It was rude to use your phone at the table.

Mom had said so back when they lived in the Castle. Sometimes dad would bring his phone or his laptop to the table when they were having dinner and mom would always say 'no phones at the table' and also she would call him by his given name when she said that. Mob would not be telling her dad to put his phone away and she would not be calling him by his given name, he was her dad and kids didn't call their dads by their given names, and she wouldn't be telling him to put his phone away either….even though she did sort of want to.

Because, really, they were eating right now.

They were sitting down at the table and eating dinner as a family. This was family time and family time meant that they sat and talked and….well maybe she hadn't thought that one through. Dad being on his phone meant that he wasn't looking at or talking to Sho. That was good. It was always a coin flip as to whether or not dinner ended in a fight between the two of them. Mob didn't get why Sho couldn't just leave dad alone and she also didn't get why dad couldn't be nicer to Sho. He was nice to her, he was nice to Hatori, and he was nice to Fukuda…so why couldn't he be nice to Sho? Sho was a good person. Sure he could be a little bit mean sometimes but he was only that way because he had come from dad and dad could be a little bit, or a lot, mean sometimes.

So maybe it was better if neither of them spoke to each other.

Even though she didn't want Sho on his phone for dinnertime. She hardly ever saw him these days. He was either spending time with Fukuda or hiding in his closet fort. She didn't know what he did in there all day but it must have been something important if he was always in there. She wanted to know…well to hear…at least something about his day…or something…or maybe she just wanted to actually look at her little brother and stuff….

Because, really, they were eating dinner right now.

"Do you guys like the curry? I put in some cheddar cheese this time because the internet said that it would be a good idea." Said Mob. She didn't think that it turned out that bad…the whole thing definitely tasted like cheese…well she had maybe used too much….and she would like to have known if she had done a good job or a bad job or just…anything.

It was like talking to a couple of walls.

"Hey Sho? Do you want me to separate out your meat and vegetables for you? Is that why you're not eating?" asked Mob. Maybe Sho was at least ignoring her because she hadn't separated out his food for him, not because he was watching the twenty four seven hamster live stream again or something. She knew that she should have separated out his food for him but she was trying to get him to drop that habit. It would have been unfair to Emmy, really, since she was a normal person and she didn't have powers to help her pick out every single piece of meat and carrot from his curry. That is if he was even planning on marrying Emmy….

She sort of wanted to ask.

Maybe that was why he wasn't talking to her. Maybe he knew that she wanted to ask him about….everything. Why he was in love with Shimazaki, if he was still in love with Shimazaki, if he had ever been in love with any other boy, if he had ever been in love with a girl, if he was in love with Emmy, if he was going to marry her, what he wanted for his wedding gift if he did get married, what he was going to tell his girlfriend if they didn't get married, and stuff like that. She would never ask him that, of course, because Minegishi said that it would be a bad idea….but maybe Sho could tell that she wanted to ask him that.

Maybe that was why he wasn't talking to her.

"Huh? What? Oh yeah, I'm eating. See?" said Sho. He looked up from his phone, took his phone in his hand, and then stuffed his mouth full of curry. He looked like a squirrel like that…and she hated it when he did that….but at least he had said something to her. He hadn't answered her question but he at least spoken to her….and now his head was back down and his face was back in his phone….

Even though it was dinner time.

"Hey dad? What's going on? Why are you on your phone so much? Is it work stuff?" asked Mob. Maybe she would have more luck talking to dad. He usually liked talking to her. He also wasn't usually so into his phone….and she really hoped that Hatori hadn't shown him app store games…because then she would never see or hear from him again. Like the time she and Sho found that doodle jump game and played for so long that it got dark out without them noticing. She wondered if she should make a no phones at the table rule…or a not games at the table rule….but then she would have to make a whole lot of other rules…and then she would have to enforce them…and dinner was hard enough already.

Besides, it might have been a work thing.

Dad had said that it would be a short stay in Osaka…and that short stay was getting kind of long. It was already October, well the beginning of it, but still. It looked like they were going to have Shimazaki's birthday here….which wasn't good because she was going to get him a bunch of those pen cartridges he liked from the guy she had bought them from back last year in Tokyo…and now she would have to think of a new present to give him…and she couldn't give him the same stuff from last year…she'd think of something if they didn't end up going back to Tokyo. Maybe she could ask dad…well she would have…if he would just look up from his phone already.

"Dad? Hey, dad?" asked Mob. She had no idea what was up with him. He was never like this unless it was an important work thing….and even then never at the table. He would lock himself in his room for hours if he had a work thing to do….not just sit there at the table and ignore her….and he was just…she wanted to take the phone out of his hands and tell him that they were eating…but she was not mom.

She was just Mob.

And also she didn't make rules….not for dad. It was better, probably, that he was like this. At least this way he wasn't bothering Sho…so maybe she was just being selfish. She could be very selfish sometimes. Like when she got annoyed with the people she loved and stuff….and she didn't want to be selfish. Maybe it was selfish to want her dad and brother to just…talk to her and stuff. If they talked to her then they could have ended up talking to each other…and that would not have been good for anyone.

So maybe she should just stop before she messed something up.

"Shigeko?" asked dad. He looked up really suddenly. He was looking right at her, which was good, because for a second she hadn't had any idea who he had ever been talking to. She was Shigeko, that was her given name, but nobody ever called her that. Well Fukuda sometimes, and Minegishi when they were mad at her, but never dad. She…really couldn't remember dad ever using her name regularly before. He was using it now, though, and that was kind of…well weird…but good. This was good progress. Maybe he would use Sho's name next.

Not that she wanted him to use Sho's name…or talk to him at all….anytime soon.

"Nothing dad." Said Mob. She decided that maybe it wasn't a good idea to make conversation. She would rather have dealt with Sho and dad sitting there in silence on their phones than Sho and dad having another one of their fights. She hated those fights so much…and they were so pointless. Fighting in general was pointless but when Sho and dad fought it was extra pointless. Like…Sho would do something dad didn't like and then dad would say something mean and then they would just go around and around in a circle….

So maybe phone time was better than conversation time.

"No, it was something. You wouldn't have spoken if it was nothing. Now what was it?" asked Dad. He was looking down at his phone, well trying not to, while he talked to her. She didn't get it. It must have been important. His aura jumped, and so did the table, when his phone vibrated again. She really hoped that the traitors weren't doing bad things again. When traitors did bad things dad had to put them in this jail place, he said, sort of like a timeout. Like what you had to do for little kids when they wouldn't listen. She didn't want him to have to punish anyone even if they weren't actually getting hurt. She didn't want anyone to hurt dad or Claw or anything.

Couldn't they just see that dad was trying to make the world a better place?

Dad could have been mean sometimes, well most of the time, but he meant well. He just wanted to make the world into something better than it had to be. He wanted to make the world into a place where all the espers in the world could come together. A place where they wouldn't have to hide who they were from the normal people. A place where everyone could be happy and accepted and they could all be friends. Sure he was going to be the king of the world but that was just because the world needed one central ruler, he had said, because that way nobody would ever fight and there would be no more war because they would all be the same country and stuff. Dad worked hard each and every day to make the world a better place.

And maybe Mob shouldn't have been distracting him like that from his very important work.

"I just wanted to know…if you liked dinner. That's all." said Mob. He was looking back down at his phone…and he was smiling. Dad smiling, not normal people smiling, because normal people didn't have auras. Dad did and his aura was smiling…well she got the feeling that it did. Extra sensory perception was different for every esper, dad had said. Sometimes people only saw auras, sometimes they felt them, sometimes they heard them, and sometimes it was just something that couldn't be described. The closest word Mob had for how dad felt right now was that he was smiling.

Which was good. Maybe they would be able to leave Osaka and go back to Tokyo soon.

"I…would like to know why it tastes liked cheddar cheese. This is pork curry, yes?" asked dad. Mob nodded. Dad…he didn't like it. She knew that he didn't like it because he had asked about it. He never asked about things she made that he liked. She should have just put eggs in there, and ketchup, because those were the things that liked. She knew that she should have only made things that he liked but she was getting really tired of having either eggs, ketchup, or eggs with ketchup for every single meal.

She had no idea why dad hated trying new things.

He had always been like this. When she had been little mom was always trying to get him to eat new stuff and he did but he always asked her why her cooking was the way it was. When Mob had been little she hadn't known that when dad asked why mom cooked the way she did he was really saying that he didn't like it…even though there was nothing wrong with mom's cooking…and even though there might have been something unhealthy about eating two and a half dozen eggs a week and a bottle and a half of ketchup.

And if dad didn't like what she had made then he could have made his own dinner…was what she would have thought if she had been a meaner person.

"Yes, there's pork in there and it's pork flavored…and I thought that you liked pork." Said Mob

"I do enjoy pork curry but just….why is there cheddar cheese in this?" asked dad. Mob wanted to tell him that there was cheddar cheese in this because it was fun to try new things sometimes. She wanted to tell him that not everything needed to taste like ketchup. She wanted to tell him that there were meals in this world besides breakfast and…and she was not going to be mean to her own dad like that…just because she was in a bad mood…maybe….well she was in a bad mood but she was not going to talk to her dad about that.

"Because the internet said that it would be a good idea…and sometimes try9ing new things is a good idea." Said Mob. She was fine. She was not in a bad mood just because she made dinner for her family and they weren't even eating it or talking to her, just on their phones, and they fought about everything and because they had to fight about everything they couldn't even sit at the same table without fighting and…and she just….was not going to be mean or in a bad mood or anything because…because she just wasn't that kind of person.

She was a nice person and she was going to keep on being a nice person no matter what.

"What's a good idea?" asked Sho looking up from his phone. Mob….she knew that this had been a bad idea. She shouldn't have started talking to dad because now Sho was going to start talking to her too and then he would say something that dad would take the wrong way and then dinner would be ruined and everything would be ruined and then everything would be ruined forever like she had ruined this curry.

"Your sister put cheese in the curry." Said Dad. He said that without adding anything mean to it and…and maybe this would be ok. Maybe everything would be ok and dad and Sho could get along now and everything would be alright….or maybe those were just dreams. Mob dreams.

"Yeah, I noticed. It's really good big sis! Do it again but next time put even more in." said Sho. Mob smiled with her face and her aura. It was important to show what your feelings were on your face, too, even though she was more used to auras. That way it was just….nicer…and stuff. Sho had been so nice to her just now…it was sort of hard to get him to try new things…especially things that were mixed in with other things…but this was good…and she would make this again…but maybe only put cheese in Sho's portion since dad didn't like it…he hadn't said so and he hadn't needed to say so….though it would have helped if he had said so…

Or if he took his face out of his phone for five seconds.

"Ok….but I'll only put cheese in yours since dad doesn't like it." Said Mob. Dad was smiling with his aura and he was typing something….and then erasing she knew what the erasing sound was…and now he was typing again…and if he wanted help then she would have helped him since she was the one who did a lot of his emails already anyway…well Hatori helped but she was the main email person…and stuff….

"Dad doesn't like anything." Said Sho. She wondered if he was sensing the same thing that she was sensing. Dad seemed to like whatever he was talking about…which meant that work was going well…and if work was going well then maybe they could go back to Tokyo soon….or even for just a little bit so Mob could get Shimazaki his birthday present….or maybe they were going to head off to a whole other country soon…she didn't know. She wished that dad would just give some heads up before they moved….and she also wished that he would tell her what he was so happy about, too, while he was telling her stuff.

"You don't speak for me, Son, never speak for me again….now what is it that I don't like?" asked dad looking up from his phone. That had been a mean thing to say…and now more mean things would come…and it was all her fault. She had just wanted some conversation at dinnertime. She hadn't meant to start a fight…and she wished that everyone conversation that Sho and dad had didn't have to end in a fight…but wishes did not come true. Even if you folded a thousand paper cranes wishes would never come true.

"The curry that big sis made…and I can say-" said Sho. No, no, no. She was not going to let this happen. She was not going to let a fight be born right in front of her. The only thing she ever wanted to see born in front of her was Minegishi and Shimazaki's baby being born…even though Minegishi said that they were never going to have a baby and also that giving birth was something that would scar her for life.

"So dad, is something good happening at work?" asked Mob. She knew that interrupting Sho like that had been very rude…and she also knew that not interrupting a newly born fight was the best thing that she could have done for them. She just….she just wished that it could have been….she just wished that dad and Sho could get along…but wishes did not come true. That was not how life worked. Life was…well stressful….like now.

"Work…why did you ask me about work? Why are you so concerned with what's happening at work?" asked Dad. Now his aura was all….flaring and pulling in…like it was going in and out and out and in and…and she had just asked him one question, that was all, just one simple question. Why did he have to be….like this? Like…how he was…and stuff.

But she was used to him by now…well she had to be used to him by now…because he was the only dad that she had.

"Um….you were just happy before when you were texting and-" said Mob. She needed to stop….whatever it was that was making dad feel like this. Dad seemed like he didn't have feelings, a lot of people said that, but he did. He had a lot of feelings, actually, a lot of very big feelings. He worked hard to control them, his feelings, and his powers. She wished…she really wished that she knew what to do to help him…but she didn't. She just knew what to do to keep him from hurting Sho…and that was the best that she could do right now.

"What makes you think that I was texting?" asked Dad. Mob took a deep breath and kept her aura calm. She needed to stay calm because dad was not calm and now Sho was not calm and was it took much to ask to have one meal, just one, where everyone got along? Where there wasn't any fighting or things that could become fights or….or whatever it was that dad was feeling right now.

"Because we just saw you. You can't just go and pretend that you weren't texting someone when me and big sis clearly saw you. You're not the boss of reality and-" Said Sho

"Dad…you were just happy, is all. That's just what I was asking about. I just wanted to know why you were so happy for." Said Mob. She had interrupted Sho again…and she had to interrupt him. He was going to end up making dad mad and neither of them

"No I wasn't happy. I was nowhere near happy. I was…content. I was content and…and that is all. Now eat. Why isn't anyone eating?" said dad. Mob…well she knew that he was lying. He never lied to her, and he had never lied to her, but she got the very clear feeling that she was being lied to. She just….had no idea what was with him. He was just…she didn't know. Maybe he wasn't lying. Maybe he was just…not understanding his own feelings…or something like that. She didn't know. She just…she just knew that she needed to fix this before it got any worse.

"You're right, dad, we should eat before it gets cold…and next time I'll only put cheese in Sho's…and stuff." Said Mob as she dug her spoon into her curry. This wasn't bad, she liked it this way, but she would make dad's without the cheese. There. Maybe that was why he felt the way he felt right now…or something. Maybe he didn't know what to do with his feelings because he didn't know what to do with his dinner….or something. She didn't know. Dad was…someone who was hard to understand. Dad was someone who just….was hard to understand.

And she was not in the mood to understand anything right now.

She was tired, her stomach hurt, and lately it felt like everything in the world was designed to make her mad…and she wasn't going to take it out on her family. She was going to sit there in silence, because she knew that her family couldn't handle anything other than silence, and that was….that was ok. This was ok. This was dinner and dinner was ok and…

And dinner had to be ok.

"Don't listen to dad, big sis, this is great curry and you should make it all the time!" said Sho before he put way too much food in his mouth like he was a squirrel or something…and she was not going to stop him. He was hungry and he was eating and he wasn't complaining or trying to live on poptarts and soda and he was…he was fine. He was eating and, ok, he had no table manners right now…and now he was looking back down at his phone and stuff….

But that was ok.

"Thank you Sho." said Mob. He couldn't hear her…that was ok. She was ok. She was…this was ok. This was dinner. Sho was eating, for once, and he wasn't even eating it with ranch…and dad was eating too. He wasn't even eating with ketchup and that was his favorite thing…and this was good. Even if he was eating with his powers and….

….and he was eating with his powers….

He was actually picking up his spoon with his powers and feeding himself with his powers…and now Sho was eating with his powers…and that was…that was either one of mom's rules or one of dad's rules or one of the rules that they had both come up with…and Mob…there was a picture of her feeding herself and Sho back when she had been two and he had been one….and she used to use her powers like that but…but that was not the way that she was supposed to be eating and….and dad knew better and Sho knew better and…and maybe she should have made a rule about that and…and she just….

She just ate her curry.

She didn't want to make any more rules. She wanted to sit and have her dinner and now fight. So she picked up her spoon and ate her curry and…and that was it. She ate her curry with her hands and looked at her family. Her family ate their curry with their powers and looked down at their phones. She didn't think that she should make a rule, or any rules, because she would have to enforce them and she was not in the mood to fight…or anything. She wanted….she just wanted to eat her cheese and pork curry and…and also she sort of wished that she had put in less cheese…and that would be a rule for herself, less cheese from now on.

But she wouldn't say anything about dad and Sho using their phones at the table.