theirs only now they had…something that they had decided to never have again…and something that they had wanted…that they had never wanted to want…and they just…they had a lot of their own baggage and…
And Mob did not need to deal with their baggage.
"Oh…ok. So I don't have to be in love with someone to go on a date with them….ok." said Mob. She was playing with the hem of her dress now and her hair was starting to float. Something was on her mind.
"No….but what's with all the questions? You have a secret boyfriend that I don't know about?" asked Minegishi with a laugh. A laugh that they weren't fully committed to. A secret boyfriend would have been great…if that boy were Mob's age. She needed to find some guy that she liked because she was starting to skew older and older these days…and that would not be good for her. Minegishi knew full well how badly that could end for her…and she deserved so much better. She deserved to be happy.
At least one person in this friendship should have been happy.
"No…not a secret boyfriend….but um…my dad said that Hatori is planning on asking me to go to Comiket with him and…and I would really like that and…and I don't know how I feel about him but he must like me if he's planning on asking me out…and if he asked my dad's permission….and dad likes him so-" said Mob. Minegishi was not going to listen to another word of this. Mob….why did she have to look too deep into everything? She was always doing this…and always when it came to Hatori?
What did she see in him?
He was…well he was less of a mess than when he had joined the group but he was still something of a mess. Also he was nine years older than her…and she should….she could have done better. But maybe they both just had terrible taste in men. They didn't know. What they did know was that they had to get Mob to come off of this. She had to come off of this before she ended up with a broken heart. She knew that Hatori…well she should have known by now that Hatori wasn't into her…
But she seemed to only see the things that he wanted to see.
"Mob, no. He's just asking you to go with him because…well he wants you to come with him because he likes you as a friend. That's all. Ok? I don't want to hurt you but I know that you look deeply into things and I need you to just….think for a minute. He's twenty and you're eleven. You should be with a guy who's your own age." Said Minegishi. They were trying to be nice. They were trying their best to get Mob to think about what she was thinking…but she was getting to that age. She was getting to that age where she would start to…well she had a brain and she had a sex drive and one of those was going to take up all of her mental energy.
God have mercy on them all.
Hatori Nozomu….thank God that he wasn't the type to take advantage of her. Thank God that he was a normal human being. She was a child. She was a child and she was thinking like a child did. She thought that he was what she wanted….and maybe he was…but she didn't know what she…well she knew what she wanted but she wasn't thinking about what she wanted….well she was…she was and she wasn't and she just….
Maybe Minegishi was projecting again.
Mob knew what she wanted and if she only wanted to date men that were twice her age…then she could date all the older men she wanted…when she stopped being a kid. She could be into whatever she wanted to be into and maybe she knew what she was and who she was…but also she was eleven and she would not be making the best choices at eleven….
So maybe Minegishi wasn't only projecting….they didn't know. This was complicated. Crush crisis were complicated.
"But….I mean I know that he's twenty and…and I just…I don't know. I like him. I mean I think that I do I mean….I don't know. I just think about him all the time and I want him to like me…I want someone to like me and…and I do want to go with him and…and you're right. I mean…I like him but he probably doesn't like me. I don't know why he would ever like me. I don't know why anyone would ever like me." Said Mob. Well now she was just sad…and Minegishi would have to fix this. They scooted over and put their hand on her back.
"Mob…there's a lot to like about you. You're just about the kindest, sweetest, most caring person that I have ever met. I mean you put up with a lot of bullshit from all of us. You put up with a lot and you're always thinking about people…and someone is going to like you. Just give it time. You're eleven, you know, you have a lot of time yet. I didn't meet the first person I ever…loved…until I was fifteen….and I didn't again until I was….in my late twenties. You've got time so stop worrying about this….and come on. We're got to have these princesses figure out who's responsible for these dishes." Said Minegishi. They loved Mob, they really did, and they were doing their best. They could barely handle their own crush crisis let alone hers but…but they were doing their best. Hopefully their best was good enough.
"Ok….so Anna is says that she'll do them later but I don't think that Merida would like that because she needs the sink to wash her hair…and she can't wash her hair in the bathroom because Ariel lives there because she's a mermaid again because I can't find my Ariel with legs doll so…" said Mob. There. Crush crisis averted. Minegishi felt….well they wished that they felt good. They were happy to have helped Mob but now…well now they had to focus on their own crisis…
They would deal with their crisis later…unless Mob had more non sequiturs for them.