Pancakes had always been a favorite for the group.
Waffles, of course, were a mainstay but Shibata did not feel like making waffles. Whenever he made waffles the next day, without fail, he would wake up to a ruined waffle maker. Shimazaki ether did it to mess with him or he honestly liked the taste and smell of brunt caramel. He could have just asked Shibata to make him camel waffles…or asked Sho to ask him. Shibata wasn't exactly jumping at the idea of being Shimazaki's on call personal chef after all but he couldn't say no to one of the kids.
Who could?
"Ok, Mukai, now we have to crack an egg in. Do you want to try?" asked Shibata. Mukai nodded and held out her hand. He didn't care that it was five in the morning, he didn't care that he'd woken up to Mukai drawing on his arm, and he didn't care that she had also torn the kitchen apart trying to find food. He was happy to make her breakfast.
And he was extra happy to let her help.
"Break the egg…over there." said Mukai. She tapped the egg lightly against the side of the bowl like she was afraid of it….or maybe she was just imitating him. Breaking eggs was the hardest part of cooking, that was why he usually just got eggs from the carton, but whoever had done the shopping for them had decided on real eggs. He was not a fan of eggs, they were too fragile, and American eggs…well he especially disliked them. They were pasteurized and, well he had never been a fan of raw eggs even over cooked rice, they could still make you sick.
He didn't know what he would have done if he had been responsible for someone he cared about, let alone one of the kids, getting sick.
"Try not to get it on your hands, ok?" asked Shibata
"Break the egg….over there." said Mukai. She tried again, this time harder. She had her eyebrows knitted together and her pupils were tiny. That was exactly the face that the president made when he was thinking really hard about something…and Sho too now that he thought about it. Shigeko must have taken after her mother. She didn't look a thing like either of her siblings…but genetics were weird. Hell, he was living proof of that. How two people as short and as normal as his parents could have had someone like him…well that was one of life great mysteries. There were a lot of those.
Like how one little person could be so cute!
"Over there." said Mukai as she banged the egg against the rim of the bowl. She hit it harder this time and it cracked. She held the egg up like she had found the Holy Grail. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open in surprise…he had to get a picture of this! He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone….and in the ten seconds it took for him to do that Mukai had managed to crack her egg completely.
By dropping it into the bowl.
"Break the egg. Over there." said Mukai as she pointed to the mess in the bowl. Shibata sighed and put his phone back. Too slow. He needed to work on his reaction times. They grew up so fast, kids, and he had to document everything they did because at some point it would be the last time they did it. Like picking Sho up and throwing him. At some point he had picked Sho up for the last time and hadn't even known it. He was too old for that now. He was too old for a lot of things he used to like to do. Too old for forts, too old to be thrown over the house, too old to play with his toy animals…and Shigeko was getting older too. She hardly ever played dolls anymore and she didn't wear her princess costumes that often and she only watched Frozen once a day if that…and now Mukai was walking and talking…it was enough to bring a tear to his eyes.
Or more than a tear.
"Bad egg…bad." Said Mukai. She slapped her little hand into the bowl…and now there was a mess….but not a bad one! There was just egg all over her hand…egg and sugar and flour….and now she was rubbing her hands on the back of the chair that she was standing on. The chair was upholstered in some kind of silk, there was a lot of silk around here, and…well he would have to get the egg and flour and sugar out of that…but that was alright. Mukai didn't know what she was doing. Actually she was kind of cute. Shews spitting on her hand now and rubbing it on the front of her pajamas…she was cute but making a mess, though, and she didn't seem to like being messy. Not like Sho at all.
"Bad egg….bad." said Mukai. She held out her hand…which now had spit all over it in addition to the mess that she'd already had…that wasn't gross. He'd dealt with grosser, though, in his life. Back at Wee World he'd been in charge of the tiny train and the carousel…and kids didn't do well when they went around and around on stomach's full of amusement park food. Lots of sawdust. Lots of lemon time. The pet store hadn't been much better, kids and pets were equally messy but in different ways….the worst had been when mom had gotten sick. That had been…that had been a lot….
He wet a paper towel.
"Give me your hand, I'll clean it off, and with something other than spit." Said Shibata
"I spit…over there." said Mukai. He took her hand and cleaned it off….maybe he should have used something other than water. She could have gotten sick…she had touched American eggs after all. Ok, from now on he was going to bring his own eggs wherever he went when he traveled…and bread, too, they had weird bread here….and if they ever went to Canada he'd make sure that he picked up a lot of that good maple syrup. A lot of it, too, since they went through a lot of syrup with all the pancakes and waffles they ate.
Well that they would have been eating…no, no, he didn't blame Mukai. He'd just have to start again.
"Here, Mukai, you mean here…and it's ok. We'll just start again? How's that sound?" asked Shibata as he cleaned off Mukai's hand as best as he could. He made sure that he was gentle with her. He made sure not to tug on her hand, not to press too hard, not to…well not to hurt her. She was so small and so fragile…it would have been so easy to accidentally hurt her…
He didn't know what he would have done if he were to accidentally hurt her.
That had happened, before, when he'd been younger. When he really hadn't known his own strength. When he'd ha his kitten…and his puppy…and his goldfish…though the goldfish would have died anyway since he'd been only three years old and he'd taken it out of it's bowl…and also goldfish didn't live very long in bowls anyway…and…well it had and had not been his fault. He had been too young and too strong…and now he was still too strong but he wasn't young anymore. He was almost thirty years old, too old to lose control of his strength, and too old to accidentally hurt someone…especially someone so cute. He didn't know what he would have done if…if something had happened to her. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself…or just live in general.
Since he was pretty sure that Mukai's mom would have killed him.
"What happened here?" asked Tsuchiya as she took the paper towel from his hand. He let her. She was the mom after all and this was what moms did. His mom had done the same for him when he'd been little. He'd been a lot messier back then…well he had been a lot smaller….but mom hadn't minded. That was just how they were, they never minded. They were really nice people like that, it was like a switch flipped when people became parents.
Well, when some people became parents, anyway.
"Mukai's been helping me make breakfast." Said Shibata as Tsuchiya finished cleaning Mukai's hand off. She opened and closed it in front of her face before leaning down to lick it. Shibata quickly put the stirring spoon in her hand before she could give herself salmonella or something. They didn't have a healer anymore after all…and as much as he disliked Fukuda it had been nice to have a healer around twenty four seven.
"Have you been helping? Really?" asked Tsuchiya in that voice moms did sometimes. Mukai nodded and poked her with the stirring spoon.
"I'm helping mama. Right now. Broke the egg." Said Mukai
"I can see that. Looks like you had a little trouble." Said Tsuchiya
"She actually almost got it right…she just made a little mistake when she tried to stir with her hands." Said Shibata with a laugh that hadn't quite been able to reach his eyes. He knew how moms could be sometimes. The old 'why are you talking t my child' and even worse…and Tsuchiya hadn't been like that…but he knew how moms were about their kids…and Tsuchiya was extra strict when it came to Mukai. She hardly let her have any candy or junk food, rationed her TV time, and had a specific bedtime for her. Shibata…well he was of the opinion that kids needed to be happy while they could before the adult world ground them done…but that was not his kid so he didn't get a say. He wouldn't have said anything if he had even gotten assay. It was best to leave these things to moms.
Even if, sometimes, moms got the wrong idea about him.
"Yeah, she likes to get messy. I can't believe that you're even up this early. I mean breakfast? Right now? The sun's not even up yet." Said Tsuchiya with a laugh. She brushed some of her hair behind her ear. Mukai tried to do the same thing but her hair grew like Sho's, up and out, so it just sprang back to where it had been.
"Good morning sun, good morning." Said Mukai with a wave of her hand. She reached up and waved at the window. He kind of wanted to take a picture…but maybe her mom wanted to…and maybe she wouldn't have liked it if he did. Moms didn't much like it when you took pictures of their kids even though their kids were so impossibly adorable! Seriously, how had someone like President Suzuki managed to have kids as adorable as Mukai, Mob, and Sho?
"That's right, you've got to great the sun before the moon." Said Shibata with another laugh and a shrug. Tsuchiya had been looking at him like…well like she expected him to say something…so he had to say something…but it was hard to say something. He wanted to tell Tsuchiya that he had the most adorable little girl in the world, well two year old girl since Shigeko was the cutest twelve year old girl in the world, but that might have been too much. He…had never been good at talking to women…and they had never really wanted to talk to him either.
"I hear Shigeko saying that a lot, is that from something?" asked Tsuchiya
"I don't know, actually, I got it from Mob too." Said Shibata. There was a shift in the energy around him and the next thing he knew the refrigerator door was being opened and there was a pile of glitter on the floor. Mukai practically leapt from her chair but, luckily. Tsuchiya managed to catch her.
"Mama! Ryou shiny! Over there!" said Mukai as she pointed at Shimazaki. He pulled something out of the fridge and closed it with his foot. He was covered in glitter from head to toe…and he smelled like a cigarette factory…and also he was wearing a bright pink breast cancer ribbon t-shirt and black sweatpants…were those women's sweatpants? They were black but they said 'pink' on them.
"Am I? I can't tell…what am I even covered in?" asked Shimazaki as he ran his thumb across the top of a beer can. He frowned and did it again, this time with his index finger.
"Glitter…you're covered in glitter." Said Shibata. Glitter…he…strongly disliked glitter. It was like cancer. You never could totally get rid of it. No matter what you did there was always some just hanging around waiting for it's chance to strike, biding it's time….and now Shimazaki had tracked so much of it into the apartment….but he was blind and he didn't know what he was doing since he couldn't see it…and Shibata…he was not going to get upset at Shimazaki. He was going to tally up his mean thoughts for the day and he was going to keep them for himself.
"So that's why I'm itchy…anyway, what am I holding? They don't put braille on the top of the cans here." Said Shimazaki
"Can! That's a can!" said Mukai
"Ok, someone who can read tell me what's in this can." Said Shimazaki
"That's a beer…cider, sorry That's a hard cider." Said Tsuchiya. She was looking Shimazaki up and down….he wasn't sure if she was looking him up and down because he was covered in glitter and wearing women's clothes or if it was because he was Shimazaki….Shibata chose to believe that she was just staring at Shimazaki because of his walk of shame outfit.
"What kind?" asked Shimazaki
"Mob's raspberry apple cider." Said Shibata. Shigeko liked anything in a colorful can. That was, supposedly, raspberry and apple cider. She was still a kid and she liked sweet stuff like that…and maybe she shouldn't have been drinking…but she was just a kid and she deserved to be happy.
"Tell Mob I owe her a cider." Said Shimazaki
"Or you could just not steal from her." said Shibata. She was going to be upset when she got up and one of her ciders was gone. She was switching from hard liquor, she had said, because she wanted to set a good example for Sho and listen to what Minegishi had tried to teach her about moderation. If Shibata had been a braver man he would have told them that they needed to start practicing what they preached. They had been hitting the, well, the everything pretty hard lately and it was worrying Mob…and maybe him, too. Out of all of his work friends they were pretty far up there in terms of people he actually like…well he liked everyone but Shimazaki and Fukuda….but still. He didn't want them to overdo it and get really hurt. There wasn't a healer around anymore and Minegishi….they said that they knew what they were doing…but they had also been asleep since before yesterday. They got up to use the bathroom and sometimes drink, one time he had even gotten them to eat, but they just went back to bed…or passed out right then and there…but maybe they had just done that because the couches here were very…somewhat…they could be classified as possibly being comfortable…
They were a grown adult and they could take care of themselves…but Mob was the one taking care of them, that was the problem.
"Or maybe a twelve year old girl shouldn't be drinking in the first place." Said Tsuchiya. She had a point…but it just…well she hadn't been there long enough to know the…extenuating circumstances. It had weirded him out at first but it was one of those things that you had to get used to. After about a year or so you got used to just about everything. The trick was to forget the rules of the normal world. This was Claw world now and in Claw world…well things were….things both made perfect sense and didn't make any sense at all.
"Whatever you say…..Fukuda." said Shimazaki before he teleported away. It was good that he teleported away. That had been uncalled for. /Tsuchiya was nothing like Fukuda. Sure she could be a little high strung but that was just because she wasn't used to them yet. Fukuda was…well he was way more than high strung…actually he was beyond high strung. He was…well he was himself….and Tsuchiya was nothing like him.
"Sorry about him, he was really out of line…more than normal. He just likes upsetting people, he didn't mean it." Said Shibata. He rubbed the back of his head and shifted in place. He wouldn't have blamed her for getting upset. Shimazaki…well he was an upsetting guy.
"I have no idea why he even…was that an insult? I mean I know Fukuda's not the nicest guy but…well in the grand scheme of things that he could have called me then that's nothing." Said Tsuchiya. She put Mukai down on the ground. She went to play in the cabinets…he had just gotten the pots and pans the way he liked them, but that was ok. She was happy and her mom was happy…so this was ok.
"I'm so glad you see it that way." said Shibata
"Why? Was he really that bad?" asked Tsuchiya
"Well…yes and no. He's kind of…not the best person." Said Shibata
"Are any of us?" asked Tsuchiya
"Well…alright. We're not the best people but he…well he was mean to Mob and that's unforgiveable." Said Shibata
"Mean to her? Why? She's….well she can be a little much sometimes but she's a good kid." Said Tsuchiya
"He didn't see it that way…but he's gone now so it doesn't matter." said Shibata
"He was a real bastard, huh?" asked Tsuchiya
"Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!" said Mukai. She punctuated each 'bastard' with a clap of her hands. She really was Sho's sister…and not in the best way….but if she wanted to grow up and curse then that was just who she was and he was going accept her no matter what.
"Oh God…now I've done it." Said Tsuchiya
"Oh! Mukai, can you say…pancakes? Can you say sprinkles? Can you say-" said Shibata
"She'll forget on her own eventually, just let her play." Said Tsuchiya
"Oh…ok. Um…what do you want for breakfast?" asked Shibata
"I want to help you, actually. I never thought that I would say this but I need something to do. Something other than chase after Mukai." Said Tsuchiya. She came up to the counter and started stirring the abandoned bowl of ingredients. Well that left him with nothing to do…oh! He could make a batch of chocolate ones. Sho liked those. Maybe this would be enough to get Sho out of this funk that he was in. He was such a good boy, he didn't need to feel like this, and Shibata…well he just…he needed something to do.
It was always better when you had something to do.
"I get it. It really helps having something to do." Said Shibata. She had been there long enough to get it. The boredom and time distortion would get better as the years went by. Having something to do, though, always made it easier. Something to fill the hours.
"I never thought that doing nothing could be so exhausting. I mean I used to have to beg and plead to have more time with Mukai, Ishiguro was a slave driver in another life I'm telling you, but now it's like-" said Tsuchiya
"Can I please go back to work?" said Shibata
"Yeah, you get….well of course you would, you've been here longer than I have." Said Tsuchiya
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it after a while. It's like everything kind of runs into one big today…but in a good way. Well...sometimes it's good and sometimes it's bad. I guess it depends on what we're doing." Said Shibata
"We do things?" asked Tsuchiya with a laugh.
"We're doing something right now." Said Shibata
"Making pancakes?" asked Tsuchiya
"No, we're here to see Cats…well we saw Cats but I think that Shigeko has other stuff for us to do. I know that she's going to want to see Frozen the Musical again and there's that big doll store too. After this I think that we're going back to Tokyo…then it'll be a whole lot of nothing. For me, anyway, she has things she does there." said Shibata
"Hopefully not the things Shimazaki's been getting up to." Said Tsuchiya with a wrinkle of her nose.
"No, she's too young for the walk of shame." Said Shibata. There was an edge to his voice, there, that he wasn't entirely…ok with. He didn't want to be an asshole, of course, but…well that had been a very Fukuda-like statement. Mob was just a kid. Sure she acted like she was much older sometimes but she was still just a kid.
"Stride of pride!" shouted Shimazaki as he walked past still covered in glitter but this time in his sleeping shorts. A door opened and then there was some shuffling followed by the closing of another door.
"It's six in the morning!" shouted Shibata back…even though Shimazaki's back was to him…well he knew that Shimazaki could hear him just fine!
"This many!" shouted Mukai as she held up both hands.
"Yes Mukai, that many." Laughed Tsuchiya as she bent down to pat Mukai on the head. Shibata…well there was some wistfulness there…but not as bad as he'd gotten before when he'd watched the parents and their kids. It was never going to happen for him and that was fine. The women he was attracted to were scared of him and the women who were attracted to him scared him. He was never going to have any kids and that was fine. He loved the kids he had, they weren't his but he loved them, and now there was a new kid….and there could be other new ones too…especially with the way that Shimazaki and Minegishi carried on.
Or not since Minegishi was kind of on a downward spiral….but a guy could dream.
They needed more kids in the group. The ones that they had were growing up…though not as fast as some people seemed to think…he channeled the anger he felt. He channeled it into stirring the batter for these chocolate pancakes. He was not going to get angry. He was not going to say anything that he couldn't take back, that he would regret, because…well that would have just wound up messing things up in the group and…and he was sure that she hadn't meant it. He was sure that they didn't have another Fukuda on their hands. He just…he could not deal with that…and he would not have to deal with that…
Now, now he had to deal with a mess.
"Mama! It broke, mama! It broke over there!" shouted Mukai. She was jumping up and down and pointing…he must have scared her. Damn it…damn it! He just…he was calm. He was just going to get himself cleaned up and-
-oh.
"Hold still. I've got to get this off before it sinks in. Nothing gets chocolate out." Said Tsuchiya as she wet a paper towel and tried to get the batter off of him. She did her best to get the batter off of his shirt…even though she was right, nothing got chocolate out. Not all the way. Tsuchiya was still trying….and now so was Mukai…even though she was using a hand towel.
"Hold still. Over there." said Mukai as she helped.
"Sorry about her." said Tsuchiya. She was….very close. He couldn't remember the last time he had gotten this close to a woman…and he was not thinking anything. Just that she was there and she was close. Nothing more and nothing less.
"N-No, I'm sorry. Sometimes I don't know my own strength." Said Shibata
"It's ok, I know how that goes. One time when I was ten I was sparring with my mom and I kind of…sent her flying across the court yard." Said Tsuchiya
"Oh! I didn't know that you and were the same….type, I guess? The same powers, I mean." Said Shibata
"I can harden and harness my qi. You sent it to your muscles, right?" asked Tsuchiya
"I can use my powers to make myself stronger but I'm pretty strong just on my own." said Shibata
"So not exactly the same, but close." Said Tsuchiya
"Yeah…close." Said Shibata. She really was close…but she didn't mean anything by this. She was just being a mom, that was all, this was how they were. The took care of the people around them and…well he didn't need to be taken care of…but this was nice. Someone thinking about him…it was nice. So nice that he didn't notice the shift in the energy around him.
"Mine close! Over there!" said Mukai. She pointed and shouted…there. Shibata could feel the energy in the plants hanging from the ceiling. It was moving and…yup. There was Minegishi shuffling in. They had…really bad dark circles around their eyes…especially for someone who had been sleeping as much as they had been. They hadn't changed from the other day, either. Same pajama pants and one of Shimazaki's shirts…and not a clean one. Minegishi was usually a pretty clean person…or at least they changed their clothes every day….and washed their hair when they needed it…
….maybe the greasy look was…in?
"Don't mind me, just keep up with whatever I'm interrupting." Said Minegishi as they made their way into the kitchen. They stepped over Mukai and got a glass out of the cabinet. Mukai tugged on the leg of their pajamas pants. They shook her off. Their eyes…they were close enough that he could see their eyes…their very red eyes. They looked like they had been the one who had been partying all night, not Shimazaki…but they hadn't been. They'd been dead asleep. First in their bed, and then in the bathtub, and then on the couch, and then in their bed again.
The mint tin in their hand might have had something to do with it.
The bottle of vodka they pulled out of the freezer might have also played a part in it. Shibata…well he wanted to stop them…but they were a grown adult and they knew how to take care of themselves. Also Shimazaki was incredibly jealous and Shibata did not feel like being on the receiving end of that. No, there were enough problems in the group as it was without him riling Shimazaki up. One of those problems was currently pouring themselves what Shibata hoped was not a full drinking glass of vodka.
Oh. They were adding it to orange soda…well that was alright then.
"What?" asked Minegishi. They sounded like they had been gargling gravel. They swayed where they stood. Mukai was tugging at their pant leg some more. Tsuchiya bent down and picked her up.
"Isn't it a little early for th-" said Tsuchiya
"Do you want some pancakes? The batter's just about ready and you can have the first batch." Said Shibata. Tsuchiya was still new, it hadn't even been two months yet, and she didn't really 'get' Minegishi yet. They did not like being questioned and insulted and…well they weren't the nicest person…and also they didn't seem to like Tsuchiya…and the feeling seemed to be mutual. He…did not understand and he wasn't going to get into whatever it was that was happening between the two of them. Something about that Matsuo guy…but Minegishi didn't seem to be the type to fight over guys. They had Shimazaki who, despite his personality, was pretty damn attractive….and also they were really pretty. They could have gotten whoever they wanted.
"I'm going back to bed. Leave them outside my door…and wake me up for Cats." Said Minegishi
"We're going again?" asked Tsuchiya
"Again?" asked Minegishi
"We went yesterday. You were asleep but…not for the whole thing…" said Tsuchiya
"Yesterday?" asked Minegishi
"Yeah….we got here yesterday…don't you remember?" asked Tsuchiya
"Obviously not…whatever. Leave me food outside my door…so fucking hungry…" muttered Minegishi as they held their glass in a shaking hand and walked away. They managed to step over Mukai again….that was good. Especially since they were so out of it…but they knew what they were doing…and they were fine….
"Fucking hungry! Fucking hungry!" shouted Mukai
"Mukai….go back to playing." Said Tsuchiya. She sighed and leaned against the counter. Shibata didn't know whether to ask her what was wrong or get breakfast going. Food always made everything better. When you were eating you felt better and had a chance to take a break from however you were feeling. Maybe she need something to eat…he knew that Minegishi needed something to eat, at least to soak up some of that alcohol…
"Are they….ok? I mean I know that I don't always get along with them but…are they ok?" asked Tsuchiya. Shibata put the pan on the stove and tested the butter. Not quite room temperature, it had to be room temperature, and…and he would rather have waited for this to go to room temperature than to talk about Minegishi behind their back. They didn't like that and Shimazaki…well God help the man that had anything at all to say about his partner. It would have been romantic if Shimazaki wasn't so…Shimazaki.
"Minegishi…knows that they're doing. They're an adult and they…well they shouldn't be mixing alcohol with…yeah…but they know what they're doing." Said Shibata
"They didn't look ok. They aren't good for Matsuo like that…and that's not good for them either. They look like sh-they look awful…and Matsuo…my mind keeps going to him and I have no idea why." Said Tsuchiya
"Do you like him? As more than a friend, I mean." Said Shibata. He sounded like Mob. He sounded like a kid and…well that was the polite way to ask about this. This wasn't the sort of conversation that he should have been having with her. She was a woman and she might have thought that he was hitting on her…and he hadn't been! He just…well he liked her a little…maybe. She was nice and pretty but…well he wasn't going to go messing with the balance of the group. Work place romances never worked out, he had seen enough TV to know that, and even if he did have a thing for her she wouldn't have felt the same way. Women like her did not end up with men like him.
"No….I mean he's a great guy and he's great with Mukai but just…no. There are…reasons…why it wouldn't work out….but don't get me wrong, he's great! He's really into kitsch, like, his apartment was pretty much a cross between a museum and a sticker factory. He loves stickers but he's so particular about them it drives me crazy…and he's crazy cluttered…but in an interesting way, I guess. Like when you're in his house you never know what you're going to find. My parents only let me have a footlocker for everything that wasn't clothes and school supplies so you can just imagine what stepping into his room was like…so…yeah. He's a great guy but it wouldn't work out between us…but that doesn't mean that he deserves the way Minegishi treats him." said Tsuchiya. Well that…was good. He decided to channel his inner Mob here. She seemed to like this guy and he was happy that she was happy. If Mob could be happy for other people no matter what then so could he.
"He sounds like a good friend….and…well Minegishi can be a good friend too. I mean…they're not a bad person. They've been through a lot in their life but they're not a bad person." Said Shibata
"This is Claw. Everyone's been through a lot." Said Tsuchiya with a wave of their hand.
"This is Claw! Over there!" said Mukai with a similar wave of her hand. She was so cute…and he wanted nothing more than to pick her up…but he didn't want to crush her on accident. Also Tsuchiya…well they were in the middle of a conversation.
"Well…they've been through more than a lot. I don't know their entire back story but I know that…it's been a lot. Like the stuff in made for TV movies…or tell all books. So just…maybe cut them some slack." Said Shibata. Minegishi was pretty cagey about their past but he knew enough. They were a self-made orphan, they had volunteered that information, they had been raised in a group home, and they'd been on their own since they were fifteen or something. Also sometimes they cried in the bath when they thought that nobody could hear them. Tsuchiya had a point, this was Claw and people with happy lives did not join Claw, but also…well terrible was a spectrum and some people were more towards one side of that than others.
"I…I know. I've been a bitch and…I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been acting like a kid and…well they do piss me off but…maybe spending all of my time with kids is making me more like a kid? I don't know." Said Tsuchiya with a sigh.
"Well um…this place…I mean the way we live isn't exactly good for you. I think it might be the constant jetlag, the fact that nobody here eats real food, the proximity to President Suzuki….he's kind of draining…and also there's just…nothing to do. It makes you a little weird…but that's ok. We're all mad here." Said Shibata. Ok…maybe he should have left the humor to Shimazaki or something. She was looking at him, now, like he had just told her that they were also reverse vampires and had to get up with the sun. He didn't think that he'd said anything too off the wall…but she seemed to feel differently.
"Or maybe I've just always been a bit-maybe I've just always been an unpleasant person. I don't know. This place….I can't believe it's July already. It feels like just yesterday the Seventh Division exploded and now…now it's July." Said Tsuchiya
"The passage of time never gets any better. It helps if you have something to do but, honestly, we move around so much that it's hard to even remember what day it is sometimes." Said Shibata
"I have a two year old, there's no shortage of things I have to do." Said Tsuchiya
"I meant like a schedule. That's why I like to do all the cooking. At least I have breakfast, lunch, and dinner to do. As long as I have something to do I can at least tell when one day is over and another is going to begin." Said Shibata. That was the story of his life, really. Taking care of mom, taking care of his family, every single job that he'd ever had…well there had been a lot of caretaking work. That was the best kind of work. Body guard work…not that great…it had been really good back when Sho had been little. Mob, too, but Sho…well he had always been a high energy kid. With the kids being either tired or exhausted…and Mukai so little that he could accidentally crush her…well things would get busy again eventually. When winter came, the holidays, all of that…he just had to hold out until then.
"That is so…it's sort of….you know what, move over. She's pretty busy down there for a while but she still needs breakfast." Said Tsuchiya. She poked the butter…and it still wasn't exactly room temperature, but she put it in the pan and let it melt…even though you were supposed to let the pan warm up first…but he wasn't going to stop her.
No, it was nice to have help.
Even though he'd had that on his own…it was nice to get help. Especially with how many pancakes this group could eat in one sitting.