Hatori was used to people pounding on the walls to get him to shut up.

It had been that way for his entire life. He had always been kind of loud when he'd played games. Even when he'd been really little and mom and dad had taken him to the arcade they had almost gotten kicked out because he didn't like to lose…and to be fair that had been a cheating crane game….and also to be fair it had gotten better when he realized that he could tell game to let him win. He had no idea how he did it, he had never had any idea how he had done it, but there had been a tie in his life when he'd just been able to tell a game to let him win and then it had let him.

But he wasn't going to do that anymore.

Because it wasn't fun. The point of this was to have fun and, sure, he could have made it so that he won every single time but that would have just been total waste of time and he did not waste his time! Well he did…sometimes…but this was not one of those times! He had been very bus this week, thank you very much, and he deserved a break from the stress of helping to keep Claw together….if it had been a building it would have been held together with paperclips and chewing gum…and this was how he relived stress and that was fine. Better than what Suzuki did…swallowing your feelings like that could not have been good for him….and if he got a little loud sometimes then there wasn't anything wrong with that.

Though maybe he should have been just a little bit quieter.

He had to hold on to his computer with his aura to keep the power going. He may have been too loud there, just a bit too loud. Usually he just got Minegishi pounding on the wall or Shimazaki teleporting in to tilt him back in his chair or something to get him to be quiet. He really knew that he had messed up when Shibata came to the door, knocked, and asked him nicely to be a little bit quieter. Those times were the worst….

Well the second worst now.

The worst times were when he woke the new guy. This guy…he was supposedly a nice guy. Mob had said so. He trusted Mob' judgement…mostly. She was young but she knew what she was dong. If she hadn't known what she was doing then her dad wouldn't have put her in charge like he so often did. It wasn't like he had faith in his other kid after all. No, if Suzuki trusted Mob then so did Hatori and if Mob thought that this guy was nice and good for the group and all then Hatori would believe her.

And also he would apologize because unlike some people in this house, he didn't need to name names, he wasn't a complete and total dick.

"Sorry man, didn't mean to wake you up." Said Hatori as he leaned back in his chair. He had no idea if the new guy had heard that but he wasn't about to start yelling. He could feel that Minegishi had finally fallen asleep and he was not going to be the one to wake them. Nothing good happened to people who woke Minegishi up.

Nothing good happened to people who woe the new guy up either it seemed.

It felt like he was up. Hatori could feel his aura. He could feel it pressing up against him like back when he'd been a kid and some other kids had dared him to touch an electric fence. He hadn't, though, not while the current had been going. He had gotten closer and closer and he had been able to feel it pressing up against him jus like this…but he'd made it stop before he had gotten shocked. He had no idea how to make this stop, he suspected that there was no calming the new guy down when he got like this, but he had to try. He wasn't going to be a dick or anything. That was Shimazaki's thing and Hatori knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of that.

It wasn't good.

"I...I wasn't asleep…" said Serizawa after a moment. Well more than a moment. Several moments. It had taken a while to remember how words worked. How to talk to someone who wasn't Miss Suzuki or his mother…and he had done it. It was easier to talk to someone through the wall. The wall on the other side of him. There was a couple on one side of his room and on the other side there was someone named Hatori. Miss Suzuki said that they would be good friends if they got to know each other.

And that was what he would do.

The first step to doing that was saying something. It was easy…well it got easier…if he just looked at the wall. If he ignored the fact that there was a person on the other side of that wall. If he could ignore the fact that he was talking to someone and that someone was new and that he hadn't talked to someone new in so long…if he ignored all of that and looked at the wall then he…he felt better. It was easier…than talking to someone face to face…but not so…so much easier but….

But Miss Suzuki thought that he could do it then he could….try.

"Well I'm still sorry. I can get really into what I'm doing sometimes." Said Hatori. Huh. So he could talk. He owed Shimazaki a pudding cup. He could talk…or at least he could respond. He didn't say anything after that. Well that was fine. The new guy was a former shut in…well former and current shut in…and that was the most that he had heard him say since he got here so, really, that was great. Mob would be happy about this at least…and it might have even gotten her talking to him again. Things weren't that awkward, it was sort of funny now that some weeks had past, and he just wanted things to get back to normal.

She really was a great kid.

Nice, too. Nice enough that he wondered if she had even come from Suzuki. He liked Suzuki…enough. He could be nice but also he was kind of an asshole….kind of really an asshole….and he hated to say it but Sho could be a real asshole too. Mob was the outlier in her family. He couldn't imagine her dad or her brother being nice enough to teach him how to do laundry…or go through the trouble of bringing someone into the group with as many problems as the new guy…but he wasn't going to sit there and speculate on the fact that Mob didn't look or act anything like her family. No, he was going to sit there and get back to what he was doing.

But quieter this time since he wasn't the only person in this house and he wasn't going to be a dick.

"What…um….what are you doing?" asked Serizawa. He needed to say something else. He needed to talk to the person on the other side of this wall…and he needed to pretend that he hadn't been talking to a person on the other side of the wall. He just….needed to pretend that he was talking to a wall. Like he had gone crazy or something like that. Like he had finally cracked from being alone…and he felt like he was going to. He felt like he was going to lose it…because this was a lot….but it wasn't. it wasn't a lot because he was talking to the wall and he could talk…well he was talking to a person but…but it was a lot easier to talk to the wall so that was what he was going to do.

"Huh?" asked Hatori taking off his headphones.

"Um…I wanted to know what you were…up to. I mean if I'm being…I mean if….um…" said Serizawa. He should have just kept his mouth shut. He didn't know how to talk to people, even when he'd been a kid he hadn't known how to talk to people, and now it was even worse because he just…hadn't talked to anyone new in years. When he'd been a kid nobody had wanted to talk to him. He had been weird and he was even weirder and…and he opened his umbrella. He opened his umbrella and he hid underneath it even though he knew that it was bad luck to open an umbrella indoors. He didn't know what else he could do. Not bother Miss Suzuki. He could tell by the sky, the view of it through the sheet, that it was in the middle of the night and he knew not to wake her up in the middle of the night. She had enough to do during the daytime…she didn't need him bothering her in the middle of the night too.

"Battle Royale." Said Hatori as he put his headphones down on the desk in front of him. He could split his focus…even though this was kind of cheating. He didn't like to use his powers when he did this, it made the while thing boring, but if the new guy wanted to talk then he'd talk to him. Better he be the first one to talk to the new guy than Shimazaki or something.

"The game or…" said Serizawa. He felt like an idiot the minute he had said that. He knew that he was playing a game and he knew that there was a game called Battle Royale but he had just spoken without thinking and he shouldn't have said anything and he should have just shut up and stayed in his room and stuck to playing Bomberman until he felt like going to sleep…or maybe he even should have been asleep….maybe he should have just pretended like he said nothing and tried to fall asleep…or something. He didn't know. His thoughts were going too fast.

He felt like he was going too fast.

Even though he was just sitting there on the floor of his room underneath his umbrella. He felt like he was going much too fast and he was getting dizzy and…and he needed to calm the h-word down. He needed to calm the h-word down and just…he stared at the wall. He picked a spot on the wall and stared at it. He was…he was talking to the wall and not a person and…and that was what he had to tell himself….

Because he couldn't just stop talking. That was no way to make a friend.

"The game. You know it?" asked Hatori. He got it. Well he sort of got it. The way the new guy's voice shook. The way his aura felt. He was freaked out…and Hatori knew that level of freaked out. The level of freaked out where you just wanted to run and hide and never come out. That freaked out where it felt like the whole world was turning way too fast, like you were in one of those thrill rides that went around and around and around…even though you could have sworn that you had gotten on a merry-go-round….and all you wanted to do was get off but you just…couldn't.

Because you couldn't just get off of the ride that was called life…or other such poetic things.

"I…know of it. I don't really play a lot of games like that…with shooting…I mean. I'm not really into…um…very violent games." Said Serizawa. He had never been allowed to play those sorts of games when he'd been small….and he knew that he wasn't small anymore. He was tall enough to have been able to touch the top of the doorframe without even having to stand on his tiptoes. He was tall enough that it hurt his back, actually, when he sat hunched over like this for long periods of time. He was big enough that he could see right over the top of Miss Suzuki's head and be surprised by that fact…because part of him expected to be small like she was…but she was small and he wasn't and…and he could do whatever he wanted now…but he still wasn't a fan of violent games.

He didn't much like hurting people…even people who weren't real.

"Man, you and Mob would get along so well." Said Hatori with a shake of his head. Yeah, that was definitely Mob's friend back there. Maybe they'd get another person in their Minecraft world soon…and maybe she would just come back to it already. Not that he would push her or anything. She was eleven and she'd embarrassed herself.

"We do…I mean me and Miss Suzuki do….I mean…um…." Said Serizawa. He go along with her better than he had ever gotten along with anyone else in his entire life. She was his first friend. She was his only friend. She was the first person in his entire life who had looked at him and seen…something other than someone who could hurt her…something other than someone who had hurt others…someone other than someone who was cursed. She looked at him and saw someone…and nobody had ever looked at him like that….

And if she could look at him and see someone better than what he was…so the least that he could do for her was be the person that she saw him as.

"Hey, you playing something? I mean what are you playing? I mean Mob said that you liked games." Said Hatori

"Bomberman." Said Serizawa. He said it more like a gasp…but he had managed to say it without stuttering. He had also said it without pausing. That was good. That was…Miss Suzuki would have been proud of him if she had heard that. She would have ben proud of him if she had been here for any of this. He wanted that, to make someone proud of him, even though he had never once made anyone proud of him in his entire life.

"The original?" asked Hatori. He didn't draw attention to how freaked out the new guy was. He had always hated that, when he'd been a kid, and he still hated it. When people pointed out how upset he got. When people talked about how fragile he was. He wasn't fragile. Maybe once everyone spent more time with the new guy then they would realize what fragile was and…and that was a dick thought to have. He was not a dick. He knew what it was like to be in a new place and have to deal with someone being a nonstop dick to you.

"Yes…yes, I mean….yes. It's the arcade version." said Serizawa. There, it had gotten better at the end. Once he caught his breath. Once his brain caught up to how fast it was that he felt like he was moving…even though he wasn't moving at all. He felt like…like the one time his mom had taken him to a festival…when he'd been so small that she could have held him still. When they had gotten onto that ride where the floor moved under your feet…he felt like the floor was moving under his feet…but he just…had to move with it. Like his mom had said…he had to move with it or get thrown off…and he wasn't going to get thrown off. Not again. Miss Suzuki….she would not have liked that.

"You and Suzuki would get along really well." Said Hatori. They really would. Suzuki…well when he wasn't being a dick could be really nice…and he was really into arcade games. If the new guy liked them too then, well, they could add someone new to the late night gaming and weird question group. Having another friend might have even gotten Suzuki to drop Fukuda…because that guy wasn't good for him or anyone…not that Hatori was going to go digging around in Suzuki's social life or anything.

"Um…me and Miss Suzuki already get along." Said Serizawa. He had thought that they had been getting along…but what if they hadn't been! He tried to calm down, he tried to stop feeling dizzy, he tried to stop getting thrown off. He just…there were other people called Suzuki…her brother…her dad….her mom who she said that she hadn't seen in years…probably a million other people since this was Japan…he just…

He needed to stay on this thing. He didn't get to fall off. Not again.

"No, I mean her dad. President Suzuki. He likes that old arcade stuff…well he'll never admit to it but he likes arcade games. He's really weird like that…and kind of an asshole too…but he's a great guy. You should come and hang out with us one of these days." Said Hatori

"Oh…um…that would be….I mean…." Said Serizawa. Right. Miss Suzuki had a dad and he was called Suzuki and…and he had no idea if he could become friends, or at least hang out with, her dad. He had never spent time with him before…or any dad…or any man really…well he was a man now but hanging out with yourself didn't count…and also he didn't feel like….

He still felt small.

But he wasn't small. He was an adult now and….and he needed to…to at least try. He could try and…and he was trying right now. He was trying and…and he was doing well. Talking to the wall…to the person on the other side of the wall. So much was behind that wall….another person….one who he was talking to. One who he was talking to….and one who was talking to him…one who was being nice to him and…and one who Miss Suzuki said that he would like to be friends with….

And he could always use more friends…

"Not now, I mean. Later. He's been in a pretty weird mood lately. I think that he's just pissed off because he lost Osaka. He…doesn't take well to loosing. Not at all. He can be kind of….like that sometimes. You know what? Let me get him ready to hang out with you….because he does listen to me at least a little…and I know what it's like to be in a new place and to be all freaked out and shit. It's hard." Said Hatori

"It…yes…it is." Said Serizawa. He had never been so freaked out in his entire life. Well…maybe…he didn't know. He had been freaked out nonstop for so long that he was just getting….tired. Tired and just….he didn't know. Tired enough to try, maybe, or maybe he was trying because Miss Suzuki was trying for him and she deserved to have him trying for her…or something.

"So….Bomberman…do you have another controller?" asked Hatori

"I…I do…" said Serizawa. He had a bunch of spares for when he accidentally broke his. He had taken them with him when he moved. He had taken almost his entire room with him when he had left.

"Want to try two player?" asked Hatori going off on a giant limb. He knew what it was like to play all by yourself for years on end. After mom and dad had died…well that was different….and even when he'd been a kid it had been rare when mom and dad had played with him…and he knew how much it sucked having to play on your own.

"W-with you?" asked Serizawa. He felt like his heart was going to stop. He felt like he was going to fall off…he didn't know. The world? He didn't know. He just…felt…he didn't know what he felt. He held his umbrella closet. Someone wanted to play with him. This was…one of those things that he had wanted. This was what he had wanted and…and he had wanted this for so long. Someone else to play with…and he just…this was….he had something that he always wanted and…and he could do this…he had to try to do this. For Miss Suzuki. This was….what she wanted.

"Yeah, only if you want to though. I know how clunky two player can be on that but, hey, I'm up for anything." said Hatori

"It…it can be. I don't think that it was meant to be two player…originally." Said Serizawa

"It wasn't, actually. The two player was put in at literally the last second." Said Hatori

"Oh….I didn't know that." Said Serizawa

"Most people don't. I can't believe it, that someone would do something like that just for another hundred yen….this is just like…sorry. Sorry. I just really like gaming history and, well, it did come from the greatest era of gaming…." Said Hatori. Suzuki was starting to grow on him. Fine, he could call the arcade era the greatest era of gaming just because it laid the building blocks of so much that the world took for granted or whatever….and Suzuki would never let him live it down if he knew that Hatori was agreeing with him.

"I think so too." Said Serizawa. He wasn't lying. This was the greatest era of gaming. Very thing was so simple and easy to follow and a lot of the times the levels kept ongoing and going and going….well until the whole thing crashed….but still. He had never met anyone, before, who felt the same way that he did…well he hadn't met anyone else before who liked this stuff end of discussion.

"So, do you want to play?" asked Hatori. Hanging out with the new guy was better than sitting in his room and playing alone until he got tired enough to get some sleep. Even if he did freak out…and he did that a lot…well Hatori wasn't a dick. He wasn't going to just sit there and just…be a dick like that. The new guy needed all the friends that he could get and Hatori, well he could be that person. Besides, what was Claw if not a friendship cult?

"I…um….sure…" said Serizawa. He did. He liked this person and he wanted to hang out with them…and he wanted more friends. If anything he needed more friends….not that he wasn't grateful to Miss Suzuki…but she had asked that he make friends with her friends and that was what he was doing. He was doing this for himself, too, because…well he had always wanted a friend who liked the same things that he did…and now he had one…sort of.

"Cool. I'm Hatori by the way, if you didn't already know…you know, since we haven't been formally introduced." said Hatori

"I…I know….I'm Serizawa…but you already knew that…probably." Said Serizawa. He had said something stupid again. Miss Suzuki had probably told him already and…and it was just so hard to think of what to day sometimes and what to do and…and he just…he needed….he wanted to just…he had to calm down. This was what he wanted and he was supposed to be getting better and…and he just…this was what Miss Suzuki wanted for him. He just had to focus on that, on what Miss Suzuki wanted, on how happy she would be that he had made a friend. That was all. He could do that….he had to tell himself that he could do that….and maybe if he told himself enough times that he could do that then maybe it would be true.

"Well Serizawa prepare to get your ass kicked…or to kick my ass. One of the two." Said Hatori as he got up from his chair. As he got closer to the wall he could feel the other aura pressing down on him…but that was ok. The new guy was just a little freaked out but, well, sometimes Hatori got just a little freaked out too. He could deal with the new guy getting freaked out….and hopefully the new guy could deal with him, too.

But he'd try and be quieter than usual just to be safe.