It was easy, really, to make Sho feel better once you knew him.

"I'm telling you, kid, this is the best slice of pizza that I've ever had in my life." Said Shimazaki as he took a bite of what was, supposedly, the best pizza in all of New York City. This was ok. He liked pizza that you could fold, like a taco, and he liked it when it was greasy as fuck like this too. Toshi hated this shit, their favorite pizza was actually cheeseless bell pepper of all the things, of course that was when they were sober. Stoned Toshi loved extra cheese, all the vegetables, and pineapple. Drunk Toshi just liked to eat the cheese from pizza. Toshi wasn't here, though, he was with Sho…

…and Sho loved pizza.

Sho loved anything greasy, fattening, and that could slowly kill him if he ate enough of it. He kid had the right idea about food. There was so little of it, and also paradoxically so much, so really the best thing to do was to eat as much of it as you wanted and whatever you wanted. So, really, if the kid wanted to pull a drunk Toshi and eat nothing but the cheese than that was fine. He liked to take apart his food, he liked to eat junk, he liked Shimazaki, and he liked to argue too…and Shimazaki could tell that there was an argument coming.

Good. He welcomed it.

"What the hell are you talking about? This is just…normal! How is this the best pizza you've ever had in your life?" asked Sho. Shimazaki could feel people turning to look at the angry little Japanese boy taking a pizza apart molecule by molecule. Whatever. Any attention was good attention…and the kid needed more attention. That might have been it. Maybe he was just…like this…because Shimazaki was the only guy who paid him any real attention. Suzuki was Suzuki, Mob meant well but she mommed him to hell, and Fukuda…well Shimazaki had a lot of words about that guy.

No, Sho just needed more attention.

He needed the world to remind him that he existed. That was something that people didn't get. How sometimes it could be like you were…nothing. Like a ghost. He could sense spirits, and hear them, and most of them just wanted to be noticed. That was why they did all of that haunting shit. They just wanted the world to treat them like they existed. That was the worst, being around but being a ghost, even a living ghost. When Shimazaki died he wanted to be exorcised. Even if he passed on he wanted to be double exorcised just in case there was any chance at all of him haunting the world as a spirit.

Because, really, it was the worst…not being there…but also being there…and shit.

"Because the cheese to sauce to grease ration is perfect. Also it folds like a taco and all the best foods fold like tacos." Said Shimazaki. For emphasis he grabbed the slice of pizza out of Sho's hand, folded it up like a taco, and then shoved it in his mouth. Sho batted him away and tried to seem pissed off. Tried being the operative word. He wasn't pissed off at all. Shimazaki could hear his aura. There it was, that aural giggle that said 'take me Shimazaki, I'm yours' and wouldn't take Shimazaki's 'you're my best friend and the closest thing that I have to son, it's not happening' for an answer. Shimazaki…wasn't a fan of all of that….but anything was better than mopey Sho.

Mopey and angry Sho was…were? Was the worst kind of Sho.

"Tacos suck." Said Sho sticking out his tongue. He spat back a mouthful of pizza and earned himself some grossed out looks and mutterings from the people around them. Whatever. Fuck 'em.

"I've seen you eat tacos….and don't say a word. I know I walked into that one." Said Shimazaki. Telling Sho not to say anything was pretty much telling him to say something. Actually it was more efficient than telling him to do something directly. This was possibly the most contrary id in the world…and Shimazaki loved him for that. This was what he wanted his and Toshi's son to be like…if they ever had a son…not that he was trying to even going to say anything about it…since Toshi didn't want one…and he didn't want to think about how he would set out getting a hypothetical blood son with Toshi.

He had his nonblood son and that was what mattered.

"You've never seen anything." Said Sho. He said it with a smile that Shimazaki could feel. Good. Happy Sho was coming back. That was the best kind of Sho. Maybe he was done with…whatever it was that he had been feeling. Shimazaki wasn't afraid to admit when he fucked up and…yeah. He had fucked up with Toshi back at the play. He had been too fucked up to think…and Toshi had been there and they had been so…well Toshi. What was he supposed to do? Not kiss Toshi when they were there and close and smelled so good…and their breathing had been perfect…and they had been in kind of a bad mood…

But, yeah, Sho had been there and Shimazaki had kind of played hacky sack with his heart…and that had been kind of a dick move.

"Hey, what did I just say?" Said Shimazaki. He wasn't pissed off and Sho could tell. He smiled again…or maybe it was just his aura. Shimazaki didn't care. Just so long that the kid was out of whatever funk he'd been in. He knew that one day he'd have to talk to Sho about how he felt and about how there wasn't even the smallest hint of a chance that they would ever be anything other than multigenerational friends/whatever their weird pseudo parent/child relationship could be called…but he didn't feel like it. Not now.

Maybe not ever.

"That you walked right into that one. If you don't want me to say stuff like that then don't walk into stuff." Said Sho. He leaned back when he said that and took a triumphant sip of whatever combination of sodas he had poured for himself. That had been fun, mixing everything up, even if the resulting brew tasted like shit. Well fun things didn't always have the best ends. Like…what was it that Toshi had said? From that book they liked? These stupid delights have stupid ends?

Or maybe just another fancy way of saying 'win stupid games and play stupid prizes' or…maybe the other way around? He didn't know…Toshi was smart. He'd ask them later.

"Well aren't you a clever one?" asked Shimazaki. He leaned back too and took a sip of…well it had notes of root beer and…iced tea? Well this was what happened when you let an eleven year old pour your drink. He felt Sho stick his tongue out. He did the same thing right back. He could feel a very pointed dirty look from a normal person at the edges of his perception. Whatever. Fuck 'em. Sho was happy now and even if he hadn't been what did Shimazaki care what random people thought of him.

"Maybe I'm not clever, maybe you're just a moron." Said Sho. He kicked Shimazaki when he said that…with his wet boot. Ok, now that was just unpleasant. That little…oh how he was going to pay. There were few things more unpleasant than a wet pant leg clinging to you. He should have worn his leather pants…but Toshi had gotten him this outfit and while he had no idea what it looked like he knew that they thought that he looked good and…yeah, what Toshi thought mattered…but maybe he needed to make more of an effort not to think of Toshi right now. Not when Sho was around.

Poor kid needed all the attention that he could get.

"Fuck you." Said Shimazaki simply. He knew what he was starting and he was glad to start it. He didn't care if they were getting looks. There were very few things Sho liked in this world than a good, old fashioned, cursing match. So what if they were sitting in some hole in the wall pizza place shouting at each other in Japanese? It wasn't like they were going to get kicked out. It wasn't like anybody could understand them and, if by some miracle someone here spoke Japanese, then they could go fuck themselves.

But not in the good way.

"Double fuck you." Said Sho. Shimazaki shook his head. That was what he was going to start with? Really? This kid was getting slow in his advanced age.

"Triple fuck you." Said Shimazaki

"Quadruple fuck you." Said Sho

"Quintuple fuck you." Said Suzuki

"Sextuple fuck you." Said Shimazaki. Well that was funny…for reasons he couldn't figure out. Well it was good to hear Sho laughing again. Good. No mopey Sho. That show that they had been to earlier had been mopey enough.

"What are you laughing at?" asked Shimazaki as he flicked Sho over the head. Sho put his barrier up one second too soon and just a little bit too slow.

"You said sex." Said Sho as he batted Shimazaki's hand away. Shimazaki tilted his head towards the ceiling and shook it.

"What are you rolling your eyes for? It's funny." Said Sho. Shimazaki did the eye rolling motion again just to piss Sho off.

"You need a vocabulary lesson. You sure you're Suzuki's son?" asked Shimazaki

"I do not need a vocabulary lesson! You said sex and sex is funny…well gross…but funny." Said Sho

"As in multiple of six. God, you are so fucking immature." Said Shimazaki

"Fuck you! I am not fucking immature! You're fucking immature!" said Sho

"And yet I'm winning. What do you fucking know?" asked Shimazaki. That earned him a piece of greasy pizza cheese to the front of his shirt…Toshi was going to be pissed about that since they had just picked this out for him…but it was worth it to heard Sho laugh. Toshi could understand that….right? They were very understanding…to him…sometimes.

"You…you….fuck you! Fuck you in a pubic bathroom like an out of work salaryman in a public bathroom during golden week." Said Sho. Well someone took offense to that. There was the sound of someone choking and spitting…and he could tell someone was about to get up….and he ignored it. He was in the middle of this with Sho and he couldn't just let Sho take the lead. Especially with a line that Shimazaki himself had taught him! The student would not surpass the master!

"Yeah, well fuck you, you little fucking-" said Shimazaki. He felt someone's attention on him. He felt someone standing up. He knew that he had been yelling, well shouting, well talking loudly even by American standards...but whatever. So some guy was going to start shit with him. He could finish it…or do the old 'I don't speak English' or the old 'I'm blind I can do whatever I want' or…well he had a lot of shit that he could do. Sho was tensing up…maybe the old 'I'm a poor blind single father' shtick…oh the possibilities! They were endless!

"That's a wonderful thing you've taught your son!" said a voice in Japanese. Huh. Well then, you didn't meet a lot of Japanese guys over here. He had a nice voice. Well a pissed off voice but there was a nice timbre to it. Shimazaki focused on him, on his physical self, and…yup. Normal person. Not as clear as an esper. A lot of focusing was needed, there, since normal people were so….normal. Also Sho's aura was doing that shrieking thing it did when he interacted with another human being…

And he would do something about that…one of these days….

But not today. Today was about pulling Sho out of…whatever it was that he was in. The funk he had gotten into because, well, Shimazaki hadn't been thinking…well he had been thinking…he had been thinking about Toshi….and he loved Toshi but he loved Sho and he was going to think about Sho but in a totally non-Toshi way. Nope. A Sho way….a Sho needs to smile more way….a Sho loves fucking with people sort of way….

Cool. Time to fuck with someone.

"Who said that? Come closer." asked Shimazaki. He stuck out his arm and felt the empty space around him. He knew fully well where that other guy was but he didn't know it…and also Shimazaki wished that he had brought his cane with him then he could have done some stranger hitting….but was good too. Well it would have been if Sho would just…stop it already.

Really. He loved this shtick.

"You aren't blind, stop faking it….and teach your son some manners! That's a terrible way to let him speak! Even if nobody can understand him!" said Mr. Opinionated. Ok, now that was just offensive, Nobody told him how to raise his not-son!

"Yes I am…and don't tell me how to raise my terrible kid." Said Shimazaki. He waited for Sho to say something, he always had something to add, but now…well now he was just staring down at the table and staying quiet for some reason. Nope. Not letting mopey Sho to come back. The world, mostly Shimazaki, did not need any more mopey Sho!

"For the love of God you're just going to pretend to be…just shut up and open your eyes!" said Mr. Opinionated. Sho looked up now. He always got a kick out this part. Shimazaki did too. This part was the best. The way people always freaked out from embarrassment, mostly, and also just the shock of seeing him. Toshi hated it when he did this. Well not hated it but it annoyed them and…well he loved Toshi but he didn't always understand them but they didn't always understand him. That was alright. He loved them just the same. Also he loved Sho

And he loved it when Sho stopped being all…like this.

"Well if you insist." Said Shimazaki as he did just as he was asked. Yup…there was that Sho smile…and a Sho laugh…and what could be better than a Sho smile and a Sho laugh. God, he couldn't wait until he had a kid…well until there was the chance that he could have a kid. Toshi was…well Toshi wanted what they wanted…and Sho was a great kid…and he was going to be a great big brother too.

Then he'd have two kids laughing at the stupid shit he did.

"I-I….I'm so sorry….but you really shouldn't teach your son things like that!" said the guy before he ran away, actually ran, which was the best part of it all. Shimazaki wished that he'd been wearing a short sleeved shirt under his coat. Then that idiot would have probably ended up pissing himself. God, messing with people would never get old.

Well to him anyway.

Sho seemed….well happy Sho had been back but now he as back to being mopey Sho…and Shimazaki…well he was running out of ideas. He could always….he felt his pockets…he had a pen with him but…yeah. Sho needed to be sober. High Sho was clingy and amorous Sho….and Shimazaki did not want to deal with that Sho. No, those were actually the worst Sho's….though he was eleven Shimazaki could just pretend that he didn't notice…but he didn't want to be put in the position to have to pretend that he didn't notice that Sho wanted more than to hug him and hear graphic stories from his yakuza days. He had a his flask, too, and it might have been filled with either straight vodka or peach schnapps…but drunk Sho wasn't any better than high Sho….

Shimazaki was at a loss.

"Sho…what's wrong. I've been trying to cheer you up all day and it's like…a hell of a lot of nothing." Said Shimazaki. Maybe just talking to him would work…but just talking to him could lead to another one of his confessions….and Shimazaki did not want to have to deal with another one of his confessions. Those were always incredibly awkward and Shimazaki did not do awkward.

"I'm fine just….I'm not your son!" said Sho. Shimazaki….well he'd been kicked in the chest with a steel boot before…and yeah, that was kind of the same feeling. He knew what Sho meant, that he wanted to ride off into the sunset with him or whatever, but still.

"Ok….ouch. That was mean." Said Shimazaki with levity that he had to make himself feel. The kid…well he had his own feelings and this was how they came out. He was an asshole when he had too many feelings inside of him. Sort of like Toshi.

"I…I didn't mean to be I just…I hate it when people think that I'm your kid! I want…a lot of stuff and just…it sucks!" said Sho. God damn it…he was going to have to address it, wasn't he? Well then it looked like it was time for another one of their talks….their awkward dance around the crush talks…there was not enough foldable pizza in the world to get them through that conversation.

"Ok, ok, I know what this is about and I'm sorry about me and Toshi, ok?" said Shimazaki with a sigh. He reached into his coat before he changed his mind. They had to have this conversation in public and if he started smoking then they'd get kicked out….and Sho…well he could be kind of a little dick sometimes but they were in public so he'd rein it in just a little. Enough that nobody ended up confessing to anybody else.

"You….you mean that?" asked Sho. Well he seemed calmer now…good. Maybe he would stay this way for the rest of the day. Shimazaki…he loved this kid, he really did, but he did not love this part of this kid. The part that freaked out and got mopey…and also was in love with him. Yeah, he could have done without all of that….but he had to deal with that, with this, and he had to do it right now. He had to think up something to say that would fix this. Something smart and simple and concise…something that Toshi would have said but nice…

He wished that Toshi had been there…in the sense that they could have helped him with this and not the sense that the kid would probably try and kick their ass.

"Yeah. I shouldn't have been kissing like them that in front of you and I'm sorry. I don't think sometimes….most of the time actually…and yeah. You get it…well you will when you get older and you find someone you love." Said Shimazaki. He was grasping now, to apologize, because he just…was not good at this. First of all he shouldn't have had to apologize because he loved Toshi and if he wanted to kiss them then he would…but also he had a kid to think about. He had to think about Sho and his feelings and life and….yeah. Thinking about other people was hard…but he had to try.

Even if Sho didn't think of himself as Shimazaki's son Shimazaki thought about him like that and, yeah, you had to be nice to your son and make sure he didn't freak out all the time and stuff.

"….I'm never going to want to do that…ever. With anyone. Ever." Said Sho. He said that with so much finality….and Shimazaki had no idea if that was because he was still figuring himself or out because he was elen and all of that was still gross when you were eleven. Well it hadn't been for him but he had never been a kid, not really, and Sho was a kid…and kids were…complicated like this.

"What about your girlfriend? You're getting to that age-" said Shimazaki. Well first of all he had to figure out what Sho was on about and then he could go from there. Wasn't he trying to get married and shit? Well he was barely eleven and, yeah, maybe Shimazaki was taking the whole child marriage thing a little bit too seriously….or not seriously enough?

He really had no idea.

"Shut up about Emmy! Just….she loves me and….and shut up!" said Sho

"Shutting up." Said Shimazaki. He put both hand out in front of him. Well this was pissed off Sho…which was a good Sho. Better than mopey Sho or lovesick Sho or pissed off Sho. Yeah, even if his voice was high and rang in Shimazaki's ears this was better than him being all mopey and shit.

"I mean…just…I don't know. I'm weird." Said Sho. Shimazaki laughed at that. He couldn't help it. Sho thought that he was weird? Where in the hell had he been for the past three years?

"You're weird? Kid, who are you talking to right now? I keep a box of candles under my bed to chew on in the middle of the night. I-" said Shimazaki

"Yeah but….you're ok with being weird. You do whatever you want and nobody can make you do anything that you don't want to…and like…like if a girl wanted to kiss you then it's be ok!" said Sho

"Ah, now the plot thickens. Ok, who's trying to kiss you? Your girlfriend? Because if you don't want to-" said Shimazaki. Well that was…better than having to get into what was going on with him and Toshi. God, Sho was such a little kid sometimes…or maybe a normal eleven year old? Shimazaki really honestly and truly had no idea.

"No, not Emmy…and I said to shut up about her! She's my girlfriend and on Valentine's Day I'm going to ask her marry me and then I'm going to kiss her and have ten or twenty kids and…and stuff. This isn't about her, I don't mind kissing her just….I'm not a cheater! Cheaters are the worst people ever and I would never do that to a girl who was in love with me!" said Sho

"Ok, I did not teach you that." Said Shimazaki. Where did he come up with this crazy shit? There was nothing wrong with…well it all depended on what kind of relationship that you were in. Shimazaki had never had any problem being the other man when people wanted to step out of the domestic bliss and tepid sex of married life…and he had never been in an exclusive relationship and he never would be…and he and Toshi could do whatever they wanted to….but still. Where in the hell had Sho learned this shit from?

"No, I figured it out on my own. What kind of dick hole needs to be taught not to cheat on someone? When you cheat on someone you…you do the worst thing that you could ever do…like…like when you're with someone it's like you make a promise to always be there and…and it's bad when people leave and…and I am not a cheater and even if I was I would never have wanted to cheat with big sis's stupid friend and…and she's a bitch bastard and….and I just…I'm weird!" said Sho

"Well….that was a lot to unpack. Thank God there aren't any other Japanese people are here or I would have had to tell more dumb fucks off." Said Shimazaki

"Yeah….I mean…..Shimazaki? Am I weird? Big sis's friend tried to kiss me again and I didn't want to at all…not like I didn't want to cheat on Emmy but…but it wasn't about that just….I didn't want to kiss her." said Sho. Shimazaki…did not want to have this talk with him here. He had told the kid, before, that he could fuck who he wanted to and fuck who he liked even if he liked a guy…and he didn't much want to tell him again. It went in one ear and out the other with him. He was still trying to please his dad, that was all, and he'd be that way until…well thirteen or fourteen maybe…so taking him and telling him that he needed to be true to himself and other such clichés wouldn't work.

"So? If you don't want to kiss her then don't kiss her. You're not going to want to kiss every single person who wants to kiss you." Said Shimazaki

"….what? But….don't you want to kiss…everyone? Like if they're nice to you or…or they're near you or…or…." Said Sho

"Hell no. Me….well I get around…but even I have some people I don't want to kiss. People who aren't my type, people who I'm not into, people who I can never be into, people who I'm JUST FRIENDS with." Said Shimazaki

"So…so it's ok….that I didn't want to kiss her? People aren't going to think that I'm weird?" asked Sho

"Nope, and it's nobody's business anyway who you are and are not kissing." Said Shimazaki with a shrug. Really, this kid worried too much about shit. What did it matter who he did and did not want to kiss? He was the son of the guy who was going to rule the world someday. He could do whatever the hell he wanted to do. God. Shimazaki couldn't remember if he'd been this dramatic when he'd been eleven…well he'd had a whole different set of problems in his life…

Yeah, he was going to stop complaining about Sho overthinking every single aspect of his romantic life now.

"Ok…thanks…thank Shima-thanks Ryou." Said Sho. Nope. No way. Nothing good every came from when Sho called him Ryou. Nothing at all. Shimazaki…no. He needed to think up something, anything, because….yeah. He did not want to deal with being called Ryou now.

And he did not want to deal with Sho's hand creeping across the table.

Fast movements were the ones that he had trouble with…not that he was going to tell Sho that. Yeah…no. He did not need to know that. He did not need to know…well Shimazaki was not going to bring up anything related to the sticky fingers ever so slowly coming across the table. Maybe if he pretended hard enough then it would just…stop.

Though, to be safe, he pulled his hands off the table.

"You're welcome, kid, now come on. I think we're ten seconds away from getting kicked out…and to continue our previous discussion I'll concede. This is not the best piece of pizza I've ever had in my life. That would be the original Famous Ray's…and I've been here enough times to know which one is the original. Now come on, and bring that crappy soda with you, I'm not going to let you die of dehydration." Said Shimazaki. He kicked Sho lightly on the shin to get him up. Yeah, time for normal fun times. Not finding himself stuff. Just…no.

Pizza yes, deep feelings talk, maybe, but none of that….even if Sho had this idea in his head that it would make him feel better….it wouldn't.