Tsuchiya was not accustomed to doing nothing.
But nothing seemed to be all that these people did. She had always been busy with something. When she had been a kid she'd been busy training to control her qi, busy with schoolwork, busy with chores…and just…busy. She'd gone on to university, which had been even more to keep her busy, and then she'd joined Claw…and that had been the busiest she had ever been in her life. Training Awakened was like herding cats…but somehow the cats were smarter. There was also working security, dealing with the various little wars that popped up between esper groups, and the general insanity of the Seventh Division was enough to keep her running around and around and around…there had been no shortage of things to do.
Mukai hadn't helped matters.
She had, in the span of a day, become a single mother to what was perhaps the most stubborn child in earth. She loved Mukai with all her heart but even as an infant she just…really liked things her way. It hadn't gotten any easier…this was why they called them the terrible twos. Right now they were both next door with the…eclectic…group of adults that the Suzuki children had collected….doing nothing. Well Mukai was doing something, she was playing in a fort made from probably every single pillow, blanket, and cushion that could be found in the house. She was in there with her brother…that was never going to stop getting weird…and her sister was there too….that was even weirder….and despite everything happening around her she still was doing…nothing.
A whole lot of nothing.
"So….is this…it?" asked Tsuchiya to no one in particular. She was sitting on the couch watching the kids play. Something was on the TV, some anime drama that you had to be at least a hundred episodes deep to understand, and there to compete with the sound of the TV was what must have been the most boring Beatles playlist ever. Seriously. There were more albums besides One…and that was just a compilation album anyway. She knew that she was hearing the remastered versions from One…over…and over….and over again….with some of the Yellow Submarine soundtrack….and it was competing with the TV…and the kids…and the clickity clack of knitting needles….and the sounds of whatever game Serizawa was playing off in the corner…and Minegishi's periodic sighing….and the page turning…and….and…
She had no idea how so much and absolutely nothing could be going on at the same time.
"Well it's not done yet, it's going to take a lot more time….but her birthday isn't until February, right?" asked Shibata as he held up what was going to be the best, warmest, softest sweater that he had ever knitted in his life. He had missed two of her birthdays….two! This third one was going to have to make up for what he had missed.
Baby Suzuki liked sweaters….right? Oh course she did, everyone liked sweaters.
"What? Mukai's?" asked Tsuchiya as Shibata held up…a knitted table cloth? A car tarp? A blanket for…an elephant? Or maybe an octopus? She didn't know. It was red…and it was big…that was all she could tell.
"Say knock-knock, mama!" said Mukai as she stuck her head out of the little house. Mama was sitting up by the mean purple person…mama needed to be in the little house! She grabbed mama's foot…and her sock came off…yay! A sock!
"Mukai, give that back, I need it." Said Tsuchiya. She was not walking around barefoot in this place. The floor was covered in…crumbs of some kind…didn't anyone clean around here? She wasn't a big fan of Mukai playing down there but at least her brother had put a blanket down to be the floor…so that was ok…
But she really did need her sock back.
"You can borrow some of mine if baby Suzuki doesn't want to give it back…or I could knit you some. I ca actually speed knit socks pretty well." Said Shibata. Yeah…he hadn't vacuumed in a while…but to be fair every time he vacuumed Shimazaki made it his personal mission to make as much of a mess as he could…and Shibata did not buy that whole 'I'm blind, I don't know when I'm making crumbs' thing because he had to have been able to feel them under his feet.
"Thanks….I'm ok." Said Tsuchiya. She…was not getting her sock back. Mukai had gone back into the fort and Tsuchiya knew that she would not have even begun to fit in there. It was small, by fort standards, even if they had used a lot of blankets. The trick was to spread the blankets out and to have a lot of support for the ceiling…not that she'd made a lot of forts in her youth. She hadn't had the time.
Though maybe she needed to take up fort building just to alleviate this sense of…she didn't even know what…that came with have nothing to do.
"Are you sure? It's really no trouble. I like making things for people." Said Shibata. The quickest way to make friends with someone was to feed and clothe them, sort of like getting a puppy trust you, and he had to befriend this woman. She seemed nice….a hell of a lot nicer than some of the people he had to live with, and she was the mother of the most adorable toddler he had ever seen in his life! He needed to make friends with her partially for himself and partially because it didn't really seem like anyone else was making an effort to.
"It's June. Who the hell wants to wear knitted socks in June?" asked Minegishi not looking up from their book. They would have gone to their room but Ryou had taken all the pillows and blankets from their bed…and also Mob was out here and she felt like being social…even though she had her nose buried in her phone. Minegishi could hear her angrily sighing every so often…so she was either talking to her bitchy friend or Hatori was giving her another update on her dad. Either way she was stressing out.
They reached over and ran a hand through her hair. Poor Mob.
"What's happening? What about socks?" asked Mob. Baby Mukai had stolen hers a while ago….but she didn't mind. Right now she had other things to worry about. Minori was mad at her for coming to Tokyo and not visiting…and people were complaining on the Claw internal forum about how dad was being extra mean….he made a bunch of people slap each other for breathing too loudly and also too quietly and also one person had passed out from not breathing at all….and also Hatori said that dad missed her a lot…..
She had bigger problems than not having her favorite socks anymore.
"Socks for feet!" shouted Mukai
"Shibata is making us all bespoke winter socks in the middle of June." Said Minegishi
"Oh….um….maybe we should save those for Christmas presents. I mean….it's kind of hot out." Said Mob
"That's….a great idea. You're right…I have been making too many sweaters lately….alright. This is going to be the last one…but don't tell Mukai it's for her. I want it to be a surprise." Said Shibata. He whispered the last part in case she was listening. She was going to love this birthday present…or maybe Christmas would have been better….but he was going to make her a ragdoll for Christmas. Something that she couldn't choke on. He had seen her putting Mob's dolls in her mouth…and he knew CPR but he also knew what happened the last time he tried to do CPR on someone…and with their only healer banished…well they had to be very careful of the delicate little people that lived with them.
"That's…for her birthday? Her third birthday?" asked Tsuchiya. She may not have known a lot about knitting but she did know that Mukai would not be big enough for the sweater by the time she turned three.
"Well I hope that I can get this done in time for Baby Suzuki's third birthday. I'm…a lot better at making socks than sweaters." Said Shibata
"No you're good at making sweaters…for three armed giants." Said Minegishi. The closed their book and pointed at the third arm hole in that sweater. They may not have known much about kids but they did know that they didn't lose their baby arms and get adult ones.
"I think that Shibata is doing a great job." Said Mob. Shibata's sweaters weren't about looking good. They were about feeling safe and warm like you were wearing a blanket made out of friendship…Mob wished that she had her friendship blanket sweater. Mukai had knocked a bowl of cereal into her lap that morning and her sweater was hanging out to dry. You couldn't put yarn in the dryer or it would shrink…so she had to wear her hoodie instead.
She missed her sweater.
She didn't want to wear it so she could disappear like she always wanted to when she thought about how…people thought of her. How she was doing stuff with Shimazaki and her other friends who were boys just because she was getting older and had breasts now and stuff…and she didn't want to think about how now that she had breasts people had opinions on them….like someone she had known for her entire life….she hated feeling like that. She normally wore her big sweater so she didn't have to feel like that, so she could feel like she had disappeared or something. Now she wanted to wear it because…she didn't know.
Maybe because Mukai's mom wouldn't stop looking at her.
Not in the way that Fukuda looked at her where he thought about her doing…all the things…with Shimazaki and stuff….so gross. No, she didn't know why Mukai's mom was looking at her but she knew that it wasn't about that. She just wished that her mom would find someone else to look at. Minegishi was wearing a funny t-shirt, it said 'I No Speak English' in English…and that was funny because they did speak English…but then again they didn't like people staring at them…maybe she should have just gone into the fort…even though every time she went in there Mukai tried to rip her braid off…
She zipped her hoodie with her powers. There. That was a little better.
"Yeah, alright. It does only have three arm holes as opposed to his usual four, you're right. The baby is going to love it." Said Minegishi. They put their book off to the side and slid down until they were sitting next to Mob. She was hiding….and that never meant anything good. They glanced down at her phone…apparently her bitchy friend was pissed that she hadn't come running to hang out. Well poor her. Mob was too nice sometimes…most of the times. She'd been weirdly hostile to Tsuchiya…for reasons Minegishi could not begin to understand.
Mob had been there, hell she had been the person Suzuki gave the baby to originally. That baby had been born two years ago in Korea…and she so obviously looked Korean…well a mix but still.
"Shush! Not so loud, she'll know about the surprise." Said Shibata. He waved his hands in the universal gesture of 'quiet down'….a bit too rapidly. Damn, he dropped….more than one stitch actually. Damn it….well this gave him the change to start all over again. Yeah….that was a good way to look at it.
"Surprise!" shouted Mukai as she jumped through the roof of the house. Big person had said surprise…so surprise! She jumped out and held out her arms. Sho's mama smiled at her.
"Hey, Mukai." Said Tsuchiya. Mukai crossed her arms and glared…too cute. Way too cute.
"Surprise." Said Mob as she tucked her braids into her hoodie. Mukai…she had that look in her eyes again…the 'I'm going to pull on some braids' look…and Mob….she knew that her hair would grow back but it had taken her the entire twelve years of her life to get her hair this long…and she didn't want to have to wait until she was…twelve times two was…twenty two. She didn't want to have to wait until she was twenty two…no. That was two times eleven. Two times twelve was two more than twelve times eleven….she didn't want to have to wait until she was twenty four to be able to braid her hair again.
Also, there, she did know her two times table…she could teach herself things and Sho….she didn't need anyone's help…especially not the lady who might have tricked her dad into doing….all the stuff…with him.
"Yes, very surprising." Said Minegishi as they kicked a pillow out of the way. They felt a headache coming on…and they needed a nap. They hadn't slept last night…not really. Ryou had been tossing and turning and crying...the bad side to sharing a room with him. When he had a bad night then so did they. He would never admit it but being back in Tokyo might have been fucking with him…not that they were up for moving again.
Moving would make this permanent…and they did not want this to be permanent.
This was stressful on Mob and if it was stressful on her then it was stressful on them. Minegishi was happy that Mob had her sister back and now she could resume her game of house….but also Mob had a two year old to take care of, her father had run away, and now not only was the little vomit machine back but her mother was there too….and she had her nose turned so far up in the air that she was going to drown in the rain. She and Fukuda would have gotten along just fine…and they did not need another Fukuda.
They had just gotten rid of the one they had.
"No, no, no. When she jumps out and yells 'surprise' then you guys have to yell it back like you're surprised. We're going to do this again and when we do everyone in the room had better be surprised….or else." Said Sho. He pulled baby sis back down to the ground and put their fort back up. This was kind of a crappy fort since he hadn't been able to use the chair or the couch…but it was ok. Ryou was stealing them some more pillows and blankets and stuff. He was a really great friend like that…the best friend that Sho would ever have…and as his best friend Sho needed to stop having these weird random thoughts about him…like what it would have been like if they had been in the fort together and everyone else was gone off at a place that was far away and realty fun so they wouldn't be back for a while…nope. Not the thoughts to have…so he was going to stop having them. He was going to play surprise with baby sis and his brain was not going to have weird thoughts about Ryou…or Ritsu…did he like forts? Did he ever build forts…maybe not since he was an only child and fort building was boring when you were alone…but if he was there then….
Shut up, brain, nobody wants you!
"Surprise now, Sho." said Mukai as she grabbed Sho by the shirt. He nodded. Good. Now they could play!
"OK, they're going to do it right this time. One…two…three…wait!" said Sho. Right…she didn't know how to count yet. She jumped up before he could stop her…everyone had better have been ready with a good surprise or he was definitely going to do….something…
"Surprise! Now!" shouted Mukai as she jumped through the house...and she couldn't move….she couldn't see….mama! Where was mama!
"Help! Help! Mama!" shouted Mukai as she tried to move and see and…and she couldn't! The world was green and now it was red and she was stuck and she couldn't get out and…..and…and where was mama!? She needed mama!
"Mukai, wait, you're going to….trip!" said Mob. She caught Mukai as she fell down…and so did Sho. She was all tangled in the blanket now…Sho should have taken the roof off for her if he knew that she was going to do that. Mob put her phone down and tried to get the blanket off…but Mukai kicked her in the face…and she had very strong baby legs.
"Hang on, baby sis! Just….stop fighting….please!?" asked Sho as he got her head out of the blanket. She had turned herself into a little baby burrito…she really should have waited…but he was the big brother and he should have known that something like this was going to happen.
"Wait! I have sewing scissors, we can cut her out and-"said Shibata
"Is that your blanket?" asked Minegishi. No, that was not his blanket, that was their blanket…their good summer blanket. They had picked it up in Sydney and they were not going to let it get cut to shreds because Ryou had decided that their bedding would be useful in this stupid fort.
"What's going on?" asked Serizawa as he took off his headphones. He…was calm…but maybe it was best that he stayed over here where Miss Suzuki had told him to sit. He knew that he would have been no help over there with….whatever that was. It looked like they were playing…or trapping Little Miss Suzuki…or something….he didn't know and…and when you didn't know something then the best thing to do was to just leave it all alone!
"Baby sis is a baby burrito." Said Sho as he got Mukai's arms out. There now she could….scratch him…she had really sharp nails. They dug into his face….he didn't know why she was doing that, he had been trying to help her, but she must have had a good reason…in her own head, at least.
"Move over, I've got this." said Tsuchiya. This wasn't the first time that Mukai had gotten herself all tangled up and this wouldn't be the last. She knew how to do this and comfort Mukai, too, so that in five minutes she'd be good as new…too bad nobody was giving her a chance to do her job…
"No, I have this." said Mob as she undid the blanket with her powers. Mukai was free now…and she was crying…and kicking. She was…well there were Mob's socks…but she wasn't going to put them on now. She pulled Mukai into her lap…and she was kicking…and crying…and now everyone was looking at her…and she had this.
She was a good big sister.
"Shigeko, I can-" said Tsuchiya as she reached for Mukai…and then…stopped. Not a barrier, no, she was being held in place….from all side…and…it had only lasted a second but she had been completely immobilized.
"I have this." said Mob as she began to rock baby Mukai back and forth like when she'd been a baby…and she was still kind of a baby….even though she was bigger and stronger now…she was still a baby and she had been through something scary and Mob was here to make it all better for her. That was what big sisters were for. They took care of their younger siblings…and Mob knew what she was doing!
"Miss Suzuki? Do you…maybe you should give your sister to her mom….maybe…" said Serizawa quietly. He sort of wished that he weren't in the corner…if he had been somewhere else then he could have run away…maybe he should have brought his umbrella. He was in the house but…it was very loud out here…he wished that he had brought his umbrella…and he wished that it wouldn't have been rude for him to put his headphones back in….would it have been? He didn't know….he held his DS in both hands…he just…needed to get back to what he had been doing…that's all…
"I know what I'm doing." Said Mob as she held her sister closer. Even Serizawa didn't think that she knew what she was doing….but that was…it was good that he was voicing more of his opinions and…and she just had to look at it like that….and not like he was just repeating what everyone was saying….that she didn't know what she was doing…that she was a bad big sister…that Fukuda had been right to find a mom for Mukai….that no matter what Mob did she would never be as good as mom…that she was really f-wording bad at this….
"Mob? Maybe you should give her to her mom…if you want to! Only if you want to….like you said…you have this." said Shibata as he picked at his knitting. He….kind of really wanted her to give baby Suzuki back to her mom…but also he didn't want to undermine her confidence…but also he wanted baby Suzuki to be ok…but also he wanted to go over there and comfort baby Suzuki…but he knew not to pick her up. She was too fragile. That was why he hadn't once picked her up, not even when she had been a baby. The kid from Wee World had gone on to live a normal life…but he didn't want to risk it again.
"Shibata's right, I have this." said Mob as she bounced baby Mukai up and down like she had when she had been a baby and….it wasn't working…and she had no clue why it wasn't working. It had worked before and…and like Shibata said…and she had been saying. She had this.
"Uh…big sis? She likes it when you-" said Sho. Baby sis didn't like that anymore. She liked it when you talked to her or gave her candy or played a game with her. When she got freaked out like this it was best to distract her…but big sis wasn't listening. She thought that she knew best…well this was the kind of thing that girls knew about…but he knew baby sis better than she did. He had been watching her for longer than she had known Mukai and…and he knew what he was doing too.
"Sho, I know what I'm doing." Said Mob. Her own brother…her own brother didn't have faith in her. She…she had been taking care of him since he had been six. That was almost half his life. She had been taking care of him for almost half his life, which was even longer than mom had been taking care of him, but he thought…he just sat there and thought that….that she didn't know what she was doing….
"God damn it…Mob, you know I love you but you need to give Tsuchiya that baby and you need to do it right fucking now because I cannot deal with this." said Minegishi as they reached over for the baby. They did not want to have to deal with the little vomit machine, they remembered quite clearly what had happened the last time they'd held her, but they also could not deal with this crying for one more second.
"What part of 'I have this' don't you understand!?" said Mob….meanly…more meanly than she had ever said anything to her best friend in her entire life. Minegishi was staring at her…and she stared back…and everyone was staring at her…and then Mukai kicked her…and she stare at Mukai….and Mukai kept on crying…and then…and then she felt like she was going to cry….
And then the energy in the room shifted.
"You know, if they didn't want people to steal this shit then they shouldn't leave it unattended…what the fuck is happening in here?" asked Shimazaki as he dropped the pile of blankets he'd stolen from a store that smelled nice, was cool inside, and had a lot of really soft blankets. The new one they built after the old luxury store burnt down…and he had nothing to do with that…well he had a little more to do with that then what he had to do with this.
That was one unhappy Suzuki.
Well, actually, that was three unhappy Suzuki's. Sho...well his aura had been a shrieking mess since that shit with the Seventh Division, Mob was what worried him. She'd been a mess too…and kind of bitchy lately too…well bitchy by Mob's standards….but that baby was what worried him the most. He did not like the sound of a crying baby. He hadn't when he'd first met her and he didn't know. Everyone was all tense…including the mom….and he had no idea why.
It was just a baby.
"Baby sis is upset and…what are you doing?" asked Sho as Ryou got down next to him…and big sis. That was probably who he was trying to get next to. He was holding out his arms and…and he was just taking baby sis right from big sis….like…what?!
"Shimazaki, I have this." said Mob as Shimazaki took Mukai from her. She felt him take Mukai and…he was strong. He was strong and….and she knew that she could have stopped him like she had done to baby Mukai's mom…but she had been mean to do that. She hadn't meant it, it had just happened, and now that she knew what she was doing she knew enough not to do it…even though her lap felt cold from where baby Mukai had been in her arms…and everyone's eyes felt warm on her…because they were all looking at her.
"Well now I have this…yes I do, yes I do!" said Shimazaki as he held the crying baby in his arms. Truth be told this was murder on his ears…and his aura…but Toshi was watching. Shimazaki would feel Toshi watching and….and he could not fuck this up. Toshi thought that he was needy…and Toshi thought that he was bad with kids….and Toshi thought a million other things that weren't true…but he'd show them…then things could go back to being great between them like they always had been.
He had this.
"Ryou, not now. Come on." Said Minegishi. They knew what he was doing. He was going to use Suzuki's kid, another one of Suzuki's kids, as reason number whatever about why the two of them needed to have a kid. It wasn't going to happen. Ryou could be so ridiculous sometimes….they wondered if Mob was considering adding Matsuo to the group. He could be his own kind of ridiculous but….well at least there was no question of having kids since it wasn't physically possible between the two of them and nobody in their right mind would have let the two of them adopt either.
"Give-give her to me." Said Tsuchiya when she found works. Shimazaki Ryou…was holding her baby. President Suzuki's best, most ruthless, hitman was holding her baby. The man who dropped people from the sky FOR FUN was holding her baby…and…and she just….she reached forward…and…and he teleported away. Grabbing at him was like grabbing air…she was grabbing air…he was gone…
He was gone and so was Mukai.
Tsuchiya couldn't move…she couldn't breathe…she couldn't think. She just…she had faced the President of Claw…she had fought countless battles…but this…this was terror. Pure terror like she had never known before. Her baby…was gone…and there was nothing that she could do and…and she couldn't move or think or breathe or…or…or….
Or…or….
"Relax. They're in the kitchen." Said Minegishi with a roll of their eyes. They pulled Mob close. She was still…not well. That had been…Mob was clearly not taking this well…and they had no idea what they could do. This was so far outside of their area of expertise….they had never dealt with a cheating parent, a secret sibling, and a web of lies before…so they just held Mob. What else could they do.
"O-Over there." said Serizawa. He pointed to the kitchen…the crying was over…he was so glad that the crying was over. He looked back down at his DS…maybe Miss Suzuki had brought hers and they could visit each other in Animal Crossing…or whatever else she wanted to do. She seemed so upset…and there was nothing that he could do….but he wished that there was.
"Stop freaking out, it's not like Ryou would hurt her." said Sho as he used his powers to put the fort back. Big sis was still upset…and he knew that she was upset with him…he had heard her say that she had it…but she hadn't! He knew their sister better than she did and he could have had that and…and she hadn't let him even try. He wasn't a baby…he knew how to do things…like build a fort….so that was what he was going to do.
"He wouldn't…ma'am. He actually really likes kids." Said Shibata as he went back to his knitting. The crying had stopped…and he could hear Shimazaki going through the cabinets. There…it was done. Baby Suzuki was happy again and they could get back to normal….well not Mob…she was still upset. He put down his knitting…maybe he needed to make something for her, too, to cheer her up. Maybe a matching sweater for her doll to wear…or he could make her a nice glass of chocolate milk…well she did like strawberry better….he'd figure something out. He couldn't let any of the kids be upset for even a millisecond. They had their whole lives to be upset. They deserved what happens they could get from this world.
"Mukai…" said Tsuchiya before she got up and practically sprinted to the kitchen. She didn't know what she expected to find…she pooled her qi into her arms. If he had hurt a hair on her head then….then she didn't know if she would win…but she would try. She would…she would put him through a wall…not even teleportation would save him if he even did so much as-
-feed her pudding?
"Hey Mukai….don't be afraid….sing a sad song….and make it better...and have some pudding….and make it better." said Shimazaki as he held the baby in his lap and fed her a pudding cup. She had picked a great time to cry, really, since he had just reupped on pudding cups. The good kind with the sprinkles. She was eating it up like, well, pudding. There wasn't a single problem that chocolate couldn't solve. He had no idea what she was so pissed about but she was ok now.
He was pretty damn good at this.
He had no idea why Toshi didn't want one of these. Well aside from the constant crying, screaming, vomiting, pissing, shitting, and general work that came with taking care of a tiny human. Well that part was pretty damn boring…but at least it didn't last that long. She was starting to get out of that phase. She could talk, and understand, and she could eat semisolid foods too. Really if he and Toshi make it through the baby stage then they would be the best fucking parents in the entire world.
Better than his parents had been, anyway.
Mom used to do this for him when things had been bad. She used to sit up with him on his bed and tell him that she loved him and sing this to him while she fed him. Mom…she had been something. Most moms were pretty great. Well not Sho and Mob's mom, how she could have run away on two great people like that he would never know, but most moms. Like Mukai's mom…maybe her birth mom? He didn't know, he didn't keep track of where Suzuki came. That esper in the doorway acting like she was ready to kill him. She was a pretty good mom.
After all she had been ready to kill him for kind of stealing her baby.
"Mama! Pudding! Ryou pudding! Here!" shouted Mukai as she pushed the spoon away.
"Mukai…you're….alright." said Tsuchiya. Wow. That hadn't been…what she had been expecting…not that she knew what she had been expecting. Shimazaki Ryou holding her daughter on his lap feeding her pudding….and getting it all on the front of his shirt…was not what she had been expecting…though she had no idea what she had been expecting…well nothing good….so this was…good….unexpected…but good….
But also…what?
"Bye Ryou!" said Mukai as she jumped down and ran over to mama. Her feet slipped a little but mama caught her. She couldn't trip here. That didn't happen to her anymore….yay!
"See ya, kid!" said Shimazaki. There. Now his work was done…and she had left him half a pudding cup. God, this day just got better and better. He felt Mukai's mom pick her up. Good. The kid was calm, all was well, and nobody had touched his playlist. This was shaping up to be a good day…well not for Mob…he'd do something fun with her later….and Sho….well he'd help Sho out later too….God, this was a weirdly busy day for him.
Well whatever, there was pudding.
"Thanks…I guess. I never…I never knew you were good with kids." Said Tsuchiya as she watched the most dangerous man in all of Claw eat pudding…with his shirt covered in pudding…but he might not have noticed being blind and all…and….yeah. She was watching a blind hitman eat a pudding cup….that was what was happening…that was what she was doing with her day….
Ok then…
"Please and thank you, Mama. Please and thank you, Ryou." Said Mukai before tasting her fingers. Tasty fingers today, very tasty.
"You're both welcome. Yeah, kids aren't that hard. I just did what my mom did for me, you know how it is." Said Shimazaki
"Your mother…fed you pudding and sang Beatles songs to you?" asked Tsuchiya. That…was something. She had never given much thought to what that man's childhood had been like, she never gave much thought to him at all, but….it was….weird…to think of him as someone with a mother who loved him and sang to him….that was really weird actually.
"Yeah, other songs too but we like….we liked the Beatles." Said Shimazaki. He…was not in the mood to talk about mom…but that made no sense. He didn't care. Things had happened to him and now they were over and mom was dead and he couldn't save her and….and he put the spoon down and ate his pudding with his finger. Truly the superior way to eat.
"Oh…so I guess that you're the one responsible for this playlist?" asked Tsuchiya as Mukai wiggled in her arms. That playlist was still going…he liked the Beatles. She had never…well she had heard that he liked them but….this was….she never would have imagined that she would ever have seen him in this positon…but she was. Vulnerable…maybe. That was a word…that might have been the word for this….the way he was now. Vulnerable…
"Yeah, well it's mostly One on a loop…but One is the greatest compilation in the history of compilations…and there's some Yellow Submarine because who the fuck doesn't like Yellow Submarine?" asked Shimazaki
"Well if you're talking about a good compilation then there's always the soundtrack to Across the Universe." Said Tsuchiya. This was…weird. She never would have thought that she would have been having a conversation with him…with Shimazaki Ryou….but here she was. This was…if not for Mukai poking her chest she would have thought that she would have been in one of those surreal dreams she had sometimes….
Any minute now she would have to turn in her algebra homework.
"What the fuck? Alright, Across the Universe is a great movie but it's nothing but covers and who the fuck likes covers?" asked Shimazaki. What was WRONG with this woman? Across the Universe….what? This woman…did EVERYONE in Claw have to have some kind of deep, psychological, problems?! Poor Mukai…well maybe there was hope for her. He'd have to teach her about music….and also how not to get pudding all over his third favorite shirt.
"Who the fuck, mama!? Who the fuck?!" shouted Mukai. Mama made a funny face there!
"Come on, Mukai, time for a nap….sorry. She…needs her nap. Come on, Mukai." Said Tsuchiya. Well that was her que to exit….thank God. She had never been happier to hear her daughter curse. Mukai needed a nap….and so did Tsuchiya…she felt so heavy…and tired. She had no idea how one day could have been so…long….
How could doing nothing, nearly nothing, have possibly been so exhausting.