Mob hated being the one who made all the rules.
But somebody had to and that somebody was her. She was the one who was in charge of everyone, dad said so, and in being the one who was in charge of everyone she was the only one responsible for them/ She had to make sure that everyone acted right…or at least better than they usually acted when they were all together in a tiny space like this. This was even smaller than a plane and they were packed even more closely together than on the plane…and there was so much that could have gone wrong….even more than what could have gone wrong on a plane. When they were on a plane all she had to worry about was fighting and maybe the plane crashing and them having to figure out who to eat, at a musical there were so many more things to worry about….
Like all the normal people around them.
Well below them. Dad hated being around people, well people he didn't know, and normal people most of all. Mob…well she didn't hate them but she also didn't get them, not really, because they had no auras. They were like espers only they had no power and no auras and when she was around them then she had to hide who she was and what she was…and it sucked. Dad thought that it sucked too, but he didn't say sucked, and she shouldn't have said sucked either….but it did kind of suck. Having to hide who you were and stuff….
But it was just the way that things were going to have to be until they took over the world…but they would never end up taking over the world if they couldn't get along for five minutes…or however long this musical was going to be.
She hoped that it wasn't going to be too long…and she also hoped that it was going to go on all day and all night. A Frozen musical! On live stage! With new songs! And the original voice actors for Elsa and Anna! And original songs! And…and…and this was going to be the best thing ever! She….needed to calm down. She could see her aura and she could tell that she was close to at least making their opera box, that was what this place was called where you were above all the other people, shake. That would have been bad…and she really needed her pen…but someone had stolen it from her. She knew because she had hidden her stuff like normal and even taken a picture but when she got back it had been gone…but she would ask everyone about that later.
Right now she had to get everyone settled in.
She was the first one in, of course, her and Serizawa. She sat him down on the end, he was going to sit by dad and Hatori since he liked them the most next to her, and also he had to be far away from Shimazaki. She liked him a lot, he was one of her oldest and best friends after all, but he had this habit of being kind of a jerk to people sometimes…and this was not the place to be a jerk. Especially to someone as fragile as Serizawa.
She loved him, he was one of her friends, but he was also very fragile.
"Are you alright? Are you hungry or tired or dizzy or scared? Do you want me to have someone take you back home?" asked Mob quietly. She could hear the others getting closer, and she could feel them too, but barely. She mostly just felt Serizawa. His aura was all…not scared like when she'd first met him, but uneasy. She understood why he felt that way, he still wasn't good at leaving the house, and she could have dad take him back maybe since dad didn't seem like he would have really liked this…or maybe Fukuda because he was only here because he followed dad around wherever he went…or maybe Minegishi because they probably wanted to go home and go to sleep….
Well she wanted all of her friends there with her of course but not if it meant that Serizawa would get scared and explode.
"I-I'm fine, Miss Suzuki, I just…need to get used to this. I've never been around so many people before." Said Serizawa. Truth be told he wasn't fine. He was…well he wasn't fine…but he would try to be…for her. She had managed to bring him up here while avoiding the crowds and that had helped. Now he just had to get used to being…here. Also he had to get used to wearing a button down shirt and real pants, too, because President Suzuki had said that he didn't want to be seen with them if they were going to walk around dressed like…well something mean…and he had only said that because he had been stressed out!
He didn't like being in crowds too, he said.
So maybe the way that Serizawa felt was alright. Maybe it was alright to look down at all the people filing in and feel just a little bit nervous….or a lot nervous…but it was ok because Miss Suzuki was near ad she never would have let anything bad happen to him. As long as he was near her then he would be alright….
Well she was going to sit with her friend and brother but…well she had left him in the care of President Suzuki and Serizawa trusted him, too.
"You'll be ok. Just remember that I'm here and my dad is here and all of our friends are here and we won't let anything happen to you…and also if you want to hide under your umbrella you can. That's why I put you in the back. That way if you need your umbrella you won't block anyone's view." Said Mob
"Th-thank you….Miss Suzuki. You thought of everything." Said Serizawa
"I did but you don't have to thank me for that. It's my job." Said Mob. She gave Serizawa's hand a squeeze as he sat down. There. Well that was one person settled. Now all she had to do was get everyone else settled and make sure that they didn't have any reason at all to fight, or not get along, and also she had to make sure that they knew not to…well not scare but…well startle was a better word…or something. They had to pretend to be normal people was what she was getting at. Minori would be sitting with them after all.
Off in the corner with Mob, of course, since she and Mob were friends.
She and Minori would sit off in the opposite corner and then Minegishi would sit by Mob, and then Shimazaki by her, and then Shibata in the way back because he was super tall, and then on the other side in the front would be dad and Fukuda. Hatori would sit in the back with Serizawa but if he and dad wanted to switch spots then that would be ok…and Fukuda was getting sent home if he did anything to bother Serizawa. He had to fight with everyone. Shimazaki was the same way but at least Mob understood him. He did the things he did because he was bored or he wanted attention. Fukuda…well he was just kind of a jerk…
Not that she would ever call him a jerk to his face…because that would have been mean and she was not a mean person.
"Ooh, someone's having dark thoughts. What's all this about?" asked Shimazaki as he teleported in front of Mob. Her aura yelped at that…and Serizawa's practically started shrieking…and if he was planning on spend this entire show doing that then Shimazaki was taking him home. He was here to enjoy the legitimate theatre and maybe throw popcorn on the stage when the annoying snowman came out…and also cuddle Toshi so maybe he would have to hold off on the popcorn throwing….well the bottom line was that he did not agree to come on this forced theatre outing just to hear Serizawa freaking out.
That was only fun if he had set out specifically to do that.
"I'm not having dark thoughts. I never have dark thoughts…and don't teleport! What if normal people had seen?!" asked Mob
"Normal people see whatever they want to see…and nobody's looking up here anyway." Said Shimazaki
"But they could have been." Said Mob
"But they weren't." said Shimazaki
"But if they had been looking up here and they had seen you teleporting then…then they would have known that we were espers and then all of Claw would have fallen apart and also…and also dad worked really hard to make Claw what it is today and…and we shouldn't ruin it for him…and stuff…and also it's not nice to teleport in front of people like that." Said Mob
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. Anyway, who wants popcorn?" asked Shimazaki as he held out his popcorn bucket. He shook it a couple of times nice and loudly. The sound of shaking popcorn…that was definitely going on his list of favorite sounds. Shaking popcorn, pudding cooking on the stove, Toshi breathing when they were deep asleep, happy dog bark, the ding of the microwave….God, there were so many good sounds in the world. How had he never noticed how many good sounds were in the world?
"Um…thank you." Said Serizawa. It was polite to take things when they were offered to you…even though that had so much butter on it that Serizawa wondered how the bottom of the bucket could take it…but he still tried some anyway to be nice. It was important to always be nice to your friends…even when they shared terrible popcorn with you.
"Where'd you get that?" asked Mob
"Concessions. You know they really should watch that concession stand more carefully. Anyone could just walk up and serve themselves." Said Shimazaki as he sat down next to Serizawa and popped come buttery deliciousness into his mouth. This would have been better with chocolate syrup…or hot fudge…or caramel fudge….or just caramels on top….he needed something sweet. He needed something sweet or he was going to die…well not die but…well it wouldn't be a good time. He needed something sweet and Toshi did, too, because they were so sweet to him…well they were sour to everyone but sweet to him…like a warhead or a sour patch kid….
Did they have candle at this thing?
"Shimazaki, come on, you know that stealing is wrong…and also that's Hatori's seat. Your seat is the one with the sign in braille on it." Said Mob. She had made a no stealing rule and Shimazaki…well he didn't like rules. He didn't like them or follow them and…and she just had to work harder at getting him to listen to her, that was all, and then maybe he would stop stealing. She wondered if he was the one who had been stealing from her, too, but that didn't make sense. He had a whole stash of his own and she…well she was allowed to take from it just so long as she didn't touch his pills or coke…so maybe he was stealing it back? That would explain why he was so high right now. She could smell it on him…and also he was smiling like he did when he was high….so maybe this wasn't the time to talk to him about stealing…
She hoped that he wasn't too high to enjoy the show…and also that he wasn't too high to remember not to mess with people.
"I'm going to assume that you put a braille label on a piece of paper..." said Shimazaki before bursting into laughter. That…God….he loved Mob so much. She was so fucking ridiculous all the time that he couldn't help but love her. Mob had the organization skills of a twelve year old…which was hilarious because she was also eleven!
If Toshi had been there, and if they could have heard his thoughts, then they would have laughed too…well if they had been on his level, too, That was also very important.
"Yes, it's on paper and…oh. Right. Sorry." said Mob. She had messed up. She should have thought about how he couldn't tell what was on paper unless he focused on it or felt it. She was a terrible friend. She was the worst friend in the history of friendship!
"It's o-on the other end…I can show you if you want me to." Said Serizawa. He reached over and patted Miss Suzuki's hand…and maybe that hadn't been the best idea. He maybe should have wiped his hand off first and…well she didn't seem to mind…so maybe it was ok. She just wiped her hand off on her dress and…well she still seemed sort of upset but it was probably at Shimazaki. He was Shimazaki after all.
"I'm fine, Toshi'll show me whenever they get done taking a piss. See you guys later." Said Shimazaki before he teleported off in search of something chocolatey, sweet, and delicious. Something like Toshi but edible.
"I hope he comes back. Otherwise he'll miss the show…and that would suck." Said Mob. She felt her way around the theatre with her aura…and Shimazaki was out of her range….and she really hoped that he didn't plan on doing that thing where he popped back in while they were in the middle of watching something and then asked what was going on. There wasn't any pausing this and getting him up to speed. This was live theatre. This was the first ever showing of this play in the world…and nobody had ever seen anything like this…and she could not afford to miss a single second of it.
And neither could any of her friends.
"Nobody is missing this show…and don't say that word. You speak at least three languages. You know better." Said Suzuki as he caught the end of what his Daughter had been lamenting. There was no missing this show. There was no skipping this. This was important to Shigeko and if anyone even began to think that they could miss this…well then they had another thing coming.
He didn't know what that thing was just yet…but he had ideas. All sorts of ideas.
"Yes dad, sorry dad. I was just worried that Shimazaki would miss it because he teleported away. That's all." said Mob as she made some room for dad. She pointed to his seat in case he didn't notice the big sign that said 'dad' in red letters. The red was because he liked red and the 'dad' was because he was her dad…and also because it felt weird writing Suzuki on his seat because she and Sho were also called Suzuki…and calling him 'Touichirou' would have just been weird since that was his given name and not even his best friends called him that.
"He'll be back if he knows what's good for him." said Suzuki. He sat down but Shigeko made no move to sit next to him…oh. That seat was reserved for Fukuda. Well that made sense, he and Fukuda usually sat together when they had no other choice, but she had been the one to choose their seats. Why had she….was she upset with him in some way? Was it because he had asked her not to say…well she had planned the seating before that….just….
Calm down, Touichirou, you have to be calm now. This is Shigeko's day.
"Wait, why does he get to escape….kidding! I was kidding." Said Hatori as he felt Suzuki's aura on his. Of course Hatori didn't want to escape. What kind of guy didn't want to go to a musical about a Disney princess based on a movie that was made for and marketed towards little girls? It wasn't like he would have rather been anywhere else. He was doing this for Mob, she loved this stuff, and it wasn't like it was going to kill him.
Just kill about three hours of his life, that was all.
"I knew you were. This is not optional. Now pass me some of that popcorn." Said Suzuki. He reached out with his powers and took it from Hatori. The asking was for Shigeko's benefit, Masami had raised her to be mannerly like that, he could have taken this on his own without asking….though he had no idea what he would have wanted to. There was barely any butter on this?
What a waste of popcorn….though he had no plans of giving it back.
"Dad, share that with everyone. If you want your own then I can-" said Mob. She needed dad to be good and nice…and she knew him. He didn't like to share…and technically that was Shimazaki's…and technically he had stolen it. So maybe it was ok for dad to hog it….she didn't know all the rules. She just knew that people were supposed to share popcorn in the theatre…
And also that they were not supposed to shout in the theater either.
"Why can't I have two cokes?! What if I get thirsty in the middle of the show?" said Sho as Fukuda steered him into the play watching room or whatever it was called. He loved Fukuda, he really did, but he could be kind of a dick hole sometimes. Like now. Sho was eleven years old now and if he wanted two cokes then he could have two cokes.
"What if you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the play?" asked Fukuda
"Then I'll go to the fucking bathroom." Said Sho simply. He heard Serizawa gasp. He felt dad's aura on his. He didn't care. He could say whatever the fuck he fucking wanted to and if all the mother fucking cock sucking dick holes around him had such a big fucking problem with that then they could go to the bathroom and suck dick for ten yen coins in the public bathroom like it was golden week.
"Language." Said Fukuda rubbing his temples with his free hand. It could have been worse, he reminded himself, he could have wound up like Shigeko. Shimazaki could have been there, too, to egg him on…so Fukuda decided to be grateful for the small mercies he was given in this world. He had no choice but to be grateful for the small mercies since he got so few of them….like now.
"Shigeko." said Suzuki. His aura swung from Shigeko's to Son's. Suzuki…well he knew how he would have handled it…but he had promised Shigeko that he would not handle things like that anymore. She had been very clear that she didn't like that…and she had been very clear that she could handle her brother.
"Sho, don't say that." Said Mob with a sigh. They has just gotten here and, already, a fight was starting, or at least Sho was starting to curse. She loved her brother, she really did, but she did not love it at all when he cursed. She was sort of glad that Shimazaki was gone off to…Shimazaki things. He would have gotten Sho to say that golden week thing about public bathrooms and how to make them even grosser.
"Yeah…you're too little to say…things like that." Said Serizawa. It always startled him when Sho said the f-word. He was only eleven. He couldn't say things like that! Serizawa was twenty seven and he didn't even say things like that. He could have if he had wanted to…but it just…didn't feel like something that he could do. Also he had no reason to say things like that. Miss Suzuki didn't like cursing and neither did her father.
"Don't say that, he'll take it like a personal challenge." Said Hatori. He wondered if he could slink down and hide under his seat…but he couldn't. Serizawa would have been left all alone and that…well that wouldn't have been good for anyone.
"Hey, I've got this." said Fukuda. He didn't need help when it came to this. He could get Sho to calm down on his own. He couldn't just let Sho talk like that, it wasn't appropriate, and also Masami wouldn't have liked it. He couldn't think of anyone who would have liked this….
"You aren't the boss of me." Said Sho. What was Fukuda looking at him like that for? He wasn't! Sho was eleven and he could decide for himself what to drink and when to drink it and he could decide for himself where he sat, too, and he didn't have to be play watching buddies with Fukuda just because they were already plane ride buddies and also Shimazaki needed him to explain what was happening anyway. Minegishi would have probable fallen asleep or something since they were always tired.
"Here, you can have this water when you're done with your coke. I think that's a good compromise." Said Fukuda. He handed Sho a water bottle. He could feel everyone watching him…well not Suzuki he busy eating butter with some popcorn floating in it….but still. He had this. Nobody else was going to bother. If Sho had two cokes then he would end up bouncing off the walls, and he had enough trouble playing attention to things as it was, and if he wound up bouncing off the walls then he might do something alerted the normal people around them to the fact that espers were, you know, real. Sho didn't have much experience around groups of normal people so really the best thing to do was just to make sure that he stayed as calm as possible.
So filling him with sugar and caffeine was, objectively, a bad idea.
"Big sis…." Said Sho. He looked over towards big sis. She was the only one there who was the boss of him…which wasn't all the way fair but that was just the way that their family worked. She'd let him have two cokes, or even three, since she loved him and she hated to see him upset.
"Shigeko?" asked Suzuki. He'd let her settle this. If it were up to him he would have just given his Son whatever he wanted just to shut him up. If he planned on spending the entire show carrying on like this then Suzuki could not be held responsible for his actions. It was amazing, sometimes, to think that Masami had raised but Shigeko and Son. That Son had actually come from her. It was truly amazing…and not in the good way. It was amazing in the way that made him question the whole nature vs nurture thing.
How Masami could have made a little boy like that he would never know.
"Sho…you can have two cokes…but only get the second one after you finish your first one. Ok?" asked Mob. Everyone was looking to her now…and if she had it her way then Sho couldn't have had anything to drink at all. She loved her little brother, she loved him more than anyone else in the world, but she also knew what soda did to him and she wanted to sit and enjoy the play not chase after him. They were high up, there were things to climb on, and Shimazaki could have been back any minute. Not a good combination at all.
"Fuck yeah…wait….not both at once? So I have to-" said Sho. That wasn't fair at all! He was not a baby, he was the same age as big sis, and he could decide for himself what he drank and how he drank it….and also if he was getting two anyway then why did he even have to space them out?! It wasn't fair. This was so unfair that he just…he wished that Shimazaki had been there. Shimazaki would have been on his side…or they could have teleported away somewhere…or even ran away. Hell, Sho could have ran away on his own…just until the bad feelings passed….but as soon as the thought got into his head actually acting on it became impossible.
These doorways had not been made for someone Shibata's size.
"Aww…what's got Sho so upset? Do you want-" said Shibata as he squeezed his way through the doorway. He could have sworn that he felt the floor give a little bit…but that must have been his imagination…and even if the floor was starting to give it wasn't nearly as urgent as the scene in front of him.
Sho was upset. What could have been more urgent than that?
"I don't want you to pick me up, I'm not a baby." Said Sho. He knew that look in Shibata's eyes. He was going to try and pick Sho up like a baby. Well Sho was not a baby despite what everyone else seemed to have gotten into their heads. He was eleven, he was almost as tall as big sis, he had a girlfriend, he was getting married probably, and also he didn't even need stories to fall asleep anymore! He was not a baby or a little kid and he was sick of being treated like one!
Shimazaki wouldn't have treated him like that if he'd been here.
"Oh…alright. I understand. You're too big to be picked up." Said Shibata. Sho was maybe getting a little too old for him to cheer him up. He was eleven years old now after all. He had met Sho back when he'd been so little…time had slipped right by like his tote bag had almost slipped from his hands. Thank God Mob caught it or there would have been the worst mess to clean up
"But….I've seen you lift the refrigerator with one hand…" said Serizawa quietly
"He meant too old." Whispered Hatori
"Oh, ok, that makes a lot more sense." Said Serizawa
"Shibata….don't be like…fine…but not now. Pick me up later. Right now I just want to sit down and finish my first coke so I can have another one." said Sho. Shibata looked like someone had just cancelled Christmas, his birthday, and the cooking channel all at once. That was Sho's fault. He was such a dick hole sometimes…most of the times….
"Wait! I planned for this! I have drinks and bentos for everyone!" said Shibata. Sho may not have needed him to pick him up and toss him in the air, though that would come later and he was looking forward to that more than anything else in the world….and that was including Mob's birthday party…oh, was that only four months away? It felt like four years….
"So that's what you were up all night doing. I thought that you were just guarding the kitchen from Shimazaki." Said Hatori
"I did two things. I hope everyone likes these…it wasn't easy keeping Shimazaki out of the kitchen." Said Shibata
"Thank you so much! Guys, come on, thank Shibata." Said Mob. She didn't know what she would have done without him. That was something else that she hadn't thought of. Maybe that was why dad had so many people working for him. I was hard to keep track of everything all by yourself.
"Thank you…but you didn't have to." Said Serizawa. To tell the truth he had no clue if he even could eat. He was so nervous. Being out like this….and now this space was getting crowded and the space below him getting crowded…and any minute now Miss Suzuki would walk over to her seat and then he'd be all alone…well he'd be near his other friends but they weren't like Miss Suzuki.
"Well I wanted to." Said Shibata as he passed out everyone's lunches…and it had been worth staying up until four in the morning and then sleeping in the kitchen to guard the fridge from Shimazaki for this.
"What are we doing?" asked Shimazaki as he teleported into a free seat carefully as no to spill his candy hoard. He reached behind himself and felt the paper….no braille…whatever. He'd move if they made him in some serious way.
"Shimazaki! Where'd you go?! What'd you get?! What'd you get!?" asked Sho as he rushed past Fukuda and threw himself down into…well this was supposed to be Shibata's chair but he could stand if he had to…or he could be play watching buddies with Fukuda. Sho didn't care just so long as he got to sit next to his best friend.
"Some kind of candy maybe, I have no clue. Get over here, I need my seeing eye kid." Said Shimazaki. He didn't have to ask twice. Sho practically threw himself down into the seat beside him. That didn't leave any room for Toshi…but he'd move once they came back from wherever…still downstairs talking to…someone small…well he'd sit by them when the time came. He was not spending the whole play sitting next to Sho. Nope, movie nights were hard enough. He did not need to throw any more gasoline on the fire that was whatever Sho had going on in his head and heart when it came to him.
No need to fuel that fire at all.
"Sho, that's not you seat…and you aren't even listening to me anymore, are you?" asked Fukuda. A bento was placed in his hands and he felt a nudge, this time from Shigeko, to go and sit down. He sat beside Suzuki and popped opened his bento and…wow. That was a lot of vegetables…and they were cut to spell out his name. Well that was….intricate.
And also very heavy on the carrots…and…was that avocado? Where had he even managed to get…what the…baby corn too? And sprouts? And red cabbage? Damn…this was going to be one hell of a bento. He'd thank Shibata later for this.
"What did you get?" asked Suzuki as he leaned over. He got rice, an omelet, tiny sausages, and cheese all shaped to look like a space invaders with the Claw insignia, slightly skewed in transit at some point, to look like the Claw insignia. This seemed like the sort of thing that Masami would have done…well women in general would have done. Good. Hatori would appreciate this. Maybe he could even move everyone around so Hatori could sit in the back with Shibata…but then he would be the one who had to watch Serizawa….and also Fukuda would end up sitting elsewhere too.
"My name in vegetables, mostly. You?" asked Fukuda
"It's mostly an omelet…a rolled omelet. I haven't had a rolled omelet in…I don't even remember when. I'll have to ask Shibata to teach Shigeko how to make them." Said Suzuki as he put the popcorn to the side. This was…well Shibata would have to be rewarded for his thoughtfulness and culinary expertise….when was his birthday? Well the next major holiday was Valentine's Day…yes, there, Suzuki would arrange something for him and Hatori on Valentine's Day. Then they would realize how perfect they were for each other and get married…well they could when he took over the world…but before that they could start a family and then there could be more esper children around…
But first he would have to figure out what to do about Hatori's astounding lack of confidence in himself.
"Damn, that look good. All I got is health food…well Minecraft health food but still." Said Hatori as he leaned forward. He felt President Suzuki's aura on his on that way that he did when he wanted to talk to you but didn't know how to start the conversation.
"Shibata is just looking out for you. He cares about you in that way." said Suzuki
"He cares about all of us, dad. See? I got rice Elsa with omelet hair and…oh! Check this out! He cut the blueberries into snowflakes. That's so cool." Said Mob. She wished that she knew how to do bento like this. This was the coolest thing in the world…ok, he was getting a really nice new waffle maker for his birthday…and maybe she could cook for him since he cooked for everyone…but first she would have to do a lot of learning.
She had to get on his level.
"That's really cool…these are all really cool." Said Serizawa. His was Bomberman themed…and he liked it a lot…but also…well he just didn't know if he could eat. He had never been the best at dealing with being nervous and…and he knew that it would have been rude not to eat…but it also would have been rude to throw up, and embarrassing too, from being too nervous. It would have been ride and embarrassing and also a waste of a lot of effort.
It took a lot of effort to make something this cool…and Serizawa….well he just wasn't worth that kind of effort.
"Serizawa thinks that these are cool, we all do. Thank you Shibata!" said Mob. She may have been speaking a little too loudly…but the play hadn't started yet and also Shibata needed to know how grateful everyone was to him for making these. She had no idea what they would have done for food...well there were concessions and also Shimazaki had a big bag of candy…but that was not food. This was real food made with love and caring and friendship…and it was such a shame that she was going to end up having to eat this.
She wanted to save it forever…but she had to eat this because food was for eating.
"Yeah Shibata it's really cool…and I'll eat it…even though it has vegetables…but there's ranch too so thanks." Said Sho as he picked at his with his finger. There were packets of ranch to go with the vegetables….and there weren't even a lot of raw vegetables…but still. He wanted…well he wanted them all to be tempura, not most of them, but…well he'd eat it because it was made with love and stuff.
Even though it was all touching.
"Hey, seeing eye kid, is mine cool too?" asked Shimazaki as he opened up his bento. He smelled…rice. He smelled…ooh, fried chicken….and tempura…and…starfruit? Yeah, that was a big piece of starfruit and…seaweed? Well not all in the same compartment, hopefully, otherwise….well it did all end up in the same place after all…and also he wasn't one to pass up food either.
"It's cool, it's all the Beatles guys and a yellow submarine…and there's a bog made out of a cookie." Said Sho. That was cool….but Shibata didn't have to make Shimazaki's so cool. He didn't have to cut out all of those seaweed shapes and make a yellow submarine out of a starfruit and grapes and berries and…and he didn't have to bake dog shaped cookies…and also…also he just…he didn't have to make this so nice! What was he getting at making Shimazaki something so nice for!?
"Shimazaki, I took textures into account when I made yours so feel free to touch it." Said Shibata
"Seriously? That's the nicest thing you've done for me since you told me which beer was mine." Said Shimazaki
"Well… at least you're listening to me this time." Said Shibata. That hadn't been a fun time at all. Shibata didn't know why he was so annoying, well probably because of the thing he had where he didn't know if he existed if people weren't paying attention to him, but…well he didn't have to necessarily be annoying about everything. But Shibata wasn't going to get into it with him right now…or ever. He was being good now, thankfully, and if he decided not to be well….
Minegishi could hand it.
"Ryou is incapable of listening to anyone for any reason. Personally I think that he's going deaf and keeping it a secret from all of us." Said Minegishi as they nudge Shibata out of the way…well as out of the way as he could be. Did they have to make these opera boxes so small? Really, they should have taken into account entourages of nine people.
Well ten now, actually.
"Minegishi! You made it!" said Mob. She had known the whole time that Minegishi had been coming…well she had mostly been sure…dad had said that this was mandatory and mandatory meant that that everyone had to be here…and that was kind of mean but…well she knew Minegishi and she knew that they would never have left her. The line for the bathroom must have just been really long, that was all.
"Yeah, I made it. I wouldn't miss this for the world." Said Minegishi. A bento box was thrust into their hands….a Totoro bento box…and they had no idea where that had come from in a country like this. Leave it to Shibata to do the impossible.
"Why would the world want you to miss this?" asked Mob
"I don't know. Maybe for the same reason that the world seems to have something against me taking a piss." Said Minegishi. There was the sound of choking. They had shocked…oh. Well they had shocked Suzuki. They had shocked him into choking on something that was no doubt covered in ketchup and loaded with butter. So that was the way to kill him if they ever had to. Good to know.
"Oh my God, Mine, you're so funny!" said Minori as she tried to make her way past everyone. She was FINALLY meeting all of Shige's friends…including…him. There, in the back with his feet on the seat in front of him, was…yakuza guy. Shimazaki. Mine's boyfriend, Shige's friend, and the hottest guy she had ever seen. Even if he was in all black…well that could be cool…and his eyes were closed…well they had to…and that just added to it. Like this mysterious….mystery…energy thing that he had to him. The sort of energy that made the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand up. There was a lot of that here.
Why did Shige have to know a guy that hot!?
It wasn't fair. Not only did she know him but he was totally wasted on her, too. He was sitting right there being all…him…but the only guy that she noticed was glasses boy over there. So gross. He was eating a bento with his fingers and he had Cheeto dust on his sweater…and his sweater had a cat on it for some reason even though they were at a show…and he looked like he washed his face with fried chicken. So gross. What did Shige see in that guy?
Well what had she seen in him.
She had moved on from him, right? She had better have moved on from him. Shige could not be seen with her if she had a boyfriend like that. So she liked nerds…well Minori could work with that…but not with that SPECIFIC nerd. No way. The guy next to her, the one that she was super close to, was a little better. His hair was just….ick…and he was greasy…and he either needed to make up his mind about whether or not he wanted to grow a beard…but at least he was eating his bento wish chopsticks and his shirt was clean…and also he was even older than glasses boy it looked like so he had that going for him….yeah, Minori could work with that.
After all if Shige was into that guy then Minori had a better chance with Shimazaki.
"I heard you the first ten times. Mob, come and sit with your friend." Said Minegishi. This kid…this kid was so hard to deal with…and they'd only had to deal with her for barely any time at all…but barely any time at all was still too much time.
They prayed to God that this was going to be a short play.
"Wait, why didn't the world let you go to the bathroom? Was the line really long?" asked Mob. Minori was looking at her...and she knew that she had to sit with her…but also something might have happened to Minegishi. Also dad was choking but Fukuda was there so he would be fine.
"Shit I have to deal with sometimes. I'm guessing that the seat with my name on it is for me? And the one next to it is for Ryou?" asked Minegishi. They were not going to get into this now. They were going to sit down, enjoy their bento, and watch this stage show based on a Disney movie which in turn was loosely based on a Norwegian fairytale. That was what they had the energy to deal with. Not…all the bullshit that they had to deal with….
Somehow it got worse, actually, when they grew their hair out.
"Oh my God, Shige, you won't believe what happened…also hi all of Shige's friends and her dad and…hey, is that your brother?" asked Minori. No way, how had she NOT noticed Sho. Wow. He got taller. Still really hot though…and maybe less of a baby. It had been a year. Maybe he had done some growing up. He did have a girlfriend now, according to Shige, but…well she wasn't there, now was she?
"I have a girlfriend!" shouted Sho. Now everyone was looking at him…didn't they have something else to look at?! When was this stupid play supposed to start!? This was just…why did she have to be here!? He had known that she would have been there….but he had just…assumed that she would have been off somewhere with big sis! Not just…there…and…and if she tried to kiss him then he was jumping over the side of this sitting…box…thing!
And he didn't care who saw!
"Smooth you are not." Said Shimazaki before he got up and patted Sho on the head. He'd leave him to deal with…whatever the hell was happening between those two kids. Toshi needed him. He knew, well he could figure out, what had happened. God, the world sucked sometimes. Well he could make it a little better on them, he had a bag of chocolate after all, and also when this whole thing was over he could teleport them anywhere in the city and they could piss wherever they wanted to…like off the Empire State Building…or the Statue of Liberty….or that pizza place he and Toshi went to once that didn't do free refills. Or maybe all three.
This was going to be a good day.
"Sho…come and sit by me." Said Fukuda. So that was the girl from the party. Sho had told him that story before. He hadn't been picturing…well he had no idea what he had been picturing…but it hadn't been that…whatever he could call that little girl with way too much makeup on and clothes that did nothing for the winter climate here. God…there were two of them. At least Shigeko wasn't fast in that way. At least she still wore her costumes and played with dolls and insisted on dragging everyone across the ocean to see things like this.
He thanked God for the small mercies.
"But-" said Sho. He had been planning on sitting next to Shimazaki…but he was sitting by Minegishi and they had the end seat…and there was some room by Shimazaki but that meant that he would have to be near Minegishi….but it would have been worth it to have been near Shimazaki…..
"Shigeko." said Suzuki. He had no idea what that little outburst had been about…but obviously if it was something that he should have been worried about then Shigeko would have told him. No, this was something between the children, his and Asagiri's, and he did not concern himself with their affairs like that. Apparently Son thought that this girl had some sort of interest in him, why he would never know, but he had done the right thing and said that he had a girlfriend so, really, there was nothing that Suzuki even had to say to his son. Well nothing beyond telling him not to shout. This was a theatre, not a playground.
"Sho…sit by Fukuda. Minori, come on, let's go and sit down now before it starts." Said Mob. She didn't want Sho to be so close to dad…but him being close to dad was better than him being close to Minori. Right. They'd kissed…and that had been back when Sho had been ten and stuff…but still, she had kissed him, and now…well of course things would be awkward. Especially because of how they kissed….Mob wished that she hadn't ever gotten those kinds of details…but it made sense that he would have felt weird and…
And she really just wanted to watch this play already.
"Fine….alright. Whatever." Said Sho as he got up from his seat. He did NOT want to sit so close to dad…but sitting near dad was better than sitting near Minori. She was the worst girl that he had ever met in his entire life. She hadn't just kissed him, and ruined the first and only good kiss of his life, but she had stuck her tongue in his mouth like...like that was just a thing that people did! Well it was…but…like…adults and teenagers and weirdos….well not weirdos…well maybe, who knew what they did, but it was not the kind of thing that you did in closets with people for a game and even if Hideki or one of those other guys there had wanted to kiss him like that-
He jumped over to his seat. He didn't want to think about this anymore.
"Good landing." Said Fukuda as he picked the vegetables off of Sho…and the chair…and maybe he should have said something about maybe closing his bento before he jumped…but no, not now. Sho was going through enough as it was.
"You have very strange standards sometimes." Said Suzuki as he checked his phone. Good news…bad news….metaphorical fire to put out….real fire which had been put out…Shiori again…he closed his phone. It was almost curtain time and…and it would have been rude of him to have his phone on…and such. Yes. Manners were…manners.
"It's alright Sho, I'll make you another bento when we get home…and hang on, Mob's friend. I made you one too." Said Shibata. He was very proud of himself. He hadn't picked her up or squeezed her or pinched her adorable little cheeks….why were all kids so cute! He wanted to hold her and squeeze her and never let her go…but that was the kind of thing that had led him getting fired from just about every job that he'd ever had…including Wee World…and nobody needed a repeat of that…
Even though that kid ultimately went on to lead a normal life.
"Teddy bears…thanks." Said Minori as she opened up a bento…a homemade one. Sort of like the ones cook made only…well everything was shaped kind of wonky, and there was a lot of tempura which was really bad for you, and also those little fried sausage things she liked…this was…yeah, this was alright. Shige's bodyguard/cook did good work.
"I told Shibata you liked them….now come on, it's going to start. The lights went down and that means that it's going to start soon. I read about theatres before we came here." Said Mob. She had never been to a theatre, one that shows plays, before. She had seen plays, people used to put them on in the library where mom used to take her and Sho. Princess Kaguya. The One Inch Samurai. Momotaro. Stories like that. Little kid stories…because she and Sho had been little kids back then.
They were big kids now and big kids went to real plays.
Even though this was a play of Frozen and Minori said that it was for first graders….but then if it was for first graders then why were there so many people her age there. Well they were with their families…and those families also had little kids in them…so maybe this was for little kids. But she liked it. She liked it and…and she wasn't hurting anyone…so maybe it was ok. Maybe she would never be like the other kids her age…and maybe that was ok.
She could only be like herself after all.
They could all only be like themselves. That was why they were themselves. Everyone was different, everyone was their own person, and that was what made the world interesting. She didn't think that she would have liked friends who were exactly like her. That would have been boring. She wanted her friends to be their own people…even if sometimes they could be a little….fighty. Not that they were fighty now. No, everyone was calm. Even Fukuda….and dad, too. Dad…well the show hadn't started yet but he was leaning forward in his seat…so that was good. The only angry aura there was Sho's…and she didn't want him to get fighty. Especially since he was near Serizawa. He was his usual amount of freaked out…she reached her aura outwards. That was all that she could so.
There was a normal person sitting right next to her.
"Whoa…did you feel that?" asked Minori. She rubbed her arms and pulled her sweater up higher. That was just…static electricity? That was what it had felt like…but that was weird. Her brain must have just been inventing things for her to feel or whatever since this show was so boring. It hadn't even started yet and she was already bored out of her mind.
"Um…look! It's starting!" said Mob. She didn't want to lie but she couldn't explain the whole aura thing…so maybe it was alright to take a page out of Fukuda's book by answering a question with no answer at all. She didn't want to do that, it was mean, but it was better than telling Minori about…everything. She probably didn't know.
But she would know…one of these days.
Not today but one of these days. It would be so great. It would be like when Elsa came down from the mountain and unfroze everything and then everyone was all 'you have powers and I don't but that's cool' and then everyone would get along and…and that was how it would be. When dad took over the world. Not now but…well one day. It was something good to look forward to. Like hearing let it go sung live and….
AND THEY WERE OPENING WITH THAT?!
"Oh my f-wording God…." Said Mob. That was…she knew that the lady who did Elsa's voice was a real Broadway singer but…but there she was and…and she was singing and…and she was dressed as Elsa and…and she was singing and…and…and this was THE GREATEST thing that had ever happened in the history of Mob's life! Well, ok, Sho being born was better…and also the time she had spent with baby Mukai…and her first kiss too….and also when Shimazaki and Minegishi finally because boyfriend and theyfriend….and they day Mob had been born, too, that was a pretty great day because otherwise how would she have gotten here…and also meeting her friends and…
And this was pretty f-wording amazing, alright?!
"Oh my fucking God." Muttered Minori. That song…she had been hearing that song in her head for weeks now, since she had started doing her Frozen research, and…and now she was hearing it live…and Shige was being such a kid right now. She was acting like BTS were down there putting on a show just for them. She was so weird sometimes….but at least she was happy. Sometimes you had to do nice things for your friends…and now Shige would owe her one. Yeah.
This was all worth it.
"Hey, I'm trying to listen over here." Said Shimazaki. He was mostly trying to focus, trying to pick out the stage from the people around him, and it was hard. Too many auras close together like this. There was Suzuki's screaming aura, and Sho's shrieking one, and Mob's…well hers was aggressively sighing somehow…and also Toshi was right there and he always had trouble seeing past them even at the best of time. They were so close and he just…well he didn't want to look past them. He could see everything about them, now, the way their skin shook as their phone vibrated in their pocket and the blood going through their veins and the way their lungs expanded…even the bits of lettuce they had stuck between their teeth. He loved every little thing about them…and he didn't even know why he wanted to look away from them.
They were Toshi and they were perfect.
"It's just Let It Go but with extra verses. Hatori can find you the soundtrack when we get home." Said Minegishi. Well this wasn't so bad. Good atmosphere. The use of light to simulate snow was good. Mob was having a good time, though, and that was the best part. What could have been better than Mob being happy? Well aside from that little demon next to her to have been literally anywhere else. Yeah, that would have been pretty great.
"Have him download a pirated version of this play, too, because I have no idea what's going on." Said Shimazaki
"You can't see the stage from here?" whispered Minegishi. No need for Mob's little demon friend to start asking how a man with no eyes could possibly see anything. Nope, they were not in the mood to let that or any other cats out of any bags. Let her learn the truth when all of Suzuki's dreams came true or whatever.
"I can't see past you….and really I don't want to." Said Shimazaki. He raised his hand and brought it down to Toshi's face. The lifted their head and licked his fingers….and he had enough blood for his heart and his dick but not both…not without his brain suffering anyway….or maybe he was just light headed because he was high as fuck. Either way…wow.
So much wow.
"Well if you're going to look at me like that then at least wash your hands." Said Minegishi after they let his fingers go. He tasted like chocolate, mostly, and starfruit….and where he had managed to get his hands on a starfruit here they would never know. But this was Shimazaki Ryou. He was unknowable.
"Well then if you're going to say things like that then maybe you should get the lettuce out of your teeth." Said Shimazaki before he tipped his head down and kissed Toshi. He didn't care if he missed this thing. This was Frozen. Mob would give him a play by play later. Hell, she'd probably put on a one Mob show for him if he asked her nicely enough.
"Hey, you're missing it! Elsa and Anna are kids!" said Mob. Normally she wouldn't have had a problem with her best friends kissing, even though that was…a lot of kissing, but right now they were watching a never before seen musical of the best movie ever made…and this was the first time that anyone had ever performed it…and also they couldn't just pause and rewind like they could for movies. This was the only time they would ever see this. They could kiss whenever they wanted to! This was important!
Very important!
"Shige! Don't be like that!" said Minori. So he wasn't kissing her, he was kissing Mine, but that was…well if she put her hand up like that then she didn't have to look at Mine…there. Problem solved. He looked like he was a good kisser. All older guys were. They knew what they were doing. They didn't just press their lips to yours and then run away. God, guys her age sucked…mostly. Sho had been pretty good until he ran away…but he had a girlfriend now so maybe he would be better at it. Not as good as yakuza guy over there, though, he was really good…and he was really into it. Guys her age were never into it...and older guys always just rushed to the part where you touched their dicks like…come on! There are two people there!
Not that she would be opposed to…well stuff…if yakuza guy felt like it…or Shige's little brother.
"I'm not being like anything…now watch. See, we almost missed the part where her parents went to see the trolls and…and…are they getting ready for a song? But a song doesn't go here….but there's music…Minegishi, stop kissing Shimazaki and listen! And tell him what's going on!" said Mob. She felt like she was going to die…but in a good way. New song…there was a new song…well she had known that there would be new music, and that version of Let it Go had been almost new…but now…that was…that was….a new Frozen song…..
Yes. This was good. She approved.
"Shige…I think you have a problem." Said Minori. Well she was….pissed off…or getting there at least. That was…alright then. She was freaking herself out and….it was just Frozen. She had a choice between watching people make out and Frozen…and she picked….Frozen? Seriously?
"No I don't, now watch." Said Mob
"Don't waste your breath, there's no talking to her when she's like this. You've just got to ride it out…and speaking of riding it out-" said Shimazaki
"Ryou, stop it! This is a theatre." Said Minegishi. Nope. Not leaving Mob alone with that kid to do…whatever…with Ryou. As tempting as it was….nope. Mob had been looking forward to sharing this with everyone for a while and they had to be there for her.
"Yeah, this is a theatre…so maybe save it for when we get home." Said Shibata. He was happy that they were in love…but they needed to go be in love somewhere else. There were kids here! Also Sho was there and his little heart must have been breaking in half…poor little guy….Shibata was going to make him poptarts when he got home. From scratch. Then he was going to put them in a bento for him…and then maybe that would put his little heart back together…or at least make him feel a little better…
Because that was not the aura of a happy little boy.
"Yeah, shut the fuck up over there! I'm trying to watch…the play…not you guys…" said Sho as he crossed his arms and slumped down into his seat. Why did they have to kiss like that here? Or at all? Why couldn't they just kiss in their room with the blinds closed and the door locked like mom and dad used to? Really. Like Shibata said…this was a theatre….and shit. Not a…kissing people….place….and even if it had been then Sho wouldn't have wanted to watch that!
It made his heart hurt…and his stomach hurt…and his head hurt…and his eyes hurt and just…everything hurt…
"Shigeko…I mean Fukuda. Deal with that." Said Suzuki. Maybe he should have just left his Son at home. Obviously he wouldn't have any idea of how to act. Suzuki had no idea what he was so upset about, this play was very engrossing, but he knew that it must not have been such a big deal because Shigeko hadn't done anything about it and Fukuda hadn't complained about it. No, this was just his son being annoying as usual.
How he and Masami could have made such an annoying child he would never know.
"Sho….here. Why don't you have that second Coke now?" asked Fukuda as he pulled a bottle of soda out of his bag. Sho…did not need more sugar…but he did not need to watch those two make out like a couple of horny kids at the movies either. Suzuki should have said something…but he was for some reason hyper focused on the play of a movie that Shigeko had shown to them a thousand times before.
"This is a Pepsi." Said Sho
"Do you not want it then?" asked Fukuda
"No, I do. Just….watch the play. Now they're singing about the big party thing where Elsa freaks out and shit. Just watch." Said Sho. That was what he was going to do. He had two choices, he could either watch the play or he could watch Shimazaki and Minegishi kiss like they were dying in the desert and trying to steal the liquids from each other's bodies. He chose to watch the play. Sure this was something that he'd seen a million times before, new songs didn't make it any better, but it was better than…well seeing something else that he'd seen a thousand times before.
That he had never wanted to see in the first place.
He wanted to go over there and push Minegishi over the railing…but then he would have gotten in trouble. The fall wouldn't have killed them, just broken all of their bones, and anyway big sis would have caught them…and then normal people would have known about espers….but it still would have been worth it….but he still wasn't going to do that because of all of those reasons…well those reasons and…well if he went around pushing Minegishi over railings then everyone would ask why and then he would have to either come up with a lie or tell the truth…and he couldn't have people knowing this about him. This kind of stuff. He just…couldn't let anyone know…especially Shimazaki…so he just watched the play and drank his room temperature bottle of not Coke.
He could too have two cokes if he wanted to.
He was not a baby. He could have two cokes if he wanted to have two cokes and…and just because he thought about pushing someone off of a railing didn't mean that he automatically would…and just because he wanted to run away and hide didn't mean that he would just get up and hide like Hatori. No he just…had to go to the bathroom…because he'd had two sodas…and not because Shimazaki and Minegishi were all cuddled up…and he was letting them rest their head on his chest…and he was kissing the top of their head too….and Sho's heart had an angry goldfish in it and…and it was swimming in…pee. Because he had to pee. He had to pee so badly that it was in his blood and…and stuff…and….
And he could pee if he wanted to!
"Where are you going?" whispered Fukuda. Sho had been remarkably good for the entire show. No serious outbursts, very little cursing, and he hadn't done anything with his powers either. He'd had such a good streak that he couldn't let him ruin it by…well it was a crazy thought but Fukuda was struck with the idea that Sho was about to shove Minegishi off of this balcony…but that wasn't possible. Sho was capable of a lot of things but killing someone, even Minegishi, wasn't one of them….
His father, yes, but not him.
"To the bathroom." Said Sho as he got up.
"Alright, I think that I saw one to the left-" said Fukuda
"I can go on my own, I'm not going to get lost." Said Sho. Fukuda, for some reason, thought that he was still a little kid…everyone did…but he wasn't. He wasn't and it wasn't fair. That he had to be a little kid forever but big sis got to be an adult…and stuff. She got to be who she was but he…well he would never get to be who he was.
"This is a big place, Sho, let me walk you." Said Fukuda. The danger was not Sho getting lost, the danger was in him running away. This was a big, unfamiliar, city and…well Sho had a good sense of direction…but finding him would be a challenge. He knew Sho and he knew that he didn't always act rationally when he got upset like this…and this whole situation was obviously very upsetting.
"I'm eleven, I can go by myself. Stop treating me like a baby." Said Sho
"I'm not treating you like a-" said Fukuda
"Sho, either go to the bathroom or use that empty soda bottle. Either way move over, I can't see." Said Hatori. He wasn't….that…invested in it. Not like…and weirdly enough her dad….but he did want to see what happened….and also he did not want to have to deal with Sho getting upset. He especially didn't want Mob to have to deal with that. She had been talking about this day nonstop. There was no way in hell that she would be able to handle it being ruined for her.
"Hatori, that's disgusting. Son, go to the bathroom like a normal human being. Fukuda, he's not an infant. Everyone, shut up. This play is hard enough to follow as it is." Said Suzuki. This was not like the movie at all. Character motivations had been changed. Now Elsa had run away not because she was discovered but because she had been discovered and shunned….always a possibility….they had removed the possibility that the sister also had powers…which would have made a lot more sense…and also changed the narrative of the story entirely. Honestly. He'd need Shigeko to explain this to him later.
"You heard my dad." Said Sho. Fukuda let him go, which was good. Sho felt like maybe he was being a jerk but…well he wasn't a baby and he could go places on his own! He got up and walked past Fukuda…and dad shoved him out of the way with his powers….but that was fine. Fuck dad. Fuck him or being a mother fucker.
And other stuff.
Sho took a step in the dark…and something caught his foot. He fell forward and would have caught himself but someone else caught him. Dad. Dad's aura…and he wasn't looking at him but he caught him…and his aura was showing but not to normal people. At least he figured that dad would have had more sense than to show normal people his aura…but then again Minori was staring at him now…
But girls always stared at him. That was just how they were.
"S-Sorry, Sho….are you alright? I didn't mean to-" said Serizawa as he picked his umbrella up off the floor. He hoped that Sho was alright. The President had caught him but…but maybe he wasn't alright and…and he could see his colors and…well he was getting better at least. As soon as his colors, the purple, popped up then they disappeared into a sea of red.
Good. He hadn't freaked out.
"I'm fine! I'm not a baby! I can go to the bathroom on my own and I can walk on my own too!" said Sho. He didn't wait to hear what Serizawa had to say, he just kept walking, and he had to keep walking. If he stayed then he could have said something mean…and he didn't want to say anything mean. Not to Serizawa, he didn't deserve it, and big sis would have just gotten upset with him if he said something mean to Serizawa. She didn't deserve to feel bad today. She had enough to deal with, sitting by that bitch bastard dick hole of a friend of hers, and also she had been looking forward to this for a while…so Sho was not going to ruin this for her.
And he was not going to run away, either.
On his way to the bathroom he thought about it. How he would have been able to make it pretty far before someone came after him. How dad's aura wasn't paying attention to his, how he could have made it maybe halfway across the city by the time this stupid play was over, and how he could have been away for hours before he was found. Shimazaki would have been the one to find him….since he could teleport and stuff…and then they'd hang out and, for a little bit, he could forget about how Minegishi was a person in their lives and in Shimazaki's heart and drawn on his arms and…and he could have just pretended….well he could have pretended anything that he wanted to pretend. That was the good thing about playing pretend….
But he was much too old to be playing pretend.
So he didn't. He took a piss, he washed his hands, and the he…well it took him a minute to leave the bathroom. He had to walk back to big sis and the others. He had to go back and…and big sis would be worried about him. She would worry and…and he had been wrong when he had thought that nobody would notice if he left. Big sis would. She always did. She would get up from the play, the one that she had been looking forward to probably since the day she had been born, and she would look for him…and he couldn't do that to her.
Big sis wasn't the one who had gone looking for him.
"This is the boy's bathroom. The girl's bathroom is over there." said Sho as he walked past Minori. She had been waiting for him. Either that or she couldn't read. He'd have believed either. Well whatever the reason it didn't matter. He wasn't going to do…whatever she wanted to do. Whatever she wanted to do with him. She had kissed him once before and it had been the very worst kiss of his life, and he'd had a lot of them.
"Hey, where are you going? You don't have to go, you know." asked Minori as she reached out and gabbed Shi's hand. He pulled it away and glared at her. Honestly. What was his problem? Was every Suzuki permanently a first grader on the inside or whatever?
"Will you just leave me alone?! I have a girlfriend." Said Sho. That should have been enough for her. Some other girl had taken him and he, like all good people, knew that cheating was wrong. She should have known that too. It wasn't like it was some big, complicated, thing.
"Is she here? I don't see her." said Minori as she leaned in close. That one got guys, even guys her age. When she got a boyfriend then she was never letting him out of her sight, she knew how guys were, but right now…well she didn't have a boyfriend and she wasn't trying to go out with Sho…well maybe she'd see where this went…and it had to go somewhere.
It had never not gone anywhere before.
"Are you deaf or something? I have a girlfriend and even if I didn't I wouldn't kiss you in a million years! Now leave me alone and go be weird to someone else!" said Sho. She was leaning in to kiss him…and he wanted to push her. He wanted to push her so hard that she fell down and then he wanted to push her again just to get all of these feelings out…but he didn't. He couldn't. She was a girl and only the biggest losers in the world smacked around women. Shimazaki had said so and he knew a lot about fighting…and also girls….
He was proud of himself for not hitting Minori…even though he really wanted to.
"I'm not the one being weird here. God, what is the MATTER with you? Why are you so weird?" said Minori
"I'm not the one trying to kiss someone who has a girlfriend…I mean boyfriend…I mean-" said Sho
"You know what, fuck you! Plenty of guys would be happy to have me to just…fuck you!" said Minori. She shoved Sho once, then twice, and then three times…and then once more before he wound up on the ground. God. She knew that everyone had an inner child but Suzuki's took it to a weird place. Well fuck Suzuki Sho then. His girlfriend was probably ugly as fuck too! She was probably flat as a board and…and her teeth were probably bad because she was British and they had really bad teeth…and she probably had an annoying voice and….and whatever! Fuck him and his bad taste!
"I wouldn't if you were the last girl on Earth…bitch." Said Sho as he sat up. She pushed him one more time before she walked away…and he let her get out of sight before he followed her. She really was such a bitch…and a bastard…and a dick hole…and an asshole….and a dick….and a girl's dick…and he knew that girls didn't have those but that was what she was.
Fuck her.
Fuck her and fuck…fuck everything! He was normal! He was doing what he had to do to be normal and he was doing the hell out of that! He had a girlfriend and she loved him and he was going to marry her and…and if cheating on your girlfriend was normal then…then he wanted to be weird! Because cheating was wrong! When you had a girlfriend, when you made the biggest promise that you could ever make to someone, then you did not break it! Not ever. Not even for the best girl…or guy…in the world. He'd made a promise and…and even if Shimazaki teleported right in front of him and did that wall slam thing that guys did in those mangas big sis read…he was so…if Shimazaki did that and told Sho that he wanted to kiss him like he kissed Minegishi, and do all of that other stuff that he did with Minegishi too, then Sho would have told him no….because he was not a cheater.
He was a good person.
He hadn't hit her back and that made him a good person. He didn't run way and that made him a good person. He walked back to the stupid box thing, back to his chair, and didn't yell or scream or curse or anything. Not even when he tripped over Serizawa's stupid umbrella that he carried around all the time with him. He didn't curse at him or hit him or throw him over the railing….even though he wanted…he wanted to but not to Serizawa just…just to…well to Minori…or maybe to himself…
Not to die just…to not be there anymore.
"S-sorry again…I really am!" said Serizawa. Sho didn't say anything to him, he just shoved his aura into his, and that…well Serizawa had deserved that for being in his way. Poor Sho. He was just a little guy and he was just upset…because he almost tripped.
"Whatever….shut up and watch the play!" said Sho. He said that and then he jumped back into his seat. He couldn't believe that he had wanted to…and he should have been better and….and how long was this play?! Wasn't there supposed to be intermission or…or something!? A break for the actors….and him. He needed a break…but no. If there was a break then…then Minori would try and talk to him…and she was looking at him. They made eye contact. She stuck out her tongue.
He didn't want to think about her tongue.
"Sho? What's wrong?" asked Fukuda. He traced the path Sho's eyes made. There, to Shigeko's friend. Shigeko was on the edge of her seat, she hadn't done anything, but her friend…that same fast little girl who…he couldn't let Sho out of his sight. He shouldn't have let Sho out of his sight. He needed to be watched better…and Fukuda….he should have done a better job of watching him.
"Nothing. Leave me alone." Said Sho. He pulled his arms into the sleeves of his coat. This was…he felt…he weirdly felt naked…even though he wasn't naked. Why would he have been? This was a play and…and it felt like Minori had seen him naked…but of course she hadn't! Of course she hadn't and…and she never would…but Emmy would…when they got older…because he had to…because Emmy would want to do that stuff with him…and then he would have to. It wasn't weird to say 'no' to Minori because she was not his girlfriend but Emmy was and….
And he just wanted to watch the play.
"He isn't hurt…is he?" asked Serizawa. He held his umbrella in both hands. He had no idea….well if he hurt him on accident then he never would have been able to forgive himself…and he already had so much in his life that he would never be able to forgive himself over…
Too much.
"Don't freak out, he's fine." Said Hatori. He didn't know what he could do if Serizawa freaked out and exploded…what Mob expected him to do…but he would….he patted him on the back. It hurt, there was a lot of energy clinging to him, but he still patted him on the back. He was a good friend like that…or at least he tried to be.
"Sho, you know that you can tell me-" said Fukuda
"I want to watch the fucking play! Is that so fucking hard to understand?!" asked Sho maybe too loudly…because now everyone was looking at him…and everyone…he didn't want them to look at him! But they were and…and he just…weren't hey going to watch the play?! Wasn't that what they had all come here for!? Why didn't they just watch the play and…and not him and…and everyone was looking…
Even dad.
"Son. Explain." Said Suzuki. He said so considerably more quietly than his Son had…God. That Boy could not be taken anywhere, could he? No, he could not be taken out anywhere in public until he learned how to act…and if he hadn't learned how to act by the age of eleven than maybe he had no chance of learning...Shigeko had done her best. Masami had done her best. He had done his best. Maybe there was simply no hope at all. Maybe he was just…this person. This annoying little person who couldn't even be brought out in public for a few hours-
-exorcism of my emotion.
He was the one who could not be brought out in public. He had been close to...not exploding but…well his aura had not been at it's best there. He had not been at his best. His Son was half of himself and if he couldn't be trusted to control his own emotions then how could he trust the Boy to be able to control himself? He was half…he was half of his mother and half of his father after all. That was just the way that these things worked. Sho had so much of him…not just the hair and eyes and powers…but so much of him…and so little of Masami…and the entire thing was just…more than he wanted to think about now.
He was here to watch a play and that was what he was going to do. Watch a goddamned play….and he would. In a minute.
Or longer. He watched his Son's eyes. His eyes gave away everything. His eyes and his aura, too, though that was mostly just flares. Suzuki would have taken that in if he could but he was busy siphoning from Serizawa. Amazingly enough he was better at being out in public, the man Sho had lived for a decade and a half as a shut in, than Suzuki Touichirou's own blood Son.
"Girls are crazy. They're completely and totally out of their fucking minds." said Sho. He held eye contact and aural contact with dad. He dared dad to do something, anything, at all. If dad threw him over the railing then he at least would have been away from all of this. He just…didn't want to be there. He didn't know where he wanted to be but it wasn't here. Like…if he could get out of here then he would have…like…like if there was a mountain or something….
Yeah. He could figure out ice powers and then climb a mountain and sing a song and be alone and free…heh.
Of course he wasn't going to do that. He was going to just…be here. He was going to be here and he was going to stare dad down. Dad was staring him down. He could hear Hatori telling Serizawa that he was going to be ok. Someone, Shibata based on the size of the arm, reached over and dropped a bottle of what was probably soda onto his lap. Big sis's aura was on his like a blanket. Something hit him on the head…Shimazaki had probably thrown something at him…or maybe Minegishi since they were a bitch bastard…almost as much of a bitch bastard as big sis's girl's dick bitch of a friend.
Her crazy, bitchy, girl's dick of a friend.
"Yes they are. Now stop cursing and watch the play before you upset your sister." Said Suzuki. He had no idea what that had been about…but his Son was right. To men women were out of their fucking minds and to women men were out of their fucking minds and…well he hated cursing but it was the right word for it. Women and men…it was amazing to think that the human race had ever managed to reproduce its self….or something. He didn't know. All he knew was that even at the age of forty four, nearly forty five, women were still a mystery to him….so he couldn't expect more of his eleven year old child…
Though why this came up here and now he would never understand.
"Sho, your dad is right. This is important to your sister so…we can talk about this later, alright?" said Fukuda as he patted Sho on the back. This was not the time or the place to get into any of this. So that little girl had done something to Sho…great. Now he had a lot of work to do when he got home. Honestly. Sho had enough worry about…being the way he was…without all of this….but he had hit the nail on the head. Girls made no sense. Women made no sense. Heh, maybe Sho had the right idea about all of this.
"….don't want to talk about it later….or ever." Said Sho quietly. Why would he have wanted to talk to anyone about this? He just….he wanted to forget…everything. To not think about anything. To just…he didn't know. Watch the play, maybe, like they had all come here to do in the first place.
"What's happening over there?" asked Mob. No, no, no. She just…she had no idea what had happened but….but how did something even manage to happen. She hadn't been paying much attention…at some point Sho had gotten up…and now he was back and stuff….and she just…
She just wanted to watch Frozen. That was all.
"Nothing, Watch the play." Said Suzuki. He was not going to bring her into this. She was happy. He could see it on her aura that she was happy and he was not going to ruin this happiness for her. She loved this. This was her favorite thing in the world and he could not take it from her…and also this was a pretty damn good play, too.
"But Sho is-" said Mob. She wanted to watch this but her little brother was more important. She would gladly have fixed whatever went wrong…even if he just had too much sugar energy. That happened to him a lot when he had too much soda and…and he had another in his lap and…and she loved him but she didn't want…well she wanted him to be happy and…
And she wished that she knew why she was so selfish.
"Nothing. Watch the play. Look, Kristoff. You like him." said Sho. He knew that he shouldn't have said that. Big sis's search history was her own business and her weird fan art was her business too…and also it sucked but only because the people who draw it knew nothing about art, so he should have kept his mouth shut…but maybe he should have kept his mouth shut…but now she would stop taking to him and…and he would make it up to her later.
"What?" asked Suzuki. He heard Daughter and liked and a male given name…and now…well now he had the irrational desire to keep her from everything Frozen related…but then she would have been upset and also this was a work of fiction…and the crowd was mostly female…so this was alright….
Calm down, Touichirou.
"Don't." said Fukuda with a shake of his head. Nope. Not getting into this now. Not getting into this ever.
"Just let it go, Suzuki, just let it go." Said Hatori. He didn't want to agree with Fukuda but…well Mob's crushes were her own business. He didn't care who she had a crush on just so long as it wasn't him again. That had been weird as hell.
"I-I don't like him…because he's not even real….and if I did he belongs with Anna anyway…and also…well I can tell that something is going on and-" said Mob
"Nothing's going on, Shige, now shut up and watch the play. I think that they're going to sing another song or whatever." Said Minori. Nope. She did not want to get into this with Shige right now. What was she supposed to say? I tried to make out with your brother but he's a total first grader like you are so it didn't work out and now he's being all weird. Yes, that was the best thing to talk about with her weird best friend and her best friend's weird dad.
"Um…alright….I guess. If something was wrong then someone would tell me….I guess." Said Mob. She wanted everyone to stop fighting…and she could tell that there had been a fight…and she just…she wished that everyone could just get along and that Sho could talk about his problems…but he was half of dad and getting dad to talk about his feelings and problems was like pulling teeth so…well it didn't matter if Sho could be guarded with his feelings like that. She was his sister and it was her job to make her little brother feel better….
But if there was something wrong then one of the others would have told her….Fukuda notoriously couldn't keep things to himself.
"Guys, come on. Am I the only one paying attention to this thing? Because it would be weird as hell if that were the case." Said Shimazaki. He was paying attention to this thing, really, but also he was tired of listening to people dig into Sho like that. He hadn't been paying attention but that girl had gotten up after him and he knew how it went. He'd talk to Sho later on when this was over and everyone wasn't around.
Him, not the crusted over pudding skin that he was sitting next to.
"You aren't paying attention, though, are you? You're too busy with your gir-" said Fukuda. He was aiming low, he knew that he was aiming low, but he didn't care. He was too pissed off to care that he had just been about to give Shimazaki the verbal equivalent to kick below the belt. Sho was going through enough and Shimazaki was the one who had caused all of this. He knew how Sho felt about him, he had been the one to tell Shimazaki that Sho had feelings for him, and yet Shimazaki kept on just…being with Minegishi right in front of him. He was a grown man and he could do whatever he wanted, for whatever reason he wanted, but he didn't have to do it right in front of Sho like that. Sho…he had enough pain in his life as it was.
"New rule. No talking. Nobody is allowed to talk at all until intermission…and even then….Fukuda, only talk to dad and Sho and maybe Hatori and Serizawa if you can be nice…and Shibata too….but just…everyone be quiet please and watch the play." Said Mob. Nope. He had been about to call Minegishi Shimazaki's girlfriend. He called them a girl when he wanted to hurt their feelings. She had no idea what happened in his mind that made him want to hurt them like that, they were one of the nicest people in the world when you got to know them, but she wasn't going to sit there and have a long talk about why he felt the need to hurt others like that. They could talk to him about this over tea later. Not now.
All she wanted to do now was watch this play in peace without anyone fighting or hurting anyone else.
"Shige…what the hell…?" asked Minori. That was….she knew that Shige could yell, she had seen it, but she had never heard Shige talk like that…and to ADULTS….and the adults LISTENED to her. All of her friends stopped talking and…and how did that even…work? When Minori wanted an adult to listen to her she had to hold her breath and bang her head against the wall…
Why did Shige get to be so lucky?!
"Suzuki, come on, ou're not actually going to let her-" said Fukuda. He appealed to the real authority in the room….the authority who simply pointed over at his eleven year old Daughter like she was the authority in the world…and she was…and there was nothing that he could possibly say or do in this situation.
"Come on, you all heard the eleven year old girl. It's quiet time now. Fukuda, be a man and do whatever the little girl tells you to." Said Minegishi with a yawn. They felt Mob's aura prickle at that…and really. If she was going to flex her authority like that then she needed to stand by it. They were getting second hand exhaustion from her. Every single time they were all together like this, together in a small space, was utterly exhausting for many reasons. One of them being Fukuda whatever the hell his given name was.
"I'm sorry everyone for being so mean but…um…that's a new rule. No talking during the play…ok?" asked Mob. Being bossy had never come easily to her, even though she was the boss. She was in charge of Sho and she was Vice President of Claw. She hated being the one who had to do this. She hated the one who had to make the rules…but she had to. She was the only one who could get everyone to listen and act right…and she was tired….and she mostly just wanted to watch the play…so…ok then. She just…did what she had to do.
Even if she hated to do this…but she loved this play….and she loved her friends…so she did what she had to do.