The gingerbread friends were not for eating.

Friends were not food….and Mob did not understand why certain people could not understand that. Not Hatori, though, he was very good about not trying to eat his friends and he was an actual cannibal. Well he had never eaten anyone but he did want to eat people even if he never acted on it so…well Mob was never going to make her friends feel bad about something that they could not help. Hatori couldn't help wanting to eat people but he never did it…Shimazaki on the other hand…

Well he should have known not to eat the gingerbread friends.

"Shimazaki, come on. You know that we can't eat these until after Christmas." Said Mob as she reached over with her powers and pulled an undecorated gingerbread friend out of Shimazaki's hands. Minegishi had told her, before, that Shimazaki didn't get enough food when he was little and that was why he was such a scavenger, their words, as an adult. Mob was very sorry that there were some days when his mom wasn't allowed to feed him…but they had a whole kitchen full of food for him now so he didn't have to eat the gingerbread friends that Shibata had spent hours and hours perfecting.

The gingerbread friends were very important.

This was Christmas and at Christmas time you were supposed to do Christmas things. Usually they just decorated a tree and drank egg nog and watched Christmas movies, and also Totoro because Minegishi liked it, but…well it was nice to do new things. Also Mob had seen about this on the internet and it had looked like fun. Also a good opportunity to take pictures and post them, too, which was important. Minori had said so. She knew about this kind of stuff…well that kind of stuff. She didn't really have any friends to make gingerbread friends with…but that was ok. Mob could make a cookie for her, too.

That is if Shimazaki didn't end up eating them all.

"But they'll be stale by then." Said Shimazaki as he crossed his arms. Really. There was food and food was meant to be eaten…and really it was cruel torture him with the smells of fresh backed gingerbread and then expect him to not eat anything.

"So? Ryou, I've seen you petrified fries from your pockets. Fries from God only knows when." Said Minegishi as they spread some black frosting on a cookie for Ryou. Thiers was already done. Not the greatest work of art but, hey, they had dragged themselves out of bed for this so they got an A or whatever the highest grade was in the country for their effort.

"Oh God, I remember that." Said Hatori with a Suzuki style full body shudder. Shimazaki…well Minegishi had been right to call him a scavenger. He would literally eat everything…so maybe him eating all of the gingerbread men was a step up from the pocket fries…but not really since this was really important to Mob.

It was nice to see her happy again.

The thing that had happened had finally passed. She was over him, or at least she didn't run away when they were in the same room together, and she could ever look his way now. That was good. Mob had enough going on in her life without an added helping of never ending embarrassment. Now things could get back to normal around here…well as normal as they could be with all of them living together in one house.

So something in the same hemisphere as normal.

"Hey, there's nothing weird about what I did. There was food, I ate it. You're supposed to eat food when you find it. Serizawa, back me up here." Said Shimazaki

"I…um….I…" said Serizawa. He knew that he should have been a good friend and agreed…but that had been really gross, what Shimazaki had done, and kind of unsafe probably…and he knew that it would have been wrong to say that but…he couldn't just lie either.

"Ryou, stop tormenting him. That's what Hatori's for." Said Minegishi. They tapped his aura with theirs so he knew that they were serious. Serizawa was always about ten seconds away from a massive panic attack and, really, Minegishi did not want to spend Christmas recovering from whatever grievous wounds they ended up getting in the ensuring explosion.

"Shimazaki can torment whoever he wants to torment…and maybe he's just bored of tormenting Hatori….or something." Said Sho. Minegishi was such a jerk sometimes. How could they just…sit there and tell Shimazaki what to do? What made them think that they had the right? Sho would never in a million years have told Shimazaki what to do….or Emmy, his actual girlfriend…and she never told him what to do…so he knew how relationships worked!

"Sho, no. Hatori is a good friend and tormenting him is not boring and…wait…that came out wrong. Give me a second." Said Mob

"Shimazaki can torment whoever he wants to torment…and besides, that's what he's for. Like Minegishi said." Said Sho. He hated agreeing with them and he wished that he could take it back. The words tasted like ashes in his mouth…like that time he ate a clove just to see what it would have been like.

"Exactly. See? Even Mob's little brother agrees with me." Said Minegishi. They didn't actually advocate for the tormenting of Hatori, it was getting old, but what they were advocating for was Hatori finally growing backbone. If he told Ryou off then he'd leave him alone and this headache could finally end.

"Hey!" said Hatori. He knew that they weren't kidding. He knew that, because of what he had said to him, Minegishi would be pissed at him until the day that they died. They had that right…but Shimazaki really should have laid off him! He didn't even like Minegishi like that anymore…well he still thought that they had it going on…but he wasn't going to do anything about it! Shimazaki just couldn't get that through his head but…whatever. He had other people he could talk to and hang out with…

He wondered what Suzuki was up to right now.

Probably sitting at his computer working or something. Something all alone and lonely. He was a lonely guy even though he never admitted it. All of his kids were here and his wife was gone and he was in some weird fight or whatever with his best friend. Hatori pulled out his phone and invited him over. He knew that nobody liked Suzuki but….well nobody had gotten to know him either. Taken the time to sit with him and get past how much of an asshole he could be most of the time. He really could be a nice guy…sometimes….you just had to get to know him….

A quick response. A 'no' followed by a 'no thank you' and then nothing. Well there was always next time.

"…I would never agree with you…you dick hole…" muttered Sho. He got kicked by Shimazaki for his troubles but not that hard. He knew that he had deserved it. He had said something mean to Minegishi…but they had been mean first! It was like they got up every single morning and said to themselves 'today I feel like being an asshole' and then they just…were! Not even Christmas could make them less of an asshole!

What did Shimazaki see in them anyway?

"I am not tormenting him. Serizawa, am I tormenting you?" asked Shimazaki pointedly ignoring the angry muttering that Sho was doing. He knew that he should have handled it but…well it was Christmas. No sense in getting into heavy shit like that over Christmas. The gift gods wouldn't like that at all…the gift god being Mob. Yeah, there was no way he was getting his yearly economy sized box of assorted pudding cups if she heard him pissing off her little brother.

"You don't have to answer-" said Hatori

"You weren't! You really weren't!" said Serizawa. Shimazaki was his friend and friends did not do that to one another…well he could be sort of mean to Hatori…so did that mean that friends could be mean to each other sometimes? That it was alright? Or was it just alright for Shimazaki? This whole thing was so confusing. He looked down at his cookie. Cookies were simple. They were just…thee flat things that they were painting with frosting. His was almost done. It wasn't so hard…well his didn't look as good as Miss Suzuki's….but that made sense. She was Miss Suzuki. She was good at everything she put her mind to. President Suzuki had said so…not that Serizawa needed to be told how amazing his best friend was.

"See? I would never torment him…well I'm not now I mean. It would be easy, really fucking easy, but it would be so easy it would be pointless." Said Shimazaki

"I…oh. Alright." Said Serizawa. He…had no idea how to feel about that. On the one hand he didn't want to be tormented but on the other hand…well he also, for reasons he didn't understand, didn't want to be told that he wasn't worth tormenting either…and stuff. He didn't understand…so he would just…stick to decorating cookies.

"He doesn't mean it, Serizawa, that's just the way he is. Sometimes he's mean for no reason, sometimes he's nice, and sometimes he eats gross things that he finds in his pockets…and also candles….but that's ok. You're ok." Said Mob as she patted Serizawa on the hand. She'd have to talk to Shimazaki again later about being mean to people when he didn't have to be…or at all. She knew that he couldn't help the way he was, to a degree, but she also knew that he had to maybe try a little bit harder. It was bad enough that he treated Hatori the way he did. Hatori was fragile but like those porcelain dolls that dad kept on getting her even though she didn't really like them. Serizawa was fragile like rice paper…or tissue paper…or something else that was fragile and sensitive and got hurt easily.

"Hey! You know for a fact that I don't eat the candles….I just like the way they feel in my mouth." Said Shimazaki

"But….why?" asked Serizawa. He looked past the table over at the candle wreath…thing. Someone had been chewing on them and…well now he knew who…but he had no idea why…but maybe it just wasn't for him to understand. Friends…they could be weird people sometimes.

"Shimazaki can so whatever he wants to!" said Sho. What was everyone ganging up on his best friend for?! Didn't they have other things to do!? Like…like cookie stuff! They had to get these cookies ready by Christmas because….because of Christmas reasons!

"Shimazaki is complicated. He'll tell you later." Said Mob quietly. She would have to talk to Sho again about shouting when Serizawa was near. He hated loud and sudden noises…and about a million other things…but that was alright. He was her friend and she took good care of her friends. She passed him more orange frosting. Not exactly a Christmas color but he needed it to color in the bathrobe on his gingerbread friend cookie.

"Exactly. I'm a very complicated man and I do complicated things that even I don't fully understand sometimes." Said Shimazaki

"Are you the one that's been eating the candles in the advent wreath?" asked Minegishi

"Yeah, Toshi, who the fuck else would it be?" asked Shimazaki with a laugh. He felt Toshi rolling their eyes at him before getting back to making their cookie. He reached over and tried to swipe some of the frosting off…and got his hand slapped for his troubles.

"Don't eat my cookie…and don't you dare make a double entendre out of that." Said Minegishi as Shimazaki went after their frosting. Nope. Not happening. They had worked hard to get this level of detail onto their cookie and he was not going to ruin it just because he had to be a scavenger…and also he was not going to speak without thinking and give them something new that they had to explain to Mob and probably her little brother too.

"Shimazaki can eat whatever he wants…and why are you hogging all the black frosting?! Shimazaki needs that to make his cookie!" said Sho as he used his powers to drag the bowl of black frosting away from Minegishi. He just barely got it to his side before a vine grew out and took it back…jerk!

They were such an asshole! And a jerk! And a dick hole! And a girl's dick! And a-

"Sho! Be nice! Please? It's Christmas." Said Mob. She knew that look that Sho was giving Minegishi…and she knew what it meant when his aura got like that. He was thinking mean thoughts again. She knew that she didn't get to tell people what thoughts they were and were not allowed to have but…well…she didn't like it when he was mean to Minegishi like that.

They were her best friend after all.

"I am being nice….they're the ones being a jerk." Said Sho as he looked away from big sis. He knew that she hated it when he was mean to Minegishi…they were her friend or whatever…but still! They had been a jerk to Shimazaki and nobody got to be a jerk to Shimazaki! Not even Sho himself! Sho didn't know why he put up with Minegishi like that. They were mean and they weren't that pretty, or pretty at all, and they didn't even know how to color in a cookie right! If big sis hadn't been there Sho would have…well he would have done something….

Nothing bad but…something….

"Um…here! You can have my share. I mean I don't need black because my hair is brown so….here you go." Said Serizawa as he passed his share of the black frosting to Sho. He seemed very upset...Serizawa didn't know why he was so upset…but he hated it when his friends were upset. Upset people were just so…upsetting.

"Thanks but maybe you should pass that to Toshi. I feel like I'm not the best at this." said Shimazaki as he held up his cookie. Toshi had told him what colors were in which bowls and he had done his best to…well paint himself onto a cookie. It was mostly from the black frosting since that was the color that most of his clothes were. The middle was red because, apparently, that was the color of his favorite shirt. This was…alright…but eating them would have been better. That would have at least been something that he could do right.

There was so much shit in this world that he couldn't do right.

Not that he still had those deep childhood feelings of being useless and a waste of life and someone who just…did everything wrong and should have been drowned in a bucket at birth. He never had those thoughts anymore. He didn't let himself. He had some limitations but those weren't anything big. He was fine. He was better than fine. He was Shimazaki Ryou!

And he wanted to eat his fucking cookie!

"You're doing fine, Ryou." Said Minegishi. Truth be told he had kind of made a mess….but who cared? It wasn't like they were calling themselves professional cookie decorators or anything like that.

"You're doing great, Shimazaki." Said Mob. Maybe she should have thought this one through better. She had just thought that it would be fun for her and if it was fun for her then it would have been fun for everyone…but that was not how it worked. Maybe she should have thought it through. Maybe she was a terrible friend. Maybe she was the worst friend in the whole world and…and maybe she could make it up to him. She would make it up to him. She didn't know how she would make it up to him but she would. There.

Now she wasn't such a terrible…not very good…friend.

"You don't have to lie to me, I know it looks like crap. It looks so much like crap that I had better just eat it now and-" said Shimazaki

"It doesn't look like crap!" said Sho. He may have shouted that but…well it was worth the yelling!

"Don't eat the cookies!" said Mob. She may have shouted that and…well they weren't supposed to eat the cookies yet and…well she could make it up to everyone later. At least she hadn't lost control of her powers…though the house was shaking. The house was shaking and for a moment she thought that she had lost control and now everything was falling apart and…no. She had just been crazy there for a minute. That had just been Shibata….

With a tray of hot gingerbread friends.

"What's everyone shouting about in here?" asked Shibata as he made some space on the counter for the hot gingerbread men, friends, they were friends because that was more gender nonspecific and also….well they didn't have anything and…and he was really overthinking this whole thing, wasn't he?

"Shimazaki wants to eat the cookies now." Said Mob. She hoped that this was like when Shibata made a special cake specifically for Shimazaki to ruin. That way everyone could be happy and everyone could have a nice time….and stuff.

"And he thinks that his cookie looks like crap even though it doesn't." said Sho. He hated it when Shimazaki got like that. Why couldn't he see that he was the most awesome person at this table? In the whole world? He was the coolest, strongest, bravest, funnest, person that Sho had ever met in his entire eleven years of life. Shimazaki was awesome, the most awesome, and the most perfect person that Sho had ever met.

"What the…here. I made a whole plate of cookies specifically for Shimazaki to ruin so go crazy…and yours doesn't look that bad anyway. I mean it's nothing like Sho's but, well, he's Sho." said Shibata. He picked up Sho's cookie, by the plate of course so he didn't break it, and showed everyone. He was such a good little artist! Shibata wanted nothing more than to pick him up and toss him in the air…but the ceiling was too low here and also Sho...well he was a big kid now…

Shibata needed a tissue.

"Mine's not that good." Said Sho as Shibata put his cookie down. Now everyone was looking at him and, yeah, his cookie was the best at the table…but there was no need to make Shimazaki feel bad.

"It's better than mine." Said Hatori. He held up his cookie. It was pretty much just frosting and very little cookie left…and maybe he had been picking at his a little bit…but it was good gingerbread! He hadn't had homemade gingerbread since mom….but that was a while ago and…he wondered if Suzuki liked gingerbread. It wasn't that sweet. He might have liked to…well it couldn't hurt to ask him again…and now he waited and…refer to previous message.

Alright then.

"Mine too." Said Mob. She held up her cookie. She had gotten her hair totally wrong. Braids were hard to draw….maybe she should have had Sho help her. He was good at this kind of stuff.

"I'm not ashamed to admit it but, yea, you did a better job on your cookie than I did." Said Minegishi. They held up their cookie…which was pretty much just nothing but lavender and a frown…but maybe that was just a deep expression of their inner self.

"I can't see shit but I have all the confidence in the world in your cookie decorating abilities." Said Shimazaki. He patted Sho on the back…and now he could feel his heartbeat and…damn, just when he thought that they had been making some kind of progress on the whole awkward and unrequited crush front.

"Aw you guys….thanks." said Sho. He smiled and looked down at the table. Shimazaki had been TOUCHING him. Right on his back and…well Shimazaki touched him a lot….but now it was like…he felt all warm and happy and…and he just…stupid goldfish. Nothing was going to make it better…even the cookie that big sis sent over to him with her powers. He could maybe eat enough to drown the goldfish…but that wouldn't work.

"Here, you can decorate this one too." Said Mob as she passed him a cookie. He had to make two now because he had a girlfriend…and she'd be his wife…and now she was getting a sister! A new sister and also she was going to be an aunt and she'd have nieces and nephews and that was almost as good as having baby Mukai back! And also…well she didn't have a boyfriend so she'd never have a husband or babies of her own…so she could enjoy the ones Sho had! He was planning on having ten or twenty so he'd need plenty of help!

Also Emmy would be there too but…well ten to twenty babies was kind of a lot so she would need a lot of help.

"No, I'm going to eat that one but thanks." Said Sho. He didn't want to do another one because it would be better than Shimazaki's and…well friends didn't make their friends like crap.

"No, I mean you can make an Emmy cookie since she's your girlfriend…and she's going to be your wife and…it's just so wonderful! I'm so happy for you! You found love and now you're going to get married and I get to be a sister and an aunt and-" said Mob. Ok, now she knew that she was losing control. She knew that she was making the table float and her hair and…well she couldn't help it! This was the best thing that had ever happened to them! Sho had found the love of his life and…well he was going to propose to her with a tooth…and not even one of his….but still! He was in love and that was almost as good as her being in love! This was the best thing that had ever happened and-

And if Emmy ever did anything to hurt Sho Mob would do…something.

"You're already a sister." Said Minegishi rolling their eyes. Well at least someone was happy about the eleven year old boy making major life decisions that he was in no way, shape, or form ready to make.

"And…aren't they…ten?" asked Serizawa. He…was glad that Miss Suzuki's little brother was happy but…well he didn't think that kids could get married…but what did he know? He wasn't a brother or a father and he was in no way ever getting married…girls were kind of scary…so he was in no position to tell people how to live their lives.

"Sho is eleven and Emmy is-" said Mob

"They grow up so fast! Oh God…I've been trying not to cry but…I just can't stop myself!" said Shibata. He pulled his apron up over his eyes and tried his best to keep his tears in his eyes where they belonged. He just….this was so beautiful! There was just so much…he was so happy! Sho had found someone and…and he just…this was so wonderful!

"Stop crying, it's not so sad…and you're going to make the gingerbread soggy." Said Minegishi

"I don't think that they can get married for a few more years anyway. I mean they're just a couple of kids like Serizawa said." Said Hatori

"Guys, can we just stop talking about this?" asked Sho with a groan. People talking about this…why did people have to talk about this?! Why did they just have to talk about…all of it?! He just…he had a girlfriend and he had a ring in his pocket and he was going to marry her and…and wasn't there anything else in the world to talk about?!

And sing about?!

"Is this the little boy I carried? When did he grow to be so tall? Wasn't it yesterday he was small?" sang Shimazaki. This was so adorable…not that he was going to start sobbing like Shibata. He hated crying, it felt weird, and also maybe it had something to do with his terrible childhood…or something. He didn't know. All he knew was that Sho had been eight when they'd met and now he was eleven and he had a girlfriend and he was going to get child married…and also if he got child married then he might get over this never ending crush already.

"That was pretty good, which Beatle sung that? Lennon…wait…no. He didn't like his son." Said Mob as she went through all of her Beatles knowledge…which was a lot now that she thought about it….

"No, Lennon liked his son he was just a shitty husband and father thanks to the heroin…and no, that was from Fiddler." Said Shimazaki filled with a mixture of pride and of shame in Mob. She was…she had tried…and really that was all that he could ask of her.

"Do you want to watch Fiddler?" asked Minegishi

"It's not a Christmas movie…actually it's the opposite of a Christmas movie since they're Jewish but…kind of. Can we? Please Toshi?" asked Shimazaki. Toshi loved musicals. Toshi would never admit it but they liked musicals…and he liked them….

And also he had pretty much the whole Fiddler soundtrack playing in his head right now.

"Wait, I just made more cookies and-" said Shibata

"If Shimazaki wants to watch a Jewish not Christmas movie then we're watching a Jewish not Christmas movie! Alright?!" asked Sho

"Um…maybe we can do that for a minute…and also Sho is cut off from sugar for the rest of the day. No more candy or cookies or soda…and diet soda too. That…kind of upsets him too." Said Mob. Sho had eaten way too much sugar today. It was the only explanation. Well that and the fact that he was in love with Shimazaki….and jealous of Minegishi…and just about everyone else too…but that made no sense…or maybe it did. She didn't know, love was complicated, and it was easier to blame the sugar.

"Big sis….I'm not a baby." Said Sho. She couldn't tell him how much sugar he was allowed to have…well she could…but he hadn't had too much sugar at all today. His mouth wasn't all dry, he could see normally, and his stomach didn't hurt at all. He knew how to take care of himself and he wanted to tell her as much but….well he wasn't going to be a jerk to her. He wasn't that kind of person anymore.

"I know…but you're getting kind of excited so…movie break?" said Mob. She didn't know what was going on with him, well he'd had six cokes today and a sprite so there was that, but also…she didn't get how he could be so in love with a girl that he wanted to marry her but also so in love with Shimazaki that he was ready to fight everyone at the table just because…she didn't even really know why.

So maybe the best thing to do would be to take a movie break.

"It wouldn't hurt to wait for these to get cold. You know, so the frosting doesn't run." Said Hatori. He knew that Shibata had worked hard on these, well he worked hard on everything he did, but he also knew how Sho could get when he got worked up…it wasn't good. For anyone.

"Alright…I guess…oh! I can make popcorn." Said Shibata. Well Hatori did have a point…and it wasn't like they were just going to abandon all of these cookies. Actually the bigger danger was Shimazaki popping back in here and eating all of them.

"Alright! Movie break! Come on Toshi….Toshi? Who are you texting?" asked Shimazaki. He could tell that Toshi was holding their phone and he could hear the reverb…and he could watch their fingers…and they were smiling a little…but that made no sense. Everyone they knew well enough to text was at this table…not that he cared if Toshi was texting someone and smiling at them. He didn't own Toshi or their smiles…and just because Toshi was smiling at someone else that didn't mean that he'd get any less smiles and…

And weren't they going to take a movie break?!

"Huh? Oh, nobody. Some guy I met…nothing. Come on, let's watch Fiddler…and Hatori, you'd better find a version with narration because I am not playing narrator today." Said Minegishi as they put their phone back into their pocket. Ryou…he loved them and they loved him…and they has already defined this damned relationship and…well they could do whatever they wanted and he would just have to deal with his own jealousy on his own like a functional adult….

They were doomed.

"I'll do it! I mean if Hatori can't find a version with narration then I'll do it." Said Sho. He didn't care if it was hard and annoying work. He'd do anything for Shimazaki…which was more than Minegishi could do. Heh. And they called themselves his theyfriend. Sho would have been a better theyfriend, boyfriend, then Minegishi ever could have been…not that it ever could happen….and not that he wanted it to! Well he did but…but he had everything all lined up for his life and….and dad would have messed Shimazaki up anyway and….

And all Sho wanted to do was sit next to Shimazaki and tell him what was happening in the movie! And also maybe rest his head on his chest…but that was it!

"I'm sure that Hatori will be able to find a version with narration, alright? Now come on, we can sit together on the floor and share popcorn when it's done." Said Mob. She loved her brother, she really did, but last movie night when he'd been the narrator he'd practically sat on top of Shimazaki and he wouldn't get off no matter how much Shimazaki tried to scoot away….and also he had tried to kick Minegishi too and…

And it hadn't been a good time for anyone.

She had been so busy telling Sho to come and sit with her, and to be nice, and to stop cursing that she had no idea what the movie had even been about…and now she would never know how why only the balloon had been red…and she didn't want to have to go through that again but…maybe a break would have been the best thing for all of them. Making gingerbread friends was fun and all but so was watching movies and stuff.

It really didn't matter what they did so long as they did it as friends.