Mob had never been down aisle 8A before.

She had been to Family Mart before but she had never gone past the candy aisle. This was the period stuff aisle. Well the sign said feminine hygiene but Minegishi said that it was just a fancy way of saying period stuff. Mob wished that the sign hadn't said anything at all. Maybe if they just hadn't had any signs in the first place then this whole thing would have been easier. Why did they have to have a sing, anyway? And in such big characters? If they'd had to have a sign then maybe a small one would have been better. Yes. A tiny little sign…in a language that nobody would have been able to read…yes. That would have been the best thing ever.

Because then there would have been no chance of anyone knowing what Mob was doing in that aisle.

She knew, thanks to Minegishi, that she was not going to die. She was not slowly bleeding to death because she had broken…it…on accident. She was going to be fine. This was just something that was going to happen to her one week out of the month until she got old…and she could deal with that. She could deal with this…because she had no choice. This happened to everyone with girl parts, Minegishi had said so, and that this was nothing to be ashamed of.

But that didn't mean that Mob wanted the whole world to know.

It was bad enough that this was happening to her but now…now she would have to go to a store once a month and get more stuff…because she could not order this stuff. If someone from Claw found out…well aside from her friends…then everyone would know. People liked her a lot at Claw and they were always interested in her life and stuff…and she didn't want anyone she had to work with to know…or anyone at all! This was….it was bad enough that her friends knew….and her family…anyone else would have just been too much. Way too much. The most too much.

Really the most too much.

"Minegishi…can you just get me what I need and then I wait in the candy aisle?" asked Mob. This was…a little bit too much. A lot bit too much. She loved Minegishi, and she loved not being in the middle of bleeding to death, but…there were other people around. Strangers but still people….and they could see her. She felt like everyone was looking at her…and if they were all looking at her then they all knew…and she didn't want anyone to know! Even if this was normal and natural and…and it meant that she was growing up and she could have babies…people did not need to know about this!

"Nope. You've got to learn about all of this, Mob, because one day I won't be here with you." Said Minegishi

"But…where will you be? You said that we would be friends forever and….and we're always together….so where will you be?" asked Mob

"Mob, I'm seventeen years older than you. At some point I'm going to die and then what? You're going to hold a séance every time you need a new box of tampons?" asked Minegishi

"Minegishi! Not so loud…people can hear you!" said Mob. She looked around. There were people and…and they were all doing their own things. There was a lady reading boxes and another lady on her phone and also a kid her age with her hood up and sunglasses…and she had the right idea. Mob should have worn a disguise. Then maybe if someone saw her they wouldn't be able to recognize her later.

"Mob, don't be like that. Everyone standing here in this aisle is here for the same reason. Everyone gets their period eventually. There's no point in being embarrassed and if someone does try and make you feel bad about this then you are fully within your rights to tell them to go fuck themselves sideways with a rusty butter knife." Said Minegishi. They knew that they were getting looks now…and couldn't people just kind their own business? This was a free country, until all of Suzuki's dreams came true, and they could curse if they felt like it.

"Minegishi! Don't….I don't want people to know about this…" said Mob. She held her hair down with her hands. Control. She was out in the world with normal people and that meant controlling her powers…and usually she was good at that…but this was just….people KNEW. They could tell. They could tell just by looking at her. Why did it all have to be in one aisle? And with such a great big sign? When dad took over the world she was taking the sign off the period stuff aisle….and then also the rest of the aisles. If she just took the sign off of the period stuff aisle then everyone would know that period stuff was in the aisle with no sign. Therefore she just had to take all of the signs of all of the aisles….wait…no…that might end up just being confusing….

She'd figure this out eventually.

She'd figure all of this out eventually. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to be standing here with a basket on her arm just waiting to be filled with…things. Things she didn't want to have. Well she sort of did, bleeding on everything was gross and uncomfortable, but also she just…wished that she hadn't needed any of this stuff in the first place. She wanted to just…fall through a wormhole so she could be ten again. Ten or nine or eight or….any age but eleven. Eleven was the worst. Eleven was when…this stuff…happened to you. She used to think that growing up wasn't so bad. You got to do whatever you wanted whenever you wanted it…but she could do all of that as a kid. As a ten year old. She could do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted when she had been ten….

And also she hadn't had to deal with…any of this.

"Mob, nobody cares. Everyone here is in the same boat you are. Hell. In a little bit I'm going to be in the same boat you are and, let me tell you, I am not looking forward to that. This is just an unpleasant fact of life that we all have to deal with eventually." Said Minegishi, They knew that they sounded all dour or whatever but…well they were not one of those crunchy granola types. It was blood and tissue. It came out of you once a month. It sucked. There.

"Ok…but…how do you stop…feeling like everyone knows? I mean…like everyone is watching you and they know…and stuff." Said Mob. Minegishi might have just…not cared what anyone else thought. They were like that. People were looking at them, probably because they looked like a boy who had wandered into this aisle by mistake, but they just didn't seem to care. Minegishi had said that one day Mob would stop giving an F-word about what people thought….and Mob could not wait for that day to come.

"I stopped giving a damn a long time ago. The girls in the group home were both merciless and stupid beyond belief. At first I cared that they were teasing me, back when I first started and I hadn't gotten the hang of those cheap group home pads, but then when I was about thirteen I just stopped giving a fuck. That was my second to last growth spurt, too, so…yeah. At that point people knew better than to tease me…and nobody's going to tease you, ok? If they do then they'll have me to deal with." Said Minegishi

"You'd hurt people who teased me?" said Mob. She…didn't want that. Nobody teased her, well not like school stuff Fukuda was mean but he was Fukuda, and Mob…did not want her best friend to hurt anyone on her behalf…or at all. That would have been terrible.

"You know that I would." Said Minegishi simply. Mob…at some point she would have to learn what they were, what they did for a living, but now….now was not the time. Now was not the time at all. She'd already had one shock to her system. She did not need two. One day but not today.

"Um…maybe don't hurt anyone and…and um…I guess what you're saying makes sense…but I still feel like we should have worn disguises." Said Mob

"Ok, fine, next time we'll wear trench coats and sunglasses too on the off chance that somebody we know recognizes us. Deal?" asked Minegishi

"Deal." Said Mob. Those sounded like good disguises…but maybe they should have worn wigs, too, since Minegishi had very distinctive hair.

"Ok, now come on. I'm not exactly over the moon to be here myself, you know." Said Minegishi. They were tired, they were hungry, they had a vague sense that they were being watched…but not in a stalker way….more in a 'Mob's ten year old brother saw them naked' sort of way. They wanted to go home…but also not…and also they just…they wanted to be here for Mob so this was where they would be. Here for Mob.

"But…if you don't want to be here and I don't want to be here then…why are we both here?" asked Mob. Didn't they have this stuff on Amazon? They should try Amazon. Amazon had everything and they could even deliver with tiny helicopters now. Amazon was good. Nobody else was there and also…um…they might have had more stuff…and also the stuff was in boxes so that nobody knew what you were getting.

"Because free bleeding is best left to the crunchy granola types now pay attention." Said Minegishi with a shake of their head. They could not even imagine what that had been like for Mob. She had been sitting in her own blood for days, her own filth, because she had been too embarrassed….and Minegishi should have known that something was up when Mob had started wearing pants. She hated pants. It was the beginning of September and she had been wearing layers upon layers upon layers…in the Tokyo heat and humidity…..God. Poor Mob.

"What am I paying attention to? They all look…why don't we just buy them all? I have this much money." Said Mob. She opened up her Elsa bad and showed Minegishi all the cash that she had managed to stuff into it. Minegishi reached over and zipped her bag for her.

"Mob, for someone trying to keep a low profile you sure do like advertising the fact that you're carrying millions of yen on you." Said Minegishi as they closed her bag for them. This wasn't a bad area but, yeah, it was never a good idea to advertise that you were fabulously wealthy.

"Dad says that cash is best because it's untraceable….and I don't want people knowing that I'm buying this stuff anyway. I mean I know that this happens to everyone, even you, but…I don't want people to know that I…need this stuff…and that's why I think that we should just buy everything and leave." Said Mob. That would have been best. The longer that they were there for the more likely it was that people would notice…and a bunch of people had already noticed….which meant that they knew already. She just….she wished that she had known about all of this, the blood, before…before she had thought that she was dying…and also everyone found out….

"You don't want people to know that you're on your period so your solution….is to buy out the whole aisle? Mob, this is why I'm in charge…now pay attention. This is Japan and here, thankfully, they put the length on the front. Since this is your first time we're just going to, like you said, get one of everything…but not light days because those are crap." Said Minegishi

"OK….but I think that we're going to need a bigger basket….because there are so many different kinds." Said Mob as she took in the whole aisle. It seemed to stretch for an eternity…and there were so many boxes….and she had no idea where there were so many kinds…couldn't they just invent one that you wore for the whole week? That would have been much more convenient….and much simpler, too.

"There are a million brands, you're right, but you're going to want to stick to the good ones…and don't just get the kind with the cool packaging. Look for length and absorbency…and wings! Always wings. Always check the front before you buy." Said Minegishi. Mob had a point about there being too many fucking brands. Just make one good brand in one perfect length and absorbency…for them. Everyone else, everyone who wasn't Mob, well they could go out and collect sea sponges or something. They had felt, back when they had first been on their own, as lost as Mob. Back in the group home there had been one brand, in one absorbency, and one length. That had been it. One kind of napkin and tampons…forget about it. They knew how dizzying it could be and they did not blame Mob for staring wide eyed at everything.

"…is that box of Hello Kitty ones any good?" asked Mob as she pointed down to the display at the end. She had liked Hello Kitty a lot when she had been little….and it was weird seeing her on something that was most certainly not for little people…but seeing here there felt…well nice. Like…sort of like seeing an old friend…not that Mob had any old friends…but seeing her there was just…it was nice.

"I have no clue but grab some anyway. What works for me might not work for you so…I guess go crazy like you said." Said Minegishi. Truth be told those looked like the crappiest pads they had ever seen. Overpriced, for one thing, and cheap looking….but money flowed free as the air for Mob and….well she was eleven. She should have been allowed to take whatever joy she could get out of this.

Minegishi would make sure that she got some boring but functional ones, too.

"These don't have the wing things at the sides but they're long and regular….is that good? Oh, and they're thin, too, if that means anything." Said Mob as she came back to Minegishi with her basket full. That…hadn't been so bad….not really. She had gone there and come back and….and she was fine. She didn't know what she had been expecting to happen but she was fine now.

"You did good, Mob, thin is good. You don't want thick, believe me, you want to go as thin as possible." Said Minegishi. They shuddered at the memory of the mattresses they had been forced to wear when they had been her age…thank God technology had come so far….and thank God that Mob had more money than she knew what to do it because this was not the place to be cheaping out.

"Will the thin ones feel less like wearing a diaper? Because it feels like I'm wearing a diaper." Said Mob. She shifted in place. The pants that she had borrowed from Sho didn't help matters. She hated pants but she only had white tights and Minegishi said that this was not the time to be wearing just a dress or a skirt…and also everything that she owned was in bright colors so clothes shopping would be coming next…and she wished that clothes shopping had come first because she hated all pants but Sho's pants were too short, and also these were black jeans, and it was September outside. This was not the season to be wearing black jeans.

"It's a little better but, honestly, unless you go the tampon route it's going to feel like a diaper no matter what." Said Minegishi. She was only eleven but….well napkins were the worst. They were messy and hot and itchy and it felt like you were wearing a diaper, like Mob had said. Tampons weren't a big deal, not really, but Mob was a kid and this was her body. Her body her choice.

"….I don't want those." Said Mob shaking her head. Nope. She was just now ok with the blood…she did not need to try…one of those…things. Nope. Minegishi could have them all. The whole world's supply.

"You sure? They make smaller ones…also they make cups and sponges too." Said Minegishi. They didn't want to see Mob miserable…and she would be miserable. They weren't going to make her do anything she didn't want to do but she at least needed to be aware of her options. Cups were great, aside from the boiling, but that was better than a sea sponge that collected germs all day and you could never get truly clean.

"…does all of that go…inside?" asked Mob. She wasn't Minegishi's age, she was her age, and she was not ready for…all of that. She had just now heard that there even WAS an inside and…and that seemed more like stuff for adults…and she was not one. Minegishi had told her that she would be hearing some stuff about how she's a woman now but that wasn't true. She was eleven still. She was the same person that she had been last week….she just had a lot of blood. That was all.

"Yes….but it's not that bad. Cups are pretty much these silicon cups, like the name says, and they last a while. Sponges are pretty comfortable but you have to disinfect them constantly and nobody has time for that." Said Minegishi

"….I'm happy with the diapers." Said Mob. Nope. She didn't want that, she didn't need that, and she would gladly spend the rest of her life in actual diapers if it meant that she didn't have to wear any of that inside type stuff.

"Don't say diapers…and don't try adult diapers either….or band aids….or paper towels." Said Minegishi with a shake of their head. Mob had been using toilet paper as ersatz pads already and…and that was what this shopping trip was for. This was the twenty first century. They had actual hygiene technology…not…paper towels and band aids…and they still had no clue what Fukuda had been thinking….if he had even been thinking at all.

"I…didn't know that they made adult diapers…and also…why would I try band aids? And also…well I tried toilet paper but I didn't try paper towels because you can't flush those and I didn't want to have to explain why there were bloody paper towels in the trash." Said Mob. Minegishi looked at her for a while before pulling her into a one armed hugged. It would have been a two armed hug if they hadn't both been carrying baskets. Mob didn't know why she had been getting so many hugs lately, she knew that she wasn't dying and Minegishi had said that this whole thing was perfectly normal, but she wasn't going to complain.

"I'm sorry that I let this happen to you." Said Minegishi as they pulled Mob into a hug. She had been scared…for days…she had been scared out of her mind. She had been bleeding and she hadn't known why. She had been sitting there thinking that she was dying….and Minegishi hadn't been there. Mob wasn't their kid but…well they were still responsible for her…and they never should have let that happen to her.

"You didn't let this happen to me. You said that this was going to happen to me no matter what." Said Mob. They had said that a bunch of times already, that they were sorry that they had let this happen, but they had also told her that this was an unavoidable fact of life…so these were some very mixed messages.

"I should have warned you about this and….well I'm sorry. Anyway come on, you've plenty of daytime, that's the sun, but not a lot of nighttime, that's the moon….but I guess that you could have figured that out on your own. Anyway, here. This is a good brand. No bleach, scent free, and never get the scented kind. Trust me, you do not want to deal with what happens when you get the scented kind." Said Minegishi. They patted Mob on the head and then went back to teaching her what they should have taught her years ago. Well not years but…well they hadn't seen this coming…well they had and they hadn't. She really wasn't much younger than they had been and…and they were never going to stop kicking themselves for dropping the ball on this one. They were going to ruminate on this for the rest of their life.

Which was better than ruminating on…other things.

Like the fact that her little brother had KICKED IN THEIR DOOR while they were NAKED. That little monster should have been grateful that they had only been cuddling/sleeping with Ryou and not in the middle of anything…or there would have been two Suzuki's that needed un-traumatizing. That little demon child…well he had been afraid for his sister's life…and technically he had done the only thing he could do and gotten the only functional adult that he knew…because his father was useless…and their healer was useless and just…this was just a shit show on every side but Mob's and there was no point on ruminating on what happened….or worrying about how they were going to go back to that house when Mob's little brother had kicked in their door and exposed their naked….self….to the entire house….no. They weren't going to think about all of that.

They were going to focus on Mob.

"Ok. I can find ones without scents or bleach…and ones with the moon….but then we can go." Said Mob. This wasn't so hard. She still felt like she was being watched but…at least it was only girls here. It was only girls and everyone was in the same boat, like Minegishi had said, so this was…ok. Maybe when she grew up and helped dad rule the world she would leave the signs up on the aisles….but no boys allowed, though, not only in the aisles but in the whole store. That would be a good compromise. Boys…they were so lucky that nothing happened to them, well Minegishi had said that something happened to them but nothing as bad as this, and therefore they could not know about this…and also she had no idea how she was supposed to go home….

Dad and Sho both knew…

Well Sho…she would have to tell Sho that she wasn't hurt or dying…and also she would have to explain to dad that she wasn't hurt or dying….well he knew. He was the one who had shouted through the door and…and maybe he should have known about the blood and warned her but….well he was a boy and nothing happened to them. He hadn't seen Mom in years so he probably forgot all about it…and mom had been good at hiding it, Mob had never noticed any of this stuff in any of the bathrooms and mom had never had blood on her clothes, so of course dad wouldn't have known…and Fukuda didn't know anything, either, because he had never had a girlfriend. No, he thought like dad did, that organs had exploded or something, and that was…she wouldn't be telling him anything. She didn't want to talk to him and….and even just the thought of talking to him made her mad…

She had been mad a lot lately.

But she was controlling it. Minegishi said that she was be very mad, or very sad, or both for a while. They had said that it was normal and that she was allowed to yell at people now. She would control being mad, and also she would smoke and drink so she wouldn't get mad, because she just…hated being mad. It wasn't a good feeling. It was…the worst…and she may have been bleeding and achy and sleepy and hungry but…being angry would have been the worst feeling ever even worse than that…

Also the person that she was mad at wasn't there anyway.

She got mad at mom sometimes. She got mad at mom for running away. She got mad at mom for leaving without even a note or…or something that said that she was still alive. She hated getting mad at mom but…well now she was just…mad. Mom…Minegishi had said that the blood meant that she could have a baby….and mom'd had her and Sho so this had happened to her…but she hadn't thought to warn her about this. She hadn't thought to…to take her to a store and just…explain all the stuff to her. To tell her that, no, she hadn't been dying but instead it was just her body telling her that she would be able to have babies and that she would get taller and her voice would get deeper and her breasts would get bigger and that was called puberty….and mom…she hadn't thought to tell her anything and…and Mob was….

Mad.

Mom hadn't thought about her. She had just…well Mob was not a mind reader. She had no idea what was going through her mom's head when she left but…but she could have at least taken one day to teach Mob about the blood and what it meant and….and what she could do about it. She could have done something other than…than nothing. She could have just…maybe even left a letter….or a text…or just a sticky note stuck to the fridge…or something. Just…just to tell her that…that this would happen to her and…and now she was getting mad…but she should have been.

She didn't need mom.

She had people in her life who loved her…and she'd had a mom…and she would always have a mom…but also mom was gone. She was gone and….and Mob had Minegishi to teach her stuff. They weren't like a mom. They let her drink and smoke and didn't have power over her, but Mob didn't want another mom, but she did want a friend…and Minegishi was the best friend that she had ever had. They had always been there for her when she needed it. Even when she did dumb stuff like the time she ate one of their Xanax on accident or the time she tried to walk home in the middle of the night after the Christmas party…and now. They were tired, she could see dark circles under their eyes, and they were shaking a little too. Their hands shook a little when something happened to make them all shook…and something had happened to them but…but here they were. With her. They were here and they would always be there and…and they were even better than mom….

Mom would never have done this, taken her down aisle 8A to show her what she needed to know, but that was fine. She had Minegishi and having a best friend was better than having a mom.