The kitchen wasn't that bad.

It smelled good in here, like cooking, but also pine. Miss Kageyama said that she had cleaned up. She hadn't had to. He didn't care how clean or dirty things were. She had also closed all the curtains so that it was nice and dark. That was what he cared about. The sun was out, he knew that it was out, but he didn't want to be in it. He didn't want to see it moving across the room, the sky, the world. He didn't want to see time passing…and she understood that. She had even taken the clock off the wall for him. He could see the space where it should have been. There was a shadow around it. A shadow in the darkness…or something. He didn't know. All he knew was that Miss Kageyama had done a lot to get him into this kitchen.

So here he was.

"See? The kitchen isn't that bad, is it? Maybe you could come out here more often on your own…or with me. It doesn't matter, we don't have to rush…and if it's not nice enough I can do something else. I can have everyone go outside of the house or something if that would make you feel better. Would that…would it make you feel better?" asked Mob as she played with her pancakes. She wondered if putting them in the microwave had been the right move. Well it was faster than the stove…and she didn't even know if these could be reheated on the stove…and there was always the toaster too…and also she didn't even know if Serizawa even liked pancakes.

She really hoped that he liked pancakes.

She hoped that he liked pancakes and he liked this kitchen and he just…she hoped that he was happy. She had already messed up this morning for her other friends so she didn't want to mess it up for him, too. She wanted him to be happy…well she wanted everyone to be happy…and there was no better way to make someone happy than to feed them. Shibata had said that and he knew a lot about making people happy. He'd be happy to know, too, that the pancakes that he had worked so hard on were getting eaten.

He might have been so happy, too, that he forgot all about how Mob had messed up the whole morning.

"No it's…fine. This is fine." Said Serizawa as he moved his food around on his plate. He wasn't that hungry. Well he was and also he wasn't. Mom made pancakes too but hers were never this thick…and also she put powdered sugar on top. There wasn't any powdered sugar on these…or even on the table…but he wasn't going to say anything. Miss Suzuki had gone through enough trouble as it was. She didn't have to do anything else for him. She had done so much already and…and he should have been grateful…

And he shouldn't have been thinking about mom, either, because she was better off on her without him there to be a burden onto her.

"Do you want some more syrup? Or fruit maybe?" asked Mob. She passed him both of those with her powers. Something was wrong. He was just passing his food from one side of his plate to the other. That was a trick, moving your food around like that, so it looked like you had eaten something. She didn't know what was wrong but she would fix it. Shibata was taking one of his extra long showers, he wasn't in a good mood right now she could tell, and Minegishi was in their room. They were in an even worse mood. Shimazaki and Sho were still in her range but she didn't know exactly where they had gone to. Serizawa was all alone, that was the point of it all, it was just the two of them and he had no reason to be upset….but he was….

But that was ok. She would do anything to help him.

"No…this is fine." Said Serizawa. He wanted powdered sugar. He wanted to have been sitting down at his table in his room and he wanted to have the thin kind of pancakes with the super light powdered sugar and lots of butter, too. Mom made such good pancakes…but she was….she was at home. He had no idea what she was doing at home, probably living it up, and he knew that he shouldn't have been missing her this much…

But he was.

The last time they had sat down at the table together had been the morning of…that day. She had gotten up early to make him pancakes even though she had been out until late the last night doing inventory at the store she worked at. She had made him pancakes with butter and powdered sugar…and she had…she had told him to be careful so he didn't get all dirty before school….and she had told him to hurry home that day, too, because she had gotten him a middle school uniform and she had wanted to see if it fit. She had measured him before but he had started growing really fast that year…when he'd been twelve….but he wasn't twelve anymore. He was twenty seven now and he had never tried on that uniform but he knew that it, like all of his clothes from those days, would have fit like doll's clothes on him. He knew that those times were over. He was twenty seven now and he was eating breakfast at this table with his first friend ever and….

And he shouldn't have wanted to go home. He had no reason to want to go home.

"It's just that you aren't eating anything." Said Mob. She knew that sometimes people just weren't hungry…but he hadn't eaten anything since she'd fed him last night! He needed food to live. What kind of a friend would just let one of their friends starve to death? She needed to just…she had a lot to do when it came to him but…she didn't mind. He couldn't do thing for himself and that was ok. He was still scared and lonely and stuff and she would be there for him. That was what friends were for. They were there for each other. If he had been anyone else, any of her other friends, then she would have done the same.

"I…I just need a minute. This is…a lot." Said Serizawa. He looked down at his plate. She had given him a lot of food…and there was even more on the table. There was a plate piled high with pancakes. Thirty one of them. That was what she and her friends did on birthday you got one pancake for every single year that you had been alive. Next year he would be getting twenty eight. That was how old he would be. Twenty eight. He had been twelve and then he had gone into his room and now he was twenty eight and…and that was a lot. That was a lot of time…a lot of years…months…weeks…days. That had been so long and…and he just…

He wondered what that would have looked like in terms of pancakes.

"You're right, this is a lot of pancakes…but I'm sure that Shimazaki won't mind us eating these. He sometimes gets distracted easily so he might have even forgotten about all of these." Said Mob. She had taken from the pile meant for everyone else, not the Shimazaki birthday pile. She'd wrap those up and put those in the fridge for later. Shimazaki didn't mind cold food. When he had been little all of his food had been cold because sometimes it was hard for his mom to get the chance to feed him and stuff.

"Oh…well if he won't mind….um….they're very good." Said Serizawa. He finally took a bite…and this one was burnt on the other side. It was burnt and way sweeter than how he was used to them…and thicker too. This was just…he didn't know. Good, he decided, this was good. This was made by someone he didn't know and served in a place he wasn't used to….but he was eating with someone he knew. He knew Miss Suzuki. He knew her and he knew that she cared for him…and he knew that he cared for her too.

He took another bite even though it was burnt on the bottom.

"Shibata made these. He makes the best pancakes. Well some of them are burnt on the bottom but that doesn't mean that they aren't good. He just gets distracted sometimes too…it was a distracting morning…but it's better now. You're out of your room and that more than makes up for everything." Said Mob. Her voice got kind of high and loud at the end…and she knew that she needed to calm down. She needed to calm down and not make a big thing out of this. She knew from taking care of Sho that people didn't like it when you made a big deal out of things even if the things that you were making a big deal out of were, in fact, a big deal.

Serizawa sitting here at the table was a very big deal.

This was a huge deal. He was out of his room. He was out of his room and he was sitting at the table like everyone else. Well not now, obviously, everyone else was off doing their own things but if they hadn't had things to do and if the morning had been better then they would have been here….but Serizawa wouldn't have. He wasn't ready to be with people yet.

He was barely ready to sit here at the table with her.

"They're….they're very good. I like these a lot and…and I'm so happy to be with you…Miss Suzuki." Said Serizawa. He was happy to be with her. He was happy to be sitting there at that table with her. Nothing else mattered but being there with her. He felt…the dizziness was coming back. The dizziness was always there, at the edge of his mind, and it threatened to come back….but she was there. She was there and she kept the dizziness away.

As long as it was just the two of them then it was ok.

"I'm happy to be with you too and-oh no…" said Mob. She felt the energy around them shift. She barely had enough time to put a barrier up around Serizawa and herself. She reached over and took his arm in her hand just to keep him still. She should have told everyone to stay away instead of just trusting that they would be off doing their own things. She should have thought this through. But she hadn't. She hadn't and now she had to deal with this…which she would because it was all her fault.

She should have waited until Sho and Shimazaki got out of her passive aural range.

If she was really looking then she could feel an esper, one she knew, from across the city. This city. She wasn't really looking for anyone, though, she had just been sitting down at the table minding her own business. Everyone had come to her. Well not everyone, just Shimazaki and Sho, but for how Serizawa was reacting she might as well have invited all of Tokyo HQ over for breakfast…and given them all a plus one while she was at it. Serizawa jumped. His body jumped and his powers jumped and it took everything that she had to keep him in place. She felt sort of like a…burning….or like a shock…as she touched him. The purple of his aura bonded with the pink and blue of hers. She tried to smooth down the flare of his aura but instead all she did was add to hers…and it kind of hurt….

But at least he hadn't wrecked the kitchen.

"Ah! Too damn loud!" said Shimazaki. He covered his ears even though he knew that it wouldn't help. This was an aural thing, not a physical thing, and he knew that the closest thing that his body could translate this to was sound…but it still really hurt god damn it! Fucking new guy….not that he was super pissed at him…him moving in had been the thing to move him into Toshi's room after all….

But still, this was too damn loud.

"Woah…." Said Sho as he teleported into the kitchen with Shimazaki. He had hit the floor as he came in, Shimazaki had caught him as he jumped off the room, and that was why he was on the ground…and not just because the new guy was there. Big sis's new friend. They guy with the purple aura…and it was even brighter in person….and also he was really tall…and that wasn't just because Sho was on the ground. He was really, really, really tall….and he was just sitting….

He might have even been taller than Shimazaki.

"Miss Suzuki! Let-let me go!" said Serizawa. Miss Suzuki was stronger than she looked….a lot stronger. She was small, just as small as the little boy who was staring at him, but she was strong enough to get him to stay in place. She was strong enough to keep him still and to keep the room from flying apart…and he wished that he were stronger too….strong enough to be in that room…

But he wasn't.

"Wait, no, you don't have to be scared. That's just my friend Shimazaki and my little brother Sho." said Mob quickly. She held onto his arm as hard as she could. He was strong but she could be strong too. She knew that he was about to freak out and explode. She knew that his powers were acting up and she knew that he wanted to run away and…and she knew that she had to keep him there, keep him with her, make him feel better…eventually.

Sometimes you had to do what was best for someone….and that wasn't always the same as giving someone what they wanted.

Like with Sho. She knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life wanting to eat nothing but poptarts and to drink nothing but cola…and she also knew that he would have gone until the day he died without ever once taken another bath or shower…but she also knew that even though doing all of those things would make him happy she had to do what was best for him. She had to do what was best for her little brother and also what was best for her new friend.

It was always best to do what was best for the people you cared about…even if they didn't want you to.

"Yeah, we're friendly…." Said Sho. That guy looked like he didn't care at all if he and Shimazaki were the friendliest people in all of Japan. He was so freaked out right now…and he had no idea why. It wasn't like they had done anything to him. He had spent his entire life in his room, big sis had said, but that didn't mean that he had any reason to be this freaked out….or to eat….were those Shimazaki's pancakes?

Oh hell no!

Sho had been about to go over and give the new guy a piece of his mind. He didn't care if the new guy was taller and bigger than anyone he had ever met in his life…aside from Shibata….and he didn't care if the new guy's aura was big and bright and freaked out…and he didn't care if big sis was this guy's only friend or whatever. Nobody ate Shimazaki's pancakes and he had to be stopped and Sho would have been the one to stop him-

-if Shimazaki hadn't been holding him back.

"The friendliest….now shut your aura up already and we'll be even friendlier." Said Shimazaki as he put his hand on the top of Sho's head. He normally had no problem with copious amounts of violence and destruction but right now was not the best time. Toshi was in their room, his room and theirs, and they weren't in the best mood and he had just gotten the kid back to whatever passed for normal with him…and also he didn't feel like getting mortally wounded today either. Nope, this was his birthday and on his birthday he would be the one to decide what happened and what was going to happen was nobody was going to fight with the new guy. Not today. Maybe later on when he got more put together but not today.

"I-I don't know what you-" said Serizawa. He closed his eyes. He would have covered them but Miss Suzuki was still holding onto his arm. She was strong, so strong, or maybe he was just weak. Maybe. He was out of his room now. He was out of his room and he had a friend and he was in a place where he was surrounded by people who were just like him…and he should have been better by now. This was everything that he had ever wanted and instead of freaking out and getting dizzy like he was now he just…he just should have been better but…but he wasn't. Even though he had left his room behind he had still…he hadn't left himself behind. He still had himself and….and that was just…this was just…this was what it was….and he was what he was…

And he was who he was.

"Shimazaki, that wasn't very nice. He doesn't know what you mean and even if he did then it still wouldn't have been nice to tell him to shut up." Said Mob as she held Serizawa back. Shimazaki…she knew him. She knew him and she knew how he could be and…and she wished that he could have been nicer but he was who he was. Once you got to know him he could be the nicest person…well one of the nicest people ever…but it took a while to get to know him and in the meantime he could be kind of mean…like now…but he would come around. She'd just have to talk to him, to that was all, she'd remind him and everyone else that Serizawa was a thousand times more delicate than Hatori had ever been and that they all needed to make an effort to be nicer to him and stuff. That was all.

"Well it's not nice to eat other people's pancakes too but you guys are doing that." Said Sho sticking out his tongue. He knew that he was being a jerk but big sis…well she was just being clueless…but being clueless didn't mean that she couldn't be a jerk sometimes too. She was there eating Shimazaki's pancakes with the new guy. Shimazaki needed these to throw at people and…and even if he hadn't needed them these still….this was his birthday and these were his pancakes!

"We only took from the 'for everyone' pile and not from Shimazaki's pile. There are plenty of pancakes here and the two of you are welcome to join us." Said Mob. She knew that Sho was getting upset…and she knew that as a good big sister it was her job to deal with that…and she would. Later. Not now. Right now she had a lot of stuff that she was dealing with and…and she loved her little brother very much….but right now she had to deal with Serizawa before he freaked out and wrecked the entire kitchen and stuff as he did sometimes.

"M-Miss Suzuki-" said Serizawa softly. He didn't want anyone to join them. It was hard enough being outside of his new room as it was. There were three people around him…and he only knew one of them…and this whole thing was a lot. She was holding him back now, keeping him from running, and also keeping his curse…his powers…under control and…and he didn't want to hurt anyone or anything….so the best place for him was alone in his room where everyone would be safe from him. He could see that but she…she couldn't…for some reason.

Because she saw the best in him.

She had said, before, that she liked to see the best in everyone. Especially her friends. They were friends so she was seeing the best in him…even if that best wasn't a part of him. That best, the best that she claimed to have been able to see, wasn't there or here or anywhere. He couldn't be around people. Even if he had everything that he had ever wanted he still couldn't be around people and…and she just wouldn't let him go…and she was so strong….

And she wasn't going to let him go anywhere.

"No thanks, we were just on our way out. See you Mob, new guy. Come on Sho, and grab the syrup too." Said Shimazaki as he let go of Sho's head. One of these days he would teach the kid how to pick a fight. In terms of raw power the new guy would win. In terms of skill, though, Sho would have been the winner but there was no point in having the skill advantage if the other guy was stronger than you were. Shimazaki would have backed him up, of course, if they had been about to fight with anyone else…but this was the new guy and he was going to be living with them for the foreseeable future and also if it wasn't for him then he never would have ended up sharing a room with Toshi so he would leave him be for now.

"Sure! Um…bye big sis…and big sis's new friend. See you later…and also I don't want cheese in my curry tonight!" said Sho. He'd leave big sis to…whatever was up with her and the new guy. She was trying to keep him from freaking out. He knew what that was like. She did the same thing to him, well she used to when he had been little, and he hadn't known that she was strong enough to stop someone…like the new guy. Someone that big and powerful and stuff…but that didn't matter. He and Shimazaki had stuff to do today. He didn't have time to worry about big sis and the new guy and…and all of that other stuff.

He had pancakes to stick to people!

"Ok….bye everyone." Said Mob. She hadn't been planning on doing any cooking that night but she guessed that Sho wanted curry…with no cheese even though the cheese made it good. Well she could do that for him…and she'd make enough for Serizawa too…and probably eat with him. He would probably need to eat with her tonight. He didn't seem like he would stop being freaked out any time soon.

"Miss Suzuki…..I'd like to go back to my room now." Said Serizawa softly. He was better, not, because they were all aloe again. Well sort of alone. He could feel other people in the house but at least he and Miss Suzuki were alone in the kitchen again. He just….even though she was there and…and the room was so big but….but he was ok so long as he was with her. He had left his umbrella in his room. That had been his mistake. Leaving his room without it….or just plain leaving his room….had been a mistake.

"I….ok. We can go back to your room…and I'm very proud of you. I know how hard that must have been and I'm very proud of you for meeting my little brother and Shimazaki." Said Mob. She wanted him to stay out in the kitchen for longer. She was proud of him, very proud, and she wanted…she wanted him meet the rest of the house. Shibata when he was done with his shower, Minegishi when they were out of their room, and Hatori when he was done being at work with dad. She wanted him to meet everyone and be friends with everyone and all of that other stuff….she wanted that a lot…but she also wasn't going to push him too fast….because that was just…not what a good friend did.

"Um…thank you. It wasn't….that bad." Said Serizawa. This hadn't been that bad but…but it would be better if it had been in his room…if he had been in his room. He needed to be in his room…or to have his umbrella…even though she was there. She was there and….well it hadn't been that bad….being in the kitchen…meeting people….and…..

It would have been much worse if she hadn't been there.