Mob was not a secret teller.

She never told anyone's secrets, ever. The worst kinds of people were the ones who went around telling other people's business. Her name was Suzuki Shigeko, not Fukuda…whatever his given name was, and she did not go around telling people's secrets…and yes, she knew that she had been very mean there, but she just…it was the truth. Sho had trusted him with a secret, that he had a girlfriend, and then Fukuda went and told dad the first chance that he got for…reasons Mob could not begin to understand. Well Mob wasn't like that. She was not going to tell Sho's secret…

Even though she really needed to talk to someone about this.

Because it was a lot. The whole thing, really, was a lot. Sho…he was IN LOVE WITH SHIMAZAKI! Love. Doki-doki. He wanted to be Shimazaki's BOYFRIEND! Well first of all she had always sort of known that Sho liked boys, she had known him since the day he had been born so she knew these things about him, but she hadn't known that he had been in love with SHIMAZAKI of all people! Shimazaki Ryou. The person who stole a baby for her just because she had been sad because Mukai had been gone. The first person she had ever done coke with…a fun time but not one that he should have been showing Sho. The first person who she had ever…well Shimazaki was a very good friend who she had done a lot of very fun stuff with….the kind of fun that she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted her little brother to have….

But Sho….he should NOT have been in love with Shimazaki!

Sho had a girlfriend, first of all, and her name was Emmy. She lived in London and had red hair and liked to send Sho pictures of gross medical stuff and she talked weird, but that was ok because to her Mob talked weird, and also she had kissed Sho before which was…she did not want to think about her little brother kissing anyone….and just….Sho had KISSED HER and he was her BOYFRIEND and she was in love with him and he was in love with her and….and how could Sho be in love with two people at the same time?

And also why was one of them Shimazaki?

OK, he was tall. He was really tall and really strong and he smelled good and he always shared no matter what he had and he was very thoughtful in his own way and he was sort of fun when he wasn't acting like a total and complete crazy person…..but he was in love with Minegishi! They were in love with him right back! The two of them were boyfriend and theyfriend and they would get married and have babies, they probably would even though Minegishi said that they didn't want to because they had said the same thing about relationships and relationships led to babies, and Sho knew that…right? Shimazaki was always telling Minegishi how much he loved them and they had said it back….and Sho could not have missed that….

Could he?

She didn't know. All she knew was that this was a mess. She wanted her little brother to be happy, she wanted that more than she wanted her own happiness, but Sho's happiness would come at the expense of Minegishi's happiness…and she loved Minegishi…and she loved Sho….and she knew that she was the boss of Shimazaki and she could have just told him that he had to be Sho's boyfriend when he grew up, not now because he wasn't even eleven yet and Shimazaki was almost thirty one, but you couldn't force two people to be in a relationship….and also she didn't want to hurt Minegishi since they were her best friend and they had been hurt in a relationship before…but she really did want Sho to be happy…and she wanted Minegishi to be happy….

But most of all she just wanted to talk to someone about this because she didn't understand anything anymore.

But she couldn't talk to anyone about this. Well everyone, most everyone, was at the war meeting…and she really wished that dad would give it another name…and she couldn't have asked any of them about this anyway. Shimazaki was the person who Sho was in love with so there was no way that he could know. Hatori liked boys….but Mob still wasn't up to talking to him. Shibata…well he thought that you could fix every single problem in life by eating an entire cake and being tossed in the air even though that only made more problems…and she needed to tell Sho to stop doing that because he always threw up. Fukuda...well he loved Sho and took care of him but he was a secret teller and Mob would never have betrayed her little brother like that. Dad would have probably hurt Sho if he knew about how he not only liked boys but also that he liked Shimazaki. He didn't like Shimazaki and he also didn't like people who didn't follow his plans. Mom…well she knew that mom would have loved Sho no matter what but mom was gone and she was mom now…and she had to figure out what to do on her own….

Minegishi was good at figuring things out!

But they were also in love with Shimazaki too….and also Mob would never have spilled Sho's secret to anyone even her very best friend. But she just…she had to talk to someone about this and Minegishi was someone….and they were smart…and maybe if Mob didn't use any names. Like if she said that she had a friend…well Minegishi knew all of her friends…and also that would have been lying….but sometimes it was ok to lie…and also Mob could make friends outside of the group…so that was a good idea. She would just…tell Minegishi that she had this friend….who was having the exact same problem that she was.

There. She could do this.

"Hey Minegishi? Can I ask you something?" asked Mob. Minegishi was laying down on the couch with a hot water bottle pressed against their stomach. Mob had done that now that she knew why they spent so much time all curled up on the couch. Also why they drank and smoked so much sometimes, too. Minegishi had taught her what to do and now she was doing the same for them. They always knew what to do. That was why it was ok to ask them what to do in this situation…even if she was sort of telling a lie….

A half lie.

"Yes, you can finish that bowl but nothing more. I'm not trying to ruin your life." Said Minegishi. They knew Mob and they knew what was coming. Well fine. They were not in the mood to teach her moderation right now. They weren't in the mood to do much of anything. They weren't even in the mood to watch whatever it was that Mob had put on the TV. One of her shows about a club full of kids who were all in love with each other and romantic hijinks ensued. Mob TV. Truly riveting. They weren't in the mood for a marathon of Mob TV even…and not for the reason that Mob had thought.

Though the hot water bottle had been a nice gesture.

So had the joint she had rolled them…and Minegishi did not want to think about how she had gotten so good at rolling those. She had also gotten them a hunk off of that giant bar of dark chocolate Suzuki had gotten them, still weird but they weren't going to pass up chocolate, and Minegishi knew that if they had asked Mob would have rented a boat and rowed to…whatever country this came from….to get Mob.

She was a good friend in that way.

But Minegishi was not being a very good friend back. Fuck Osaka. Fuck this city. Fuck being here. Fuck everything that was in this city, every rock and tree and living creature, and if there had been a tsunami right then and the entire thing sank back down into the ocean Minegishi's only regret would have been that Mob would have been a part of all of that. God….Mob was really the only thing keeping them sane right now. They needed to get the hell out of Osaka…and soon….because they had no idea how much longer they could stand it here…

And they hadn't even been here long enough to finish unpacking. Joy.

"Thank you….but that's not what I wanted to ask you….but thank you." Said Mob. They had been sharing that but now Minegishi said that she could have it…and if that was what Minegishi wanted then that was what was going to happen. That was just how friends were. They thought about you and stuff. They helped you when you needed help and stuff. Like that song about how you get by with a little help from your friends and also you got high with a little help from your friends.

Shimazaki was right about the Beatles, their music spoke to the absolute truth of human goodness, and also he was right about smoking, it made life better in all ways.

"You're welcome…now what do you want to ask me. Come on, out with it." Said Minegishi. If this started with 'Minori said' or some variation of that then Minegishi was going to swim across the ocean and knock some sense into that little….they did not have words…or maybe better yet the people who were supposed to be raising her. God. What was wrong with people these days? Don't have children you aren't planning on raising. There. Simple. God…nope. Not the time to be pissed off. Mob had a problem and they were the only adult in her life qualified to help her.

So they sat up and listened.

But Mob didn't say anything. Well, no, she couldn't. She was mid inhale…and how did she even have that kind of room in her lungs? She was tiny, not as tiny as she had been when they had met her but still pretty damn tiny, and she really should not have been able to inhale that deep…but then again nothing in her life had gone right. Nothing in their life either. They were two of a kind, in some ways, them and her…though she would have an easier go of it…because she had them in her life…

Or at least they liked to think so.

"This…is really good. Did you grow this?" asked Mob. Without having to use moderation she could breathe really deep like Shimazaki had taught her…and Sho too…and she was too sure if she was happy about that. Well she had very complicated feelings about that, Sho learning how to smoke from Shimazaki, and Sho being in love with him just made them even more complicated…so she decided not to think about all of that right now. Instead of thinking about all of that she thought about her feet in her socks, the rug against her feel, the feel of her hair on her forehead, and sound of the TV….sometimes it was better to take a step outside of your own head and out into the world. Shimazaki had said that. He was smart like that…and a very good friend….

And a very good boyfriend, too, to Minegishi.

"Mob? Were you going to come to me with a problem or was this all part of your master plan to finish off that joint?" asked Minegishi as Mob moved in to inhale all over again. God. They were not looking forward to her teen years at all.

"No, I didn't have any plan…I mean I did…but to tell you my problem…but not my problem. My friend is having a problem." Said Mob. She didn't like telling Minegishi lies but she knew that if she told them the truth she would be even more upset with herself. Telling lies was nowhere near as bad as telling your little brother's secrets that he trusted you with out of everyone else in the whole world.

"Oh? And what sort of 'problem' is your friend having?" asked Minegishi. Slick and smooth Mob was not. The old 'I have this friend'….God. She was so sweet sometimes…even when she was having a problem that seemed to be bigger than her usual problems. She was pulling the old 'I have a friend' routine after all…and she already got up to so much. What could have happened that she didn't want to talk openly about it?

Well whatever it was Minegishi would be there for her even if it meant that they had to take a break from all of their moping.

"Um…well she has this little brother named…well he has a name but it's not important. It's just…her little brother is in love with her best friend's boyfriend…and that's ok! She always knew, well part of her always knew, that her little brother liked boys…and she's ok with that. She just doesn't want her little brother to be in love with her best friend's boyfriend. She wants him to be happy because she thinks that he's the best little brother in the whole wide world….but she also doesn't know what to do. She knows that either her little brother is going to get his heart broken or her best friend is going to get their heart broken…and she doesn't want anyone to get their heart broken…and she doesn't know what to do…." Said Mob. She took a deep breath. She had to say calm. If she didn't stay calm then Minegishi would know that she was lying to them…and friends did not lie. Friends were not supposed to ever lie to one another…and she was lying…but sometimes there were extenuating circumstances. Like when she had asked Hatori out. There had been extenuating circumstances there…so this was ok. Even if it really didn't feel ok.

"Is this person y-" said Minegishi. They tried their best not to laugh. They knew EXACTLY what she had been talking about. So the kid finally come out. Good for him. Now maybe he could come out to everyone else in his life and then Ryou would have no choice but to actually deal with that kid and how he felt.

Because, really, all of this was getting to be a little too much.

Their metal door, it had followed them from Tokyo, was testament to that. That kid was…high strung. And jealous. And possessive. And something that Ryou should have dealt with a while ago. So now he decided to develop a sense of fear…or maybe just laziness. There was a lot to deal with when it came to Sho and Ryou…well he could be kind of lazy when something that he didn't want to do came up. Even though he supposedly was ready to settle down with them and have kids and live 'the life of Shimazaki Ryou if he had been raised by decent human beings' now featuring Minegishi Toshiki. God. At least all of this was starting to get out there in the open where it could be dealt with.

Halle-fucking-lujah.

"And it gets even more complicated! Mt friend's little brother also has a girlfriend, who he's kissed and kisses are very important, and he loves this girl…and I don't understand how someone can love one person and be their boyfriend while also being in love with someone else's boyfriend and wanting to be that person's boyfriend." Said Mob. She was breathing kind of heavy, now, and she just…this was a lot. This was a lot and she was lying and if she just…if she just stopped for one moment…if she just stopped for one second she would never be able to stop. She just…this was a lot…and Minegishi could help. They could always help.

They were good at helping.

For every single thing, for every single problem in her life, Minegishi had been there for her. When she had been all alone after dad left…when dad had come back and started smothering her, when she had been all alone in the snow after the party last year, when she'd cut her leg when she had been trying to shave her legs, when she'd gotten her period a few weeks ago….Minegishi had been there. They had bene there no matter how tired and stressed they had been…and she loved them for that. They would always be there for her no matter what…

Unlike some people….which was a mean way to think but that was just how she felt.

"Mob, listen-" said Minegishi. She was getting herself all worked up. She was getting herself all worked up and freaked out…and that would not have been good for anyone. They had just moved into this house and they did not need to deal with it getting trashed. They weren't in the mood to clean up anything today…even Mob's hurt feelings.

But they would if they had to.

Who else was there to clean up Mob's hurt feelings? For real. Not in the way that Ryou just got her high or Shibata overfed her or Hatori patted her on the head and played videogames with her until they both escaped from this terrible reality they lived in. Mob needed someone to actually be there for her, emotionally, no matter how exhausting it could be. This was what it was to be responsible for another human being. It wasn't always fun or relaxing, and sometimes you ended up cleaning up messes…

But it was better to clean up someone else's messes than to even acknowledge your own.

"And then to make everything even more complicated my friend's brother's dad isn't going to let him like boys. My friend's bother's dad really wants grandkids and they only count if they come from the little brother because boys are the ones who carry on the bloodline, and that's a very important thing to carry on for reasons that I'm not totally sure of, so he would never let the little brother fall in love with a boy and marry him….and that's not legal but still….and also the little brother has a girlfriend and the dad is happy about that and the dad is never happy with the little brother and-" said Mob

"Mob. Stop. Take a deep breath. Then take a drag. You need it." Said Minegishi. Mob's aura was bright as hell, if Ryou had been there he would have said that her aura had been screaming, and she needed to calm down. Her control was better when she was high but it wasn't perfect and Minegishi was not in the mood to clean up the entire house. She would clean up the aftermath of whatever Mob was feeling, emotionally, but if she trashed the house then it was staying trashed. They only had enough energy for one clean up job that day.

"Thanks…I needed that. Just…thanks for listening to me…and also what should I do?" Said Mob as she tried her best not to cough. Minegishi was always there for her and they were smart…they would tell her what to do and then she would do it and then this whole mess would have been taken care of and then Sho could have been happy with his girlfriend or he could have met another boy to be in love with who wasn't Shimazaki and then everyone would be ok…well she would keep the whole thing a secret from dad and then everyone would be ok.

"Mob…you don't have to do anything. None of this is your problem…and anyway I thought that this whole thing was about your friend." Said Minegishi. They didn't laugh at Mob's slip up even though that wanted to. Not to be mean, of course, but because…well it was adorable…and Minegishi knew that they needed more adorableness in their life.

"It'-it is! I just…don't know what my friend should do." Said Mob. She had slipped up and she could not do it again. Minegishi could not know that she was talking about Sho. Then not only would Sho know that she was talking about his secrets but Minegishi would know that Sho was after their boyfriend…and they did not like it when people did stuff to hurt them…not that Sho meant to hurt them. He was just in love and people did really stupid stuff when they were in love. She would know better than anyone how stupid a person could be when they were in love.

"Your friend needs to stay out of this. Her little brother coming out is not her business. Who her little brother is in love with is not her business. This is not her business or her problem, alright?" asked Minegishi. Mob took on too much. She was always taking on too much. She was the only one in that family of hers doing any cleaning at all. She had enough of her own messes to clean up, she didn't need to deal with anyone else's.

"But…but that's not how big sisters…are supposed to treat their little brothers. When you have a little brother then you're supposed to care for him and-" said Mob. Maybe Minegishi just didn't get it because they were an only child. Their parents had died before they could give them a little brother or sister. She wished that Minegishi had a little brother or sister, not that their parents were alive or anything like that, but just that they could understand what she was saying. She was supposed to take care of Sho. She was the only one in the whole world who could take care of him…and she had been doing a pretty bad job of it lately.

"Mob, Sho needs to figure himself out on his own and Ryou needs to deal with the way that Sho feels…and he should have dealt with that long time ago. Ok?" said Minegishi. They were going to get to the end of it already. Mob was a good kid and she cared about her brother a whole lot but she did not have to take on his problems in addition to her own. She had way too much happening in her life as it was to be taking on that little monster's problems.

"I….I never said any names!" said Mob. This was bad, this was so bad, this was the most bad! This took the whole universe's supply of badness and put it into one box and she had opened the box and now everything was going to be terrible from here on out! She had told Sho's secrets…he was going to be so hurt! She was a secret teller! She was a secret teller and a liar and now Sho was going to be mad at her…and she was already mad at herself! How could she had done something like this!? What was WRONG with her?! She was like Fukuda…she was even worse than Fukuda…at least Fukuda wasn't Sho's BIG SISTER!

She was going to be sick.

"No, Mob, breathe. You never said any names, you're right, I figured this out on my own…and a while ago. Your brother isn't exactly subtitle." Said Minegishi. They lit another joint, Mob was pretty much holding a roach at this point, and handed it to Mob. This was not the time for moderation. Mob was freaked the fuck out…and Minegishi didn't blame her. There was a lot of honor to Mob, she held herself to a very high standard, and for anyone else it would have been unreachable…and now it had become unreachable for her, too. Well this was not on her. None of this was on her.

"Wait…what? You…you knew this whole time? Why didn't you say anything to me…or to anyone?" asked Mob. Minegishi…well Mob would have liked to have known if her little brother had been madly in love with Shimazaki…well Sho hadn't said madly but Mob knew Sho and he felt things very strongly…..and anyway she would have liked to have been informed. She didn't know what she would have done with that information but it still would have been nice information to have.

"Because it wasn't my business. Mob, your brother is going through a lot but it's on him…well him and Ryou, ok? Your brother isn't subtitle but you're the only person so far that he's come out to and as much as I would like to drag him out of that closet-" said Minegishi. This was a delicate area. One the one hand they wanted to take Mob and shake her and tell her that this had nothing to do with her…but on the other hand they wanted to tell her to go down to that meeting and drag Sho and Ryou back so the two of them could hash this thing out and then things could go back to whatever passed for normal around there…

But they weren't going to do either of those things. They had basic tact.

"Sho's been out of the closet. I don't know what he was doing in there all morning but he came out when dad left for the war meeting. He took Sho with." Said Mob. She suspected that he was either drawing in there or he was hiding poptarts. Either way she wasn't going to just go in and drag him out, that would have been rude, and also she didn't know why Minegishi cared whether or not Sho was hiding in closets.

"Mob….that's not what I meant. I meant that you're the only person who knows that he's gay…or at least not as straight as he wants to be, and as much as I would love to get everything out in the open so that things can get back to normal around here I won't…and neither will you. Ok? Don't get in the middle of this, Mob, don't even think about getting in the middle of this. This is between your brother and himself…and also Ryou." Said Minegishi. They were doing their best here. Thank God that Mob had come to them with this and not anyone else. They had tact. They had tact and they were going to teach Mob tact, too. This was the place for tact…for everyone's sake. Sho…the kid was as much of a powder keg as his father and he had reacted badly when….well whenever there was a stumbling block in the path of his life he exploded…and Minegishi was not in the mood to deal with all of that.

"Wait…does Shimazaki know?" asked Mob. She knew that Minegishi was super smart, so of course they would have figured it out, but…how could Shimazaki have known? He wasn't stupid so he could have figured it out…but he couldn't keep things to himself. He told everyone everything and…and he had trouble keeping things to himself…but then again he wouldn't have betrayed Sho. He was a good friend like that…and of course Sho would be in love with him. Mob…she knew that she was a clueless person…but if Shimazaki and Minegishi had figured it out then…then she sort of felt like she wanted to have figured it out…not that she was upset that Sho had been keeping secrets from her or anything like that. She just….she didn't know how she felt….so she decided to stick to being worried about her little brother.

"Everyone who's not named Suzuki knows. You and your dad are two of a kind sometimes I swear…but yes, everyone is well aware of your brother's interest in Ryou. We all just have enough tact not to say anything about it…and so will you. Ok? Don't talk about this to anyone until your brother is ready for this to be out in the open, alright?" asked Minegishi. They put a hand on her shoulder. They needed her to listen. The needed to make sure that she wasn't going to make something out of this. The last thing that they needed, that anyone needed, was her coming up with some plan to set Sho up with Ryou or find someone knew for him or just to tell everyone who would listen that paper thin story about her friend and her friend's little brother…they had to do some damage control. They had to clean up this mess before it even was a mess to begin with.

"Alright…but I-" said Mob. She knew not to tell Sho's secrets but she also knew that she had to do something for him. He was her little brother, she only got the one little brother, and she had to be there for him…and also she had to understand. This was just…there was so much to understand but she couldn't…and al Minegishi had helped her understand was that this was not something that she could fix or make better…and that wasn't what she wanted.

She wanted to know how to fix this.

She was the big sister and it was her job to fix things for her little brother. She had no idea what it was that she even had to fix but she had to find that out too. Sho…he liked Shimazaki….so maybe she could fix that by finding him a boy who he could be with that was like Shimazaki? But he also had a girlfriend he loved…and could you have two people you were in love with at once? She didn't know. She'd never had a boyfriend and the only boy she had ever kissed…well she was never going to see him again….all she knew about love and relationships she got from books and TV and watching Minegishi and Shimazaki….

So even if she knew what she was supposed to help with, to fix for him, she would have been no help at all.

"So how about you go and get your makeup bag and you paint me up? Come on, I feel like having eyebrows today." Said Minegishi. They knew Mob, they knew what it meant when she got that look, and they were not going to let that look grow into anything more. They knew Mob, they knew that she had told try and solve everyone's problems for them, and they knew that they had to shut that down before they ended up with a massive mess on their hands.

So makeover city here they came.

"But…sure. Ok. You wait here and I'll get my tools…and some Motrin for you too." Said Mob. She knew that she had to do something….and also that she couldn't….but she also knew that she wanted to do something…and doing makeovers was something. Not something that could help the situation but…well something that she could do right now. She wanted to do something for Sho but Minegishi had said that there was nothing that she could do…and she trusted them. She trusted them and she knew, now, that she had to always listen to them because they always knew what was best….

So that was what she would do. What they said. She would give them a makeover….and that was better than being a secret teller.