On Halloween you were supposed to watch a scary movie…but nobody had told Shibata that.
He was the one who had picked this movie. Well he was the one who had put this movie in the hat. This was the will of the hat, Sho knew full well that this was the will of the hat, but the will of the hat could be challenged. It had to be challenged and maybe he was the person to challenge it! Because this movie…this was the most boring movie that he had ever seen in his life.
And he'd seen Frozen one hundred and twelve times.
"Seriously….?" Muttered Sho as he shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth. At least the popcorn was good. Shibata had made regular popcorn and kettle corn too. There was also caramel popcorn but Sho let Shimazaki have that since he was Shimazaki and he deserved it…and stuff. Even if he was letting Minegishi use him as a pillow….and even if he was just sitting there and letting the most boring movie in existence play.
Seriously.
This was the dumbest thing that Sho had ever seen. There was a lady and she was pretty and she met this rich guy and now they were hanging out in a hotel. It didn't look like she was going to kill him or he was going to kill her or anything like that. The hotel wasn't even haunted and there hadn't been a single zombie on screen either. This was just…well now she was trying to go shopping….so boring….
Such a waste of a movie night.
"Sho, don't complain with your mouth full." Said Mob. She didn't want him to complain at all but she knew her little brother and she knew that he didn't like these kinds of movies. That was why, for her hat vote, she put in for the movie about the guy who killed people and wore their faces….even though she hated that movie. She knew that Sho liked it because he liked movies where people died and stuff….and she would never understand why. She loved her little brother, more than anyone else in the world, but she still didn't understand how he could sit there for two hours and watch people get cut up and killed and stuff.
This movie was really much better.
"Don't complain at all. You know better than to argue with the will of the hat." Said Minegishi. Ryou ran his fingers through their hair. A lock of it went down into their eyes…and he brushed it back. They needed either a hair thing or a haircut….or maybe a new spot….no. They wouldn't be moving. They were too damn comfortable. They were comfortable enough to forget that they were watching a truly bizarre romcom about a prostitute finding love with a joyless businessman, to forget that they had been pissed at Ryou because he had been ashing in their bed earlier that day, and to forget that Mob little brother was laying down at the floor glaring at them with all his might.
He was cute, sometimes, if you forgot who he was and why he was glaring in the first place.
"The hat works in mysterious ways." Said Shimazaki through a mouth full of caramel corn. He was so focused on Toshi that he could feel their nose doing that adorable thing it did when they were annoyed. He could have gladly spent the night watching their nose wrinkle in disgust with him…but he couldn't do that. Nope, they were having one of their movie nights again and, once again, Shibata's pick had won. It wasn't a bad movie, it at least had narration even if it was in English, but it was no Magical Mystery Tour….or Yellow Submarine….or Across the Universe….but it was still better than whatever screamfest Sho had probably put in the hat. Shimazaki was not a fan of horror movies, too many quiet and loud parts one after the other, but he was somewhat a fan of romantic comedies. Not as much as Toshi, though, but more than they would ever dare to admit.
"Yeah well….what, exactly, does this have to do with Halloween?" asked Sho from his spot on the floor. He was laying down on the carpet right in front of the TV. He had claimed this spot because he had thought that they would be watching something interesting. Not….this. He couldn't believe that Shimazaki was actually enjoying this…well the movie was called Pretty Woman and he did like girls….but he couldn't even tell that the girl was pretty! Also a girl being pretty wasn't enough to carry a whole movie! Now if she had been pretty and then chopped up and made into a Frankenstein or eaten or if she was pretty because she stole other people's skin and body parts and ate their organs then that would have been a movie!
"Absolutely nothing." Said Minegishi as they laid their head on Ryou's shoulder. No way was this kid going to upset them tonight. They couldn't deal with that. This was a rare moment of peace in the house and they were going to do their best to enjoy it. They had a party to go to tomorrow, a crazy HQ Claw only work party, and they had to take as much peace as they could before they had to go out into that insanity.
"She puts one fancy clothes….which is like putting on a costume….so that's like Halloween...and stuff." Said Mob. She pushed the popcorn bowl closer to Sho. She knew that she should have maybe pushed for Sho's pick but…well that wouldn't have been fair to everyone else.
"I'm going to go with Sho on this one…who picked this out again?" asked Hatori looking up from his phone. This was….a weird pick. Shibata's picks were always like this, romance movies, but this was Halloween. Not that they had to watch something rated R18 or anything like that, there were kids here, but maybe something like….well he didn't know a lot of horror movies but….well anything would have been better than this.
Suzuki agreed with him.
He agreed that Pretty Woman was a weird movie to pick for the night before Halloween….and apparently Suzuki had seen it. His wife had probably liked it. She liked stuff like this…well Hatori hadn't been told that for sure but Suzuki knew a lot about British dramas and romantic movies and, well, who else but his wife would have been into that stuff? Also this was an old movie and Suzuki knew a lot about old stuff. That was why he had texted Suzuki to invite him to this thing. Not that he thought that Suzuki would have come but that was what friends did.
They invited their friends to weird Halloween Eve movie nights.
"Hey…we never said that it had to be a scary movie…and also we have kids here. We can't watch scary movies because the kids might get nightmares." Said Shibata. He focused on the bowl of popcorn in his lap. He picked the burnt parts out for himself, it was the least he could do after his pick one for tonight's movie night. He knew that they should have been watching a horror movie but he just…was not a fan. Also there kids there and kids…well he knew how easily kids could be scared and he didn't want to be responsible for that. If horror movies freaked him out then it would have been even worse for the kids…and he knew what Sho watched sometimes…but maybe that wasn't really all that good for him.
"The kids or you?" asked Minegishi
"There's nothing wrong with nightmares…Suzuki thinks so too." Said Hatori looking down at his phone. He knew that he wasn't being all that polite but…well Suzuki was in a chatty mood and he could be kind of interesting sometimes…and also romance movies were kind of boring. Two people met, they fell in love, they had a fight, they got back together, and then they all lived happily ever after. He would have rather sat next to Suzuki and watched one of his very long and dry documentaries about the history of kendo or something.
"Who cares what my dad thinks?" asked Sho throwing a handful of popcorn at Hatori. He didn't know what big sis was giving him that look for. She caught the popcorn with her powers and put it back in the bowl. Maybe she was in love with him again or something….which would have been great because then she would have stayed away from Shimazaki….not that he cared who she fell in love with…and not that she was in love with Shimazaki or anything like that. No, he didn't have to worry about big sis, she wasn't after Shimazaki, it was Minegishi that he had to worry about…not that he was ever going to be able to go out with Shimazaki or anything like that.
"Apparently Hatori." Said Minegishi
"You stay out of this." said Sho
"Sho, be nice." Said Mob. Nope. They were not going to fight. She was not going to let her little brother fight with her best friend on movie night…or any night….but especially movie night. This was one of their fun nights…and also they had to be in a good mood for the party tomorrow. Dad had scaled it down so that it was just for Claw people…and there would be no dogs running around…or pudding waterfalls and swimming pools…or jumping off of the roof…but it could still be fun. It would be a lot more, fun, though, if they were all in a good mood for tomorrow.
"I am nice. They're the one being all….into other people's business and stuff." Said Sho. He got quiet towards the end until he just stopped talking. He could feel Shimazaki looking at him. He could feel Shimazaki's aura on his and…and he knew that he had messed up. He didn't look back there, back to the couch that Shimazaki and Minegishi took up. They could have sat on the floor, or one of them could have sat down on the little couch with Hatori…or they could have kicked Shibata out of the big chair…and stuff….but they were sitting together. They were sitting together because they loved each other…and stuff….and Sho….
He didn't want to turn around and look at that.
"Sho come on, watch the movie. It's not that bad. I mean it's no Frozen but it's not that bad." Said Mob. She knew that love could make a person say and do that strangest things…even fight with Minegishi. They were in love with Shimazaki, and they were his theyfriend, so of course Sho would have been mad at them….but there was nothing that anyone could do about it. Also Mob didn't want to do anything about it. She wanted Minegishi and Shimazaki to be happy…but she also wanted Sho to be happy….and there was no way to make them all happy….so maybe the best thing to do was just watch the movie before a fight happened.
"Of course you like it, it's a girl's movie." Said Sho. He liked some girls stuff, and he knew that girls could like boys stuff, but for some stuff there was no overlap. He sort of liked parts of Frozen but big sis was right. This was no Frozen. This was one of those kissing and love movies where nothing happened and he just didn't like those. If someone exploded or got cut up with a chainsaw or other Halloween stuff it would have been a different story entirely but none of that was happening so he was bored out of his mind.
"Hey, there are no girl movies or boy movies. There are just movies." Said Shimazaki
"What about princess movies?" asked Sho. There were too boy movies and girl movies…and what did he know? He couldn't even watch movies and…and that had been mean…and he had no idea why he had just been so mean to Shimazaki. He was his best friend. He wasn't supposed to be that mean to his best friend…or mean at all.
"Who doesn't like a good princess movie….Hatori put your hand down." Said Shimazaki
"What? Come on, I'm not really a fan of princess movies…sorry Mob." Said Hatori. Mob squeaked and looked down at the rug.
"Um…it's ok. You're a boy. I understand." Said Mob
"It has nothing to do with being a boy or a girl. I'm not a fan either….and I'm very sorry, Mob, but that's how I feel." Said Minegishi
"But…you like Frozen. We've watched it together a bunch of times. You like it." Said Mob
"That's true, you guys do watch Frozen together." Said Shibata
"Well that's different. Frozen isn't a princess movie. It's about sisterly love and also Elsa is a queen and I would have thought that you of all people would have known that, Mob." Said Minegishi
"Elsa is only a queen after her coronation, before that she's a princes, and also Anna is a princess for the whole movie." Said Mob
"I can feel my brain melting." Said Sho with a groan. Some of big sis's movies could be ok…just ok. Nobody ever got hurt, there was no blood, nothing ever wound up catching fire or exploding, and hardly anyone ever died. Girl movies were so boring….but he knew that girls felt the same way about boy movies so it was even.
"In that case trade popcorn with me." Said Shimazaki. He held out the bowl of caramel corn and the kid picked it up with his powers. Shimazaki grabbed the bowl that Sho had been eating from and…yup. Kettle corn. Not the brain melting kind but still pretty damn good.
"Just because there are princesses in it that doesn't mean that it's a princess movie. That movie is about sisterly love and coming out and self-acceptance. Princess movies are just about surviving trauma and running away with the first man that can save you from your terrible life." Said Minegishi
"That's…not true. They're love stories. Really good ones…even if love at first sight isn't real. Like um….how Belle falls in love with the Beast-" said Mob
"After he imprisons her in his castle…and even then after she's been shunned by society for the crime of reading." Said Minegishi
"It wasn't a crime….people just weren't nice to her." said Mob
"What was even up with that town anyway? Who the hell wants to be a bunch of illiterates? Such a weird ass thing to be proud of….right?" asked Shimazaki
"Apparently seventeenth century French people." Said Minegishi
"Come on, don't ruin Disney for her. Not all princess movies are like that. Well the old ones…I guess…but um….the little mermaid-" said Shibata
"She ran away to the surface after her father destroyed her entire life's collection of human artifacts. It was very traumatic for her. Also the body horror of getting legs after being a mermaid your whole life…not to mention now she has to be complacent in the killing and eating of her former subjects." Said Minegishi
"Um…well there's nothing wrong with cannibalism….because some people are just like that." Said Mob looking back at Hatori. She hoped that Minegishi hadn't hurt his feelings talking like that. She hadn't thought before about how Ariel had to eat fish once she got to the surface….or how it was cannibalism…but that was ok because…well it wasn't real…but there were real cannibals and they were ok just so long as never ate people….and they couldn't help being who they were and there was no need to make someone feel bad about themselves like that.
"That's right….it's good to be open minded." Said Shibata. He was not going to be the one to correct her. She didn't need to know what Hatori had really meant by that. She was just a little girl. She needed to keep her head full of little girl things…like this really bizarre conversation they had all found themselves in.
"I don't think that it would be cannibalism anyway because she wasn't eating other mermaids…and she's clearly got a human half so she must eat fish." said Hatori. He knew why Mob was looking at him like that…and he knew that he was never going to live the whole 'cannibalism' thing down….but that was ok. He would rather spend the rest of his life with Mob thinking he was some sort of closeted cannibal than having Mob know what he had meant when he had said…all that he had said…to Minegishi last year at the Christmas party.
"No, she ate seaweed and sand and stuff. Otherwise why would her dad have been so mad at humans for eating fish for?" asked Sho. Not that he knew a lot about big sis's girl movies…but the little mermaid was ok. The sea witch got stabbed in the guts at the end and she exploded. That was the best ending of any Disney movie that he had ever seen in his life. Well one of her princess ones at least. Zootopia…well that was the greatest movie ever made.
"Yuck….sand eating. I don't think that they ate sand…but maybe they ate seaweed and other sea plants and stuff….and I don't think that she ran away with Eric just because her life was sad…and it wasn't that sad. Her dad could be mean sometimes but that's just how dads are. He still loved her and stuff. Sometimes your dad can be really mean and sometimes it can seem like he doesn't love you…or he loves you a little too much….but that's just how they are." Said Mob
"Mob…when you sing to birds come to you and help you with your chores and stuff?" asked Minegishi with a shake of their head. They wished that Mob still wore those costumes everywhere. Now she lived in tutu skirts and princess t-shirts but she had been so cute when she'd been smaller…and also it would have been the perfect costuming for what she had just said. No wonder Mob had always been so into that stuff. The dead mother, the traumatic childhood, the literal supervillain for a father…Minegishi wondered when the music would start up and the birds and woodland creatures would come.
"Um…I don't really sing but I don't think that I have that power…but it would be nice if someone came and helped me with my chores….but that's ok. I can do them on my own." Said Mob. If anyone had that power it would have been Sho…but she wasn't going to say that. She didn't need Sho figuring out if he could sing and call animals to himself…he had already brought baby snakes into the house before….they did not need to deal with any more animals inside the house ever again.
"Never mind. Just remember that the basis of all Disney princess movies, and all romantic movies in general, in unhealthy wish fulfillment and the desire to get away from a traumatic environment." Said Minegishi. Movies like this…well they had watched movies like this when they had been younger…Mob's age…young enough to be able to swallow all of it, anyway.
"Toshi, are you telling me that this movie about a hooker falling in love with and marrying some rich douchebag, changing him into a decent human being, and riding off into the sunset with him is some kind of wish fulfillment fantasy?" asked Shimazaki
"Yeah, for the guy. If this were real life she wouldn't have even negotiated. She would have just robbed him and blown the money on coke or something." Said Toshi
"Hey, be nice. Not all hookers are like that. Some of the best people I have ever known have been hookers." Said Shimazaki. He could hear Toshi's aura…and it sounded all huffy…which wasn't good because it sounded sort of hiccup when he was this near to them…and he had no idea what they were upset about…unless it was all this hooker talk…yeah, ok, they were sitting there with the kids but the kids weren't like regular kids and also they were watching Pretty Woman of all the things.
"We know. We've all seen your last arm portrait." Said Minegishi. They were not bitter. They were not jealous. They were not anything at all. Ryou had led a very long and colorful life before he had met them. They didn't know the full story behind that portrait, just that it had been of someone he had loved, and they didn't care. They were the one on his arm now…and also they didn't believe that one person could own another…and they were not going to let themselves become possessive. They hated possessive people and they would not allow themselves to become someone like that.
"Wait, that was a hooker?" asked Hatori. He thought that it had been some great love of his life or something…like there was some tragic backstory or something….not just some hooker he knew once…and also Shimazaki didn't even seem like he needed to go to places like that. He knew how hot he was…not that Hatori looked at him like that…he was just stating a fact. Shimazaki was a really hot guy and to paraphrase Suzuki if Hatori had been a girl, or actually gay then he would have been all over that.
"She wasn't a hooker." Said Shimazaki simply. She was…not someone who he was in the mood to talk about. Risa had been…someone in his life who had been special to him….like Toshi was…but that was over now and he had Toshi and…and he had no reason to talk about…all of that.
"No, she was the love of your life." Said Minegishi with a shrug. They did not feel threatened. They had only just started this thing with Ryou….and anyway they did not feel threatened. They did not feel any of those feelings which they were simply not capable of feeling.
"No, Toshi, you're the-" said Shimazaki leaning in close. Did Toshi not know? Well he had never told them…and that was on him. Risa had been…someone…but she was gone now and Toshi…well Toshi was there. They were there and they would always be there and he loved them more than anyone else in the world. They were the love of his life. They should have known that…he should have told them.
"What's a hooker?" asked Mob suddenly and maybe a little too loudly. She had to say something. She knew what Shimazaki was going to say. She knew that he was going to tell Minegishi that they were the love of his life…and she knew that she had to stop him before Sho heard. She loved Shimazaki and Minegishi and she had been wanting them to get together for a long time now…but she didn't want Sho to end up with his heart ripped out. She knew that if her little brother had heard Shimazaki say that then his heart would have been ripped out and the Mortal Kombat guy would have said 'fatality' and it would have been a fatality, it really would have, because nobody could ever live with a heart that broken.
"Uh….what?" asked Hatori. He checked the rating of the movie and…this was somehow a family movie…well in America this was a family movie….how was this a family movie!?
"Yeah….I don't know what you guys are talking about either." Said Sho. He had no idea what any of this had to do with putting things on hooks. He maybe needed to focus on what everyone was saying better…or just the movie…or anything other than Shimazaki and Minegishi getting all cuddly on the couch.
"You know what? Let's watch something else. Sho, what did you want to put on?" asked Shimazaki. Right. This was…about stuff that kids should not have known about…and he'd watched this movie with mom when he'd been little…even smaller than them…but he just…he did not need to explain what prostitution was to them. They were still so little.
"Nothing with screaming or jump scares. They're hell on my hearing." Said Shimazaki. No way was he going to sit through one of Sho's chainsaw screamfests. He needed to be able to hear….and also a lot of those movies didn't have narration and he hated sitting through a movie with no narration.
"Well I wanted to put on this movie where there's this guy and he has this secret underground lair and he lures people in so he can skin them alive and wear their faces and then leave them alive with no skins on so he can put other people's skin on them but not their faces….but we can watch something else like the nightmare before Christmas or some other thing like that…because I know that Shimazaki likes music and hates movies with a lot of screaming and chainsaw noises." Said Sho
"….the hell….?" Muttered Hatori. That was…he wished that he was good enough friends with Suzuki to question his parenting because…well Sho had enough problems as it was.
"Yeah…let's do that…the nightmare before Christmas I mean…not the…skinning….that's not good." Said Shibata. Seeing things like that could not have been good for Sho at all….but he wasn't going to get into it with him now. He'd picked a nice kid's movie that didn't have…any of that…unpleasantness…in it.
"That's a good pick, Sho, you did good." Said Mob. The last thing she wanted was to watch that movie again…and when dad took over the world she was going to have words with the movie makers. Why couldn't they make nice movies where people were friends and sang songs and didn't skin other people and take their faces?
"Yeah, I know I did…now let me eat." Said Sho as he stuffed his mouth full of popcorn so he didn't say anything else. He could feel Shimazaki's aura and it was all tangled up with Minegishi's…and he just…didn't want that to be happening but it was so….so instead of fighting he was just…going to eat popcorn and not fight with anyone.
"I'll go make more popcorn." Said Shibata. Wow, Sho sure was hungry tonight…or he was just eating his feelings…but that was ok, he was a growing boy. Either way he needed food and Shibata was always happy to feed the kids.
"I'll go get Serizawa, he might like this movie." Said Mob as she got up. She wondered if he would come out this time. She knew that he was still nervous around people but he'd met Hatori and liked him and also he'd sort of met Sho and Shimazaki…and also it was movie night and they couldn't have a house movie night without the whole house. Hatori had even invited dad of all people so the least that she could do was invite Serizawa again.
"I'll nail down the furniture." Muttered Minegishi sarcastically. They had clearly been sarcastic there but Ryou wrapped an arm around them just the same. He pulled them close and rested his head down onto theirs. They could feel him breathing against their ear…and they could feel Sho's aura glaring at them. Ryou must have been able to sense it or feel it or hear it or however he was perceiving things at the moment. He must have known that he was pouring gasoline onto a fire…a fire that he needed to deal with before the kid got older and things got REALLY out of hand.
"Toshi…you know that you're the love of my life, right?" asked Shimazaki quietly, too quietly for Sho to hear. He knew that Sho couldn't hear them because he hadn't gotten up and killed Toshi the second he said that. He knew that he should have waited but he needed to tell Toshi now, before he forgot, and before they went and thought that he would ever put anyone above them.
"Ryou….do you want to hear it in English or Japanese? The movie, I mean." Said Minegishi. Nope. They were not getting into it with Sho right there…or at all. They just…they had exchanged I love yous and…and they hadn't known that there was anything bigger than that but Ryou had found it…and they had no idea if they were ready for that…and they were tired of having things that they were not ready for thrust upon them. Like the room they were sharing….the big bed….they just….needed a minute…or two….or two thousand.
"Whichever has the narration." Said Shimazaki. He knew Toshi and he knew that they weren't ready to say it back to him…also he might not even have been the love of their life but…well they were the love of his and that was what mattered.
"I'll find it!" said Sho. So that was what they were talking about over there…and Sho could find one with good narration in…in both! That way they could switch back and forth! He got up and took the remote from Hatori…well he had been using his power but…but Sho could do things! He could help! He could help and then Shimazaki would have been all 'wow Sho!' and 'thanks for helping me out' and 'you're a much better friend than Minegishi so you should sit by me and use me as a pillow and I'll touch your back and your hair and let you touch my chest and stuff'….or something.
Things that he was not going to think about now.
He was going to think about how they were watching an actual Halloween movie…well one about Halloween and Christmas…which was better than a movie about a pretty lady falling in love with some jerk. Yeah. He was going to think about that and the popcorn and the party tomorrow and how he and Shimazaki were going to hang out at the party and how they were going to have fun and….and how big sis had gotten the new guy out of his room and…and stuff like that….fun stuff….
Fun Halloween type stuff….because it was Halloween Eve…their Halloween Eve movie night.