This was a good idea.
This was a good idea that Mob had…that Minori had given Mob. Minori had been the one to have this idea…but she knew about these things. Boy things. Relationship things. Grown up things…and it was a grown up thing. Being with someone. Asking someone if they wanted to be with you. Minori had done it before. She had a boy she did kissing stuff with and….and she had done that kind of stuff with boys before…so she knew what she was doing. She knew what she was doing and….and Mob REALLY did not know what she was doing.
She really didn't.
She had never done this before. Well not this, she had sat next to Hatori and hung out with him a million times before, but she had never….well done what she was planning to do. She was going to ask him if he liked her. That was…something that she was going to do. Maybe. Possibly. Maybe. Hopefully. Maybe. No way. Maybe…she didn't know. She just didn't know. She had….she had wanted to be his girlfriend for a long time. Well she had wanted on and off to be his girlfriend…and this was one of those 'on' times. This was….she liked him. He hadn't done anything to make her not like him, he had stopped liking Minegishi and he hadn't dank and done anything…not good…ok, so she liked him now. She liked him and…and he might have liked her.
She didn't know.
She knew that he was nice to her. He had pulled up a chair for her and offered her Doritos and Monster, she didn't take either, and he had promised her a bunch of turns too. She didn't really want a turn, this was one of those games where you killed people, but she did…she did like the fact that he had offered her a turn. That was good. If she had to be with someone she should have been with someone who let her have turns…and shared with her. Also he had let her have the comfy chair and he was sitting at a kitchen chair, so he had thought about her, and that was good. If she was going to have a boyfriend then he should have thought about her. Also….also he thought about her a lot. Like now, he was wearing pants even though it was late at night, close to his bedtime, and he had done that for her…and she was happy about that. She wanted to hold his hand and kiss him, and maybe once they'd been together for a while he could feel her up because older boys liked that according to Minori, but she wasn't ready for…any of that other stuff….
But she did want to kiss him.
Even now she wanted to kiss him. His teeth were orange, he'd been eating a lot of Doritos, but she still wanted to kiss him. He was…he was really…Hatori. Even with his teeth and fingers being orange she just…she liked looking at him. She liked looking at him and if he were to turn around and tell her that he wanted to kiss her then she would have let him. She was wearing really nice lip gloss, it was bubblegum flavored, in case he did want to kiss her. Minori said that older boys were great because they weren't afraid to kiss and that was why flavored lip gloss was important. Minori knew a lot about these things.
She knew a lot more than Mob did.
She had told Mob what to do. She had to be alone with Hatori with none of their other friends around. They were in his room all alone together. It was late and most of the house was asleep. Minegishi was sleeping, which was good because they would have tried to stop her, and so was Shibata. He wouldn't have tried to stop her, he said yes to everything even making middle of the night cakes. Shimazaki wouldn't have stopped her either. He was awake but taking one of his baths which were just an excuse to sing and drink in the tub. Everyone was busy, nobody was going to try and talk her out of this, and she was not going to talk herself out of this either.
Even though Minegishi had said that this was a bad idea.
Well not THIS specifically. They had told her not to listen to Minori but they hadn't told her to get out of Hatori's room and go home. No, they had just told her not to listen to Minori because they thought that she didn't know what she was talking about. Well she did. She had told Mob that they had to do everything together and…and also she had told Mob to wear her shorest skirt and he tightest shirt, and to do her makeup so she didn't look sick, and also…also she had told Mob that she could do this. That was she capable of…of having someone like her. Well like her enough to kiss her. Minegishi always told her that Hatori couldn't like her. That it was a bad idea because he was so old and stuff. Minori had said that older boys were the best kind of boys…and maybe she hadn't been talking about boys as old as Hatori but…
Nine years wasn't that much older than her.
Ten years would have been much too old, Mob decided, because then he would have been old enough to be her dad…well no, that wasn't right…but ten years was much too much of an age gap. Nine was ok because…because it was still in the single digits and…and she just….she really liked him! Sure he could be loud and messy and it had taken him a while to get the hang out doing laundry and also he used to have a crush on Minegishi but…but he was still Hatori. He was Hatori and…and he had asked her to go to the comics thing with him which was probably a date…and also he was hanging out with her right now…..and he was being nice to her…
So, of course, he must have liked her…maybe….possibly….
"You sure that you don't want any Doritos, Mob? Last call." Said Hatori shaking the bag of Doritos in her direction. His eyes never left the screen. He could play with just his powers, which was so cool, and she decided that she liked that about him, too. She liked how he had cool powers and…and also how he thought about her…and even the way his fingers were orange sticky. They were cute…he was cute…and nice…
He was really cute and nice.
"No thank you….but thank you for asking. It means a lot that you…think of me…and stuff." Said Mob. She looked down and played with the bottom of her shirt. This was a pink one, Minori said to wear pink and purple because those were the colors she looked best in, and it didn't fit that well anymore. Neither did her skirt. Minori said to wear stuff that was short and tight so that he would want to kiss her and stuff because that was just how boy's brains worked. She knew a lot about this kind of stuff….and Mob wished that she knew as much as she did….
But it was nice to have someone there to teach her.
Mob was tired of nobody teaching her things. Nobody had told her about her period or about any of the other things about growing up…but at least she had someone to tell her about this. Minegishi didn't tell her anything besides that this was a bad idea…but it might have just seemed like a bad idea to them because they didn't like relationships. They had been dumped before and they were worried about that happening to Mob, probably, and also…well they just did not like relationships. They had said so and that was why it had taken them so long to get into a relationship with Shimazaki even though he had liked them for years and years. Mob…she knew that Minegishi had been through a lot but they were an entirely different person than her and their life was different than her life….
And also Hatori didn't seem like the sort of person who would have dumped her.
"Well I try. Anyway are you sure that you don't want a turn? Or we could play something else if you want. I'm almost done here, I just have a title to defend. We can play Animal Crossing if you want. Sho said that you redid your house." Said Hatori
"I…I did…but um….we can play what you want. I can like the things that you like. That's…important." Said Mob. If this relationship was going to work out, or even become a relationship in the first place, they would have to have things in common. Dad had said that one day she would find her most perfect person and…and she would also be someone's most perfect person…and Hatori seemed like he would be a good candidate for her most perfect person. He was nice and thoughtful and a very good friend…and also she wanted to be his most perfect person so that meant that they would have to have things in common. She didn't really like violent games, she always felt sort of bad for the people in them even though they weren't real, but she could try for him. If it meant that he would like her.
"That's true but we can do things that you want too. You're the kid after all." said Hatori. Kid. She was a kid…but she was…well she was and she wasn't. She knew that if he kept on seeing her as a kid then…then they would never get anywhere….and she wanted to get somewhere. They were…they were friends and she wanted to become something else. Something past friends and…and she would never be able to if they stayed as just friends…as just a friend and a kid.
"You're my friend and you can pick too. I mean I'm younger but I'm not a little kid. We're friends and…and friends take turns picking things. When you're friends with someone then…then things are…equal. When you're more than friends too." Said Mob. She felt herself getting warm…and she knew that it was not the heat. The air conditioning was on and it was actually kind of cold in there, especially since she was dressed the way she was, it was her own….self…that caused it.
"Yeah, friendship goes both ways but I know how you are about violent games. Oh! Hey, do you know what a Vectrex is? Because I found these emulators of-" said Hatori. No, no, no, he was talking about games now. Once he started talking about games it was almost impossible to get him to stop…he was like dad in that way…and she wanted….she wanted him to just….not talk about games right now. She was not dad and…and she didn't…
She didn't want to be dad's most perfect person!
She loved her dad, she really did, but she did not want to be his most perfect person. She knew that he thought that she was perfect, he told her all the time, and she knew that she should have been happy but…but she just…she wanted to be Hatori's most perfect person! She wanted him to like her and…and it was ok if he liked her….because he might have liked girls too…and also it was ok for him to like her because dad liked him…because he and dad were so alike and…and….and….
And she would rather have spent her whole life with Hatori than with dad!
"Do you like me?" asked Mob quickly. She had to say it and she had to say it fast. Minori said that the girl had to be the one to ask the boy because boys were stupid. Well Mob didn't think that Hatori was stupid, she thought that he was really smart actually, and she just….she was tired of…of not knowing. She had liked him since the moment she saw him and…and she had started to like him even more as she got to know him…and Minori had said that he probably liked her…
Boys did not hang out with girls they didn't like, she had said.
Hatori was a boy and he hung out with her. He was older than her but less than ten years…and dad had said that she and Hatori were both kids, practically the same age even, so…so maybe Hatori did like her. Maybe…he had taken her and only her to the comics thing…and he had held her hand there too. Boys did not just take random girls places and hold their hands. Minori had said so. Minegishi had said that Minori didn't know what she was talking about, that eleven year old should not have taken life advice from other elven year olds, but…well Minori was closer to her age than Minegishi's and Minegishi was an adult and thought like an adult…and Mob was a kid…kidult…and she thought like a kidult. So did Hatori. He could be such a kid sometimes. He was fragile, well Sho called him a scaredy cat, and also he liked games and he ate more junk food than normal food…and just…she liked him and she was pretty sure that he liked her too!
Minori had said that he probably did.
"Wha-yeah, of course I like you. You're like a little sister to me." Said Hatori. He rubbed the back of his head as he said that. He was so…Hatori…when he did that. She looked at him. She watched him. His sweater was riding up over his stomach, his aura was stuck in his computer, and he was smiling and closing his eyes and…and he was just…
He didn't get it.
"No, I mean…do you like me?" asked Mob. He hadn't understood what she had meant…but that was ok. He could be just as clueless as she was and that was ok. Sometimes people were just…clueless about stuff. That was fine. That was something that they had in common…which was more evidence that he might have liked her. People liked people who they had things in common with after all.
"I like you. You know I do little sister-sama. If this is about that party that we threw believe me nobody wanted to embarrass you. Shibata just…really likes throwing parties. Well actually your brother, God he is just like your dad sometimes, he's the one who-" said Hatori. No. She did not want to talk about dad and…and about Sho either…or that day. She just…she did not want to be called little sister. She was not his little sister…and he just…he had to stop calling her that. She wasn't little. She was eleven and eleven was not little…and also she wasn't his sister. That would have been really weird.
"No….I mean….you know that I'm not actually your sister, right? Like…you know that my dad isn't your dad, right? And my mom isn't your mom? And my brother isn't your brother?" asked Mob. He was always calling her that, well he had called her that when she was little, but she was not little. He was so much older than her…but not so much. Ten years was a long time but nine…nine wasn't so long. Nine was good and….and Hatori did not….he did not need to think of her as a little kid.
Because she was not a little kid anymore.
She was older now…and maybe Minegishi had been wrong. Maybe she was old enough for him. She didn't like to be…to have…everyone call her a kid. Think of her as a kid. She was not a kid and….and she was eleven…but she was just….she was not a little kid anymore!
She was eleven, not one, and she just…she liked him a lot!
"Oh, I get. Mob, don't worry. I'm not trying to insert myself into your family. I'm just…the guy your dad hangs out with when he's feeling lonely and doesn't want to admit it, that's all. Lonely for adult company, I mean." Said Hatori. Mob shook her head. She did not want to talk about dad. She did not want to think about dad. She did not want to think about how dad was always talking about how he would never leave her and how they would be together all the time and how he would help her take care of her kids and…
And she would rather have had Hatori for that stuff….
But he just…he didn't get it. Mob…this was ok. She didn't get it. She didn't get what she was doing wrong. Maybe she was being direct. Minori had said that when it came to boys you had to be direct…but also not too direct because they didn't like that…and she wished that she had been listening more closely or…or recorded it when Minori explained the sweet spot for telling a boy you liked him….
This was complicated…and she needed to make it simple. For both of their sakes.
"Hatori….just….I like you. I like you a lot and…and I want to be your….your girlfriend!" said Mob. She wanted to run and hide. She had never said that to any boy before in her life and…and she just…this was ok. Hatori hadn't said 'ew' and run away…well of course he wouldn't have he was older than she was and they were not kids anymore, but he just…wasn't making words. He was making sounds but not words.
"Wh-what…..?" asked Hatori. He was red and…and he was breathing hard…and so was she. She felt like she had spent the whole day chasing after Sho….and he ran fast…and just…she knew that she looked dumb but…well he would never think of her as dumb. He was Hatori and…and also he looked like her…like he was just as nervous as she was.
"It's ok if you don't like me back but…but I like you. I like you a lot and I've liked you, well on and off, for a while and I want to be your girlfriend." Said Mob. She looked at him…and he was looking at her. That was good. His eyes were big and brown and so pretty….and she had never noticed how pretty his eyes were…but they were and…and she hoped that he thought that her eyes were pretty too. She had made an effort….and she wanted nothing more than for him to hold her hand and tell her that she was pretty….
But he was just staring at her…and then he laughed….for some reason.
"Mob…who put you up to this? Was it Shimazaki?" asked Hatori. He laughed but his aura did not feel like he was laughing. Mob shook her head. Nobody put her up to this, these were her feelings, but this was ok. Minori had said that boys like Hatori weren't used to girls who liked them like that. That was a good thing, well not really because should have been nice to him, but Minori had said that it was good because then he wouldn't say 'no' to her…and she didn't want him to say no….
Well she didn't want him to agree to anything that he didn't want to do.
But she didn't want him to say no. She had seen Sho say no to girls. There was a lot of yelling and running away. She didn't want Hatori to yell at her…and he was good at running away….but she didn't want him to do that. She knew how boys could be…well that had been back when she and Sho had been little…and also those girls had played catch and kiss….and as much as Mob liked Hatori she didn't have it in her to catch and kiss him…
Also she was eleven and she was much too old for that.
"No, nobody put me up to this…well my friend Minori said that….well ok. So she says that I'm her best friend and because we're best friends we have to do everything together and she has a friend with benefits, that's like what Shimazaki and Minegishi were before they became boyfriend and theyfriend, and then so, anyway, she said that I needed to find someone and…and I like you a lot. I like you a lot and I know that I'm younger than you but you can kiss me and-" said Mob. She just…talked. Minori had said that telling him how she felt would have been hard…and it was…but also…also she just…she was tired of keeping those feelings inside! Just…he was great and she just…she was tired of not knowing! If he said yes then he would…well he would hold her and kiss her…and also…also they could spend their whole lives together. That would be great. It would just be her and Hatori and dad…and Hatori was dad's friend so they would get along…and she wouldn't have to be alone with dad for the rest of her life. Yes. Hatori was…he was great. He was great and…and he was…well he was very red…but that was ok. So was she.
Which meant that it was a good sign…right?
"Oh my God…..oh my God…" said Hatori. He was breathing funny, now, really deep and fast…and his aura was acting like it was trying to run away. She could feel it jumping from his computer to his phone to her phone to her DS to the lights and then back again. His aura was running around, darting around, sort of like hers was…and maybe he was just as nervous as she was. She was nervous and…and if he was nervous too then…then he must have liked her back…because then otherwise why would he had been that nervous? If he hadn't liked her back then…well then he would have told her that he didn't feel the same way….and then she would have had to go outside, dig a hole, and then live in it until either she or Hatori died.
"Um….and stuff….well not all of the stuff because I don't really want to do that right but I do want to be your girlfriend and…well I can't be your girlfriend until Minori gets a boyfriend but I can kiss you and hold your hand and stuff. So….yeah. I like you." Said Mob. She took a chance and…well Minori said that boys liked it when you took their hands…so that was what she did. She put her hand over Hatori's. He was sweaty and shaky and cold…and she didn't know why. She knew that he got like this when he was scared but…but maybe he was just…scared because he liked her and no girl had ever confessed to him before…or something.
"I…am going to die." Said Hatori. He was breathing heavy and…and maybe that was good. She felt like she was going to die, too, like her heart was going to explode. Like the time that she drank a whole pot of coffee on her own. She felt like she was going to die…but in a good way. Like…like this was….the best thing ever…or something….
"Yes, I feel like that too. Minori says that that's normal and-" said Mob. She tried to lace her fingers in his. That was…something that she had wanted for so long….and for a moment their fingers were laced. So what if his hand was cold and sweaty? So what if he was shaking? She was shaking too. Sometimes you just shook…but in a good way…and it was the best….this was everything that she had ever imagined…
But then it wasn't.
"I have to go to the bathroom." Said Hatori. He yanked his hand out of hers and then ran away. She kept her hand, there, where his had been. She just…she could feel his sweat on her hand and….and she was just…she didn't know what was even happening anymore. She got the feeling that…that maybe she had just…
Well dad would have called it miscalculating….
"But Shimazaki is in there and….ok. I'll just….be here….I guess." Said Mob. Hatori had long since run out of the room. She could hear him banging on the bathroom door. She took a deep breath…and his pyramid of energy drink cans fell apart. That had been her powers. She ruined his pyramid and…and also his bed was standing up against the wall…and now his blinds were opening and closing and…and she needed to calm down…she needed to calm down and just…get her powers under control…
But she couldn't.
She heard the door open…and that meant that Shimazaki had let him in the bathroom….and that meant that Hatori either REALLY had to go to the bathroom….or he was hiding. He might have been hiding since she hadn't felt Shimazaki teleport anywhere. That meant that they were just hanging out together…and talking. She could hear them talking and…and maybe…maybe she had done something wrong….
Maybe she had miscalculated.
Maybe Minegishi had been right. She felt…she felt their aura. They were still asleep and…and she wanted to run to their room. She wanted to run to their room and jump under their covers and stick to them like glue. When she was with them they kept her safe….and she felt like she needed to be safe. Even though she knew that she wasn't in danger…well she just…she was a danger to herself. Dad had told Sho, before, that he was a danger to himself. Dad always said that when Sho did something dangerous like climb onto the roof or ride a cardboard box down the stairs…and then there had been the inside game of lawn darts…and Mob hadn't done anything like that…anything dangerous….
But she had been kind of…not very smart…..at all.
"She said what?!" said Shimazaki. Mob covered her ears. She could hear them talking…..and they were talking about her and…and she wanted to run. She wanted to hide. She wanted to just…dig a hole and live in it. She wanted to become an underground person and….and just…never have to see or hear from anyone ever again! She should have listened to Minegishi. They knew everything. They were smart. They may have been older, and they didn't like relationships, but she just….she should have listened to Minegishi!
She really should have.
They were her real best friend or…well not real but…but her bestest best friend…or something. She didn't know. Her smartest best friend. The one who didn't tell her to do stuff….that just…she couldn't believe that she had been stupid enough to try! She just….she had just wanted to be with him…or maybe just any boy and…and she just…he was the only boy that she knew! He was the only boy close to her age that she knew and…and also he was just….he was so nice to her and…and she just….she just….
If she moved she knew that she would explode.
So she didn't move. She stayed still. She stayed so still that she didn't even shake. At least Hatori had let her have the nice chair and…and he was so nice to her…and he would never be nice to her again. She had messed up their entire friendship. She never should have tried to be anything other than his little friend….his little sister….just…she didn't feel like she was too little but…but…but he didn't even like her so…so…so….
So she had messed up.
She felt the energy around her shift. Shimazaki was teleporting past her. She knew where he was going. He was going to tell Minegishi and…and it was a thing that of course he would have done. She knew that they had a real relationship…like she would never have and…and she should have waited until she was an adult like Minegishi had said. Even though…even though by the time she was an adult dad would make her spend her life with him…and maybe that was for the best…because at least if she spent her life with her dad she would never have the chance to embarrass herself like this ever again….
And the embarrassment just kept going.
"Ryou….put your clothes back on. I'm not in the mood." Said Minegishi. They shared a wall with Hatori. It was their room in between Shimazaki's and Hatori's…and Mob wished that Shimazaki had just gone to his own room….because she just…Minegishi could not know about this! They would just tell Mob something like 'I told you so' and then…and then she would just…and then everyone would just…she just…
She wanted time to stop!
But it didn't.
"Mob did what!?" asked Minegishi. Mob…she tried to move…but that just made…it made the whole house shake…and that had not been the thing to do. As the house shook she could feel Shibata falling out of bed…well couch…and she could hear Hatori do that little yelpy scream he did…and then Shimazaki laughed…and he didn't stop and…and she had no idea what to do. She just…there was no way to teleport. She had tried it, before, and she hadn't been able to figure it out…but now she wished that she had put more effort into learning how to teleport…..
Because she really would have rather have been anywhere else, in the whole world, than right there in Hatori's room…with Minegishi getting closer….
"….never you mind what's happening…..Hatori out of the bathroom…..deal with this…." said Minegishi as they got closer. Mob…she watched the door. She stared at the door. She stared at the door and…and Hatori had opened it so hard that it swung shut…mostly. She could feel the house shaking as Shibata walked past….and he was knocking on the door trying to get Hatori out…and she hoped that Hatori spent the rest of his life in the bathroom…and she knew that she was being mean but….
But she just…did not want anyone else to know…how dumb she had been….
She was still being dumb. She should have just…just run away. Just crawled out the window…or something…and run away. She just….she just wanted to just…to just…she just wanted to teleport away or disappear or…or just…turn back time…she didn't know. She didn't know what she could do or what she couldn't do but….but she knew that anything would have been better than what was happening right now.
Anything would have been better than having Minegishi open that door.
"H-hi…." Said Mob. She knew that she had to find words. Especially because Minegishi wasn't saying words. They were just looking at her. They had red eyes, a bed head, and they only had one sock on. They had been asleep and Mob had ruined their sleep…and she really hoped that all Minegishi had to say was that Mob should not have disturbed their sleep. Maybe Minegishi would just…be too tired to even remember what they had come into Hatori's room to tell her….
Mob would not be that lucky.
"Hi….ok then. Mob, tell me, which one of you is high right now?" Said Minegishi. Mob…well she hadn't meant it like that. She wasn't high on anything. Smoking felt sort of…not the same…since she and dad had smoked. The whole thing had been weird and she needed a break and…and stuff. She would not have been high when she made a confession anyway. That would have been a bad idea, Minori had said, because boys needed to know that you meant it.
"Um…what do you mean? I mean….what do you mean?" asked Mob. She wondered if she would get talked to about moderation….and she hoped that it was just the moderation talk again…because she just…maybe if she hoped long enough and hard enough everything would just…rewind like a movie. ..or something.
"One of you is high right now. Is it you or Ryou? Or is it both of you? Because there is no way that sober people could have come up with what Ryou just told me." Said Minegishi. They shook their head and leaned over in the doorway…and they were tired. They were tired down to their aura and…and this was Nob's fault and…and she just…had to answer the question.
"I-I'm not high right now…because I smoked with my dad the other day and now when I smoke I just feel sort of weird….and Shimazaki…well I don't know if he is or he isn't….I don't want him twenty four hours a day." Said Mob softly. Maybe they could talk about Shimazaki and not her…maybe. She didn't know. He was still laughing and…and it wasn't that funny! It wasn't funny at all! It was…this was….this was the worst thing that she had ever done!
"Smoked with….one thing at a time. Mob…did you just ask Hatori out? Because that's what Ryou told me…and we both know that he's not the most reliable-" said Minegishi. Mob…she had to….this was the worst thing that she had ever done and…and she should have listened. She should have listened and Minegishi was going to tell her that she should have listened…and she just…she didn't want them to tell her that she had been wrong and stupid and…and stuff! She just wanted….she just wanted…she just wanted to either move backwards so it never would have happened or she just wanted to move forward so that this could be behind her…
And since she didn't have a time machine the only thing that she could do was move forward.
"I did! I did and I'm sorry!" said Mob. She jumped down from the chair and kowtowed. She made the house shake, and also the heard something breaking in the kitchen, and now she had even more stuff to be sorry about. Hatori did the yelping sound thing and…and she needed to say sorry to him too…and she just…she didn't know how she would ever even be in the same room as him let alone make words and have him listen to those words and-and-and-
And she just wanted this to be over.
"Mob…can you please explain-" said Minegishi. They reached down and grabbed her by the back of her shirt. They pulled her out of the kowtow…and she knew that she could have just dropped down into it…and she should have. She should have kowtowed to them and also to Hatori…and then to the rest of the house for disrupting everyone's night and making a mess and…and she just…she had no idea how she could have messed up so badly!
"I'm sorry! I should have listened to you! I just…I just listened to Minori because she said that it would be a good idea because she had a friend with benefits and he's older than her, he's fourteen, and Minori said that we had to do everything together because she thinks we're best friends….and I'm sorry!" said Mob. There. That was one of her apologies made. She stood in front of Minegishi…who was just staring at her. Their eyes were wide and if they'd had eyebrows their eyebrows would have been up into their hairline. What little aura they had was just...scared...or surprised or...or maybe they were scared by the mess that Mob was making and they were surprised that Mob could have done something so dumb….
And Mob didn't blame them.
"Friend with….someone needs to look in on….not my kid. That is not my kid and….and you're not my kid and-" said Minegishi. Mob…was not their kid…but she was their friend…their best friend. She was their best friend and they were hers and…and she may have been Minori's best friend too, because she didn't have any other friends, but…but Minegishi was the friend that she should have listened to. She could hear everything that she had said inside of her brain. It was like someone had hit the loop button in her brain. She had said…so much stuff…and she should have listened to Minegishi. So what if they hated relationship and so what if it had taken them years to become Shimazaki's theyfriend….they knew what was best! She decided, then, in that moment that she would do whatever Minegishi asked her to…forever!
"I'm sorry! I was dumb and…and I just….I messed up and…and I just…I wasn't thinking! I wasn't thinking and now I just….I messed up the whole friendship and…and now we'll never be friends again!" said Mob. That was the worst part. She had messed with the whole friend group…and she hadn't even been thinking about the friend group! She had been so selfish and…and maybe she should have just…just kept her feelings to herself and…and maybe she should have broken her promise to Minori. That they would do everything together….because there was no way that she would ever do anything like this ever again.
"Mob-" said Minegishi. They put both of their hands on her shoulders. She just…she wanted a hug but….but she had messed up! She had messed up and even if she got a hug she would just end up, after the hug was over, hearing about all the ways that she had messed up. She hadn't been thinking and…and she just wanted to live in a hole. In an underground bunker like the people in the documentary she had seen, the ones who were getting ready for the end of the world, because this felt like the end of the world. It was the end of their friend group and…and that might as well have been the end of the whole world!
"Now I have to go and live in-in-in a hole! I can't ever come out!" said Mob. She knew that the only way that she could live through this was to live like it was the end of the world. Minegishi…they wouldn't get it. They had lots of friends, well they could make lots of friends because they were the best friend a person could have, and Mob….aside from Minori these were her only friends and…and now she had ruined the whole friend group…and she had no idea what she would ever do without them. This was the end of it, their friendship, the whole world….
"What are you-" said Minegishi. They shook her just a little and…and they were right to shake her. They were probably so mad at her and…and she was mad at herself. She had done something that Minegishi had told her something, not to do something, and now….now she had done the opposite and…and what if they wanted to stop being her friend too!? What would she do then!?
"Nobody can ever see me or talk to me again! I ruined everything and I'm sorry and-" said Mob. Minegishi shook Mob, pulled her into a hug, and let her go. It was like they had slapped her in the face like people did in the movies. She…well she wasn't freaking out anymore and….and she had such a mess to clean up. She had to clean up the house and…and also she had to clean up the mess she had made with Hatori….
But at least she wasn't freaking out anymore.
"Mob! Just….stop apologizing. I get it. You realize that you made a mistake, you had more hormones than sense, and me standing here saying 'I told you so' won't help….and I'm too tired to tell you that anyway. What I will tell you is that you need to stop freaking out. You're not the first one, believe me you're nowhere near the first one, to make an idiot out of yourself for a guy. You're young and you have more hormones than sense and…and we can talk about this more in the morning. I'm exhausted and I need to sleep but I can't sleep with everyone carrying on like this….so you and I are going to fix this in the quickest way possible. Mob….we're going to calm down and then you're going to tell Hatori that Ryou put you up to this, that's something he'd do, and then you're going to go home and go to sleep and then we're all going to act like this never happened." Said Minegishi. They pulled her into another hug when they were done talking and….and they knew what to do. They always knew what to do and…and she needed to listen to them…even though they had just…it sounded like they had just told her to…lie.
"But…but he knows that I confessed for real and telling lies is wrong-" said Mob. Mom had told her that lying was wrong, dad had told her that lying was beneath her, but that wasn't why she wasn't going to lie. She wasn't going to lie…well she didn't like to lie…because it was just a bad thing to do. She loved her friends and when you had friends you certainly didn't lie to them. Lying to your friends was like stealing from them, you were stealing the truth, and stealing was always wrong. When you stole the truth from someone then you stole trust and without trust then how could there be friendship?
"Mob. Suzuki Shigeko. Which sounds better? The whole house addressing the fact that you asked Hatori out…or everyone thinking that you were put up to it?" said Minegishi. They…..without trust there could be no friendship…but with what she had done there could be no friendship…and she liked being friends with everyone. She liked her friends and…and she wanted things to go back to how they were before and….and she needed to learn to listen to Minegishi. They knew things. They knew….they knew a lot of things including what to do and….
And she was going to listen to them.
"I…I can do that…and then things can go back to normal." Said Mob. All she wanted was to go back to before she had ever even thought about confessing to Hatori…and this was how she was going to do it. She just…she would make up for this. She didn't know how she would make up for this but she would. She had to.
She'd had a terrible idea, the worst idea that anyone had ever come up with, and now she had to fix it…even if it meant lying to her friends.