Mob hadn't been to the Disney Store in a while.

Not since the last time she'd gotten new clothes for her and Sho. She used to go all the time when she had been little, but now…well now she was older. Also most of the stud there didn't fit her anymore. The costumes and stuff. When Mob had been a kid she used to live in these. They were comfortable and they looked cool and she just…felt good wearing them. Better than she felt the way she was dressed now. Minori said that they had to wear half shirt snow…and Mob as not a fan. Even with a super high waisted skirt this was still uncomfortable…and also the higher the waist on a skirt the shorter it was. Mob would have given anything to still have been able to fit into the costume dresses around her. To have been able to dress like she had when she had been younger.

But she was too old for that now.

She was twelve and twelve year olds did not dress like first graders. Minori had said so…well Minori wasn't around anymore….well she wasn't dead or anything like that but she kept on getting punished. Her dad had found out about how the other girls were always b-words to her and how people were always trying to make her look worse than she was and then her dad just went and punished her. Mob didn't know why her dad was punishing her just because other people said, lied, that Minori had done terrible things to them. Mob knew that her dad would have believed her…that was just how dad was. He loved her…and a lot more than Minori's dad loved Minori…but Mob wasn't going to say that. She wasn't a first grader anymore, she knew not to make people feel bad like that. She was twelve and she had to think like a twelve year old.

And look like one too.

"Belly!" said Mukai before she slapped Mob on the stomach. Mob…well she didn't like that. She didn't like being hit and she didn't like Mukai drawing attention to her either. She could feel everyone's eyes on her. Like she shouldn't have been dressed like that. Like everyone knew that she was wearing a costume. That was what this felt like. Dressing like this felt like she was disguised as a twelve year old. Like she could be discovered at any time. She knew that she was twelve but…well other people her age could dress like this. She wanted to take this off and put on one of the new Elsa dresses they had, one of the ones with the long train that she hadn't worn yet, but she knew that not only wouldn't it fit but also…also she was too old for it.

She was one of the oldest people here.

Not counting the adults, of course, there were a lot of them. They either followed their kids around or stood off by the walls. She wondered what they were all talking about. Probably adult things like jobs and money and houses and kids and stuff. The kids were talking about movies and toys and stuff…the little kids. There weren't a lot of kids her age. She wished that Sho had wanted to come with but he and Shimazaki were doing something together. It would have been nice to have someone her age around…and also Sho was running low on socks. She had no idea what he did with them but almost none of his had matches and he couldn't wear sandals because of all of his scars and stuff. She didn't need him around to get socks for him, she knew his size, but it still would have been nice to have had his opinion….or just someone to talk to.

Not that she didn't love Mukai.

"Belly…over there." said Mukai as she pointed to a poster of Princess Jasmine…or maybe she was a queen now since she had gotten married in her third movie...but her dad was still the king….so maybe she was still just a princess then. Mob wasn't sure, she had never been a fan of those movies since there was very little of the actual princess in it. She wasn't a fan of Princess Jasmine's costume either. She understood that because she lived in the desert she had to dress the way she did, it was very hot in the deserts Mob had been to anyway, but Mob was just…not a fan of the whole half shirt thing.

But that didn't mean that other people couldn't be.

"Do you want her costume, Mukai? I don't have that one and all of my old costumes aren't in good shape anyway. Do you want costumes too or just toys?" asked Mob

"Toys!" said Mukai

"Oh, so no costume then?" asked Mob

"Costumes!" said Mukai

"Ok…so…yes to the costumes?" asked Mob

"Yes!" said Mukai. She was shouting but that was ok. Anything with Disney in the name was a happy place and in happy places you were allowed to yell. Also the music was loud in here. They were playing that everybody wants to be a cat song from…from mom's favorite movie. Mom used to love the Aristocats. Mob hadn't watched that movie since mom had left…they had watched it together…well part of it. Mom had been sick all the time back then. The kind of sick where she had to spend all day in bed.

The kind of sick that Minegishi was now.

They were either sick or drunk. Mob hoped that they were drunk. She didn't know what to do if Minegishi got sick…like mom had gotten sick. Mom had gotten sicker and sicker and sicker until she just…left. She hadn't died, dad would have told her if mom was dead, she was just…gone. She was gone but Mob remembered her. The memory of mom was stuck in things like this song….this song that wouldn't end. Mob decided to tune it out and listen to Mukai.

Mukai knew her colors.

"Blue…lots of blue. Over there. Green over there. Other blue over there." said Mukai as she pointed to all the different costumes. People were looking at her. That was because she was speaking Japanese. Mukai didn't speak English at all…and maybe Mob should have been teaching her….but mom hadn't taught her. Mom and dad hardly spoke it to each other even though they had both known the language. It would have been easier if mom and dad had taught her, she would have had less to learn in school, so maybe…well she wasn't Mukai's mom…but she was Mukai's sister. She had a responsibility to teach Mukai stuff.

Important stuff like school stuff and languages…but also the names of all the princesses.

"That's right, a lot of them do wear blue. That one is for Princess Cinderella, her movie is kind of boring. The other one is for Jasmine…I don't know why that's a dress since she never wears a blue dress in any of her movies. That one over there is for Princess Merida-" said Mob

"That one!" said Mukai. She grabbed Mob by the hand and dragged her over to the big standing display of Princess Merida. She was Sho's favorite because she had a bow and arrow and stuff. Mob…thought that her movie was ok. It was nice how she and her mom got to be friends again. She

"You like Merida?" asked Mob

"….yes." said Mukai. She said it like she was answering…because she was! Normally she just repeated what you said but she had been getting so good at talking. Mob did her best to stay calm even though this was great! She was learning to talk and…and Mob really needed to calm down. The music skipped and the lights got really bright for a second. Mob felt two auras watching hers. Tsuchiya and Shibata were there, too, not because she needed an adult with her but because Mukai did. Tsuchiya went where Mukai went and Shibata went where she and Mukai went because he loved them…and also because Mob had invited him. Well she had invited everyone but Minegishi was either too tired or too drunk, Serizawa was too scared, and Sho and Shimazaki were too busy. That was ok, she was glad that at least some of her friends could come.

Though she wasn't glad that they had seen that.

Mukai tried to do the same thing. Her aura flared outwards but all the managed to do was make a mannequin turn slightly to the left. That was…actually a lot for someone as small as her. Sho hadn't been able to do much until he had been older…and dad put him in an Awakening machine. Mob knew that when she had been little she had been able to do a lot more than that…but also she knew that she was never going to put Mukai through what she had let dad put Sho through. Not Mukai and not any of her kids, too, when she had them.

She didn't care about people's powers, she was just happy to have them in her life.

"Mukai, don't try and use your powers, ok? I shouldn't have done that, it was an accident, ok?" said Mob

"No accident!" said Mukai

"No, it was and-" said Mob

"No! No accident! I'm a big girl now!" said Mukai. She was getting better at talking but not better at understanding. Mob wondered when she would be able to talk and understand like normal. The internet had said that by the age of three most kids were able to speak in full sentences and carry on conversations. Sometimes two year olds could, too, the internet had said. If mom had been around Mob would have asked her when it was normal to start talking like normal and stuff. She would have asked mom…well she would have asked mom a lot of things…but also not because if mom had been around then Mukai wouldn't have existed….

And Mob would always choose her sister over her mom no matter what.

Mom was…she'd had more time with mom than with Mukai…and mom had left her, anyway. She had just walked right out the door one day without even saying where she was going or why she was going or what she was doing…and…and if she ever came back then Mob…well Mob was not going to just act like nothing had happened….and maybe at this point it was better that she didn't come back. Mob didn't really need her. Mom hadn't been there for her in years…and even when she had been around she hadn't been that….there. She had been really sick and that hadn't been her fault but Mob…Mob still was…mad? Mad. She was just kind of mad at mom and…and that was wrong. Mom couldn't control if she was sick and she hadn't had any way of knowing that when she left Mob would still need her…or maybe she just hadn't been thinking of Mob…

Mob didn't know. She didn't have time to figure this out. Mukai had done a good thing and Mob had to use positive reinforcement like the internet had said.

"You did a whole sentence! And you conjugated! I'm so proud of you…oh. And I didn't mean like that. I just lose control of my powers something. You're fine, you're a big girl now…but please tell me if you have to go to the bathroom. You've had a lot of soda today." Said Mob

"No bathroom. Toys now please and thank you." Said Mukai. She held out her hand and did the 'give me' motion. Mob picked up a Merida doll and handed her to Mukai. Mukai held it in her hands and touched the hair. Then she touched hers. Then Merida's again. Then she reached over to tug on Mob's braid.

She let her.

Mukai was strong and when she pulled too hard it hurt…but also Mob loved Mukai and when you loved someone then you made them happy. Hair pulling made Mukai happy and if she was happy then Mob was happy. She didn't mind, not that much, Sho had done much worse than pull her hair when they'd been little kids. Mob figured that kids were just like that. She wondered if her daughters would pull her hair when they were born…and she wondered if she had pulled hair when she had been little. Dad wouldn't have known that since he had hardly been around when she'd been little. Mom would have known but she was long gone….

Mob decided to fully expect to get her hair pulled all the time when she had a daughter.

"Merida. Mer-id-a." said Mob. She knew that she was messing up a little bit. English wasn't her first language after all. Maybe that was why Mukai was so bad at Japanese. Technically Korean had been her first language, or at least the first one that she had been able to understand, so maybe that had something to do with why she talked the way she did. Mob didn't know, she'd have to Google later. It wasn't like she had anyone she could ask. She didn't have a mom or a dad…well she had a dad but they weren't speaking right now, and Minegishi was either sick or drunk. They were smart, they knew almost everything since they read so often. They would have been able to tell her…well they didn't have any kids…

But they would one day.

They said that they didn't want kids but Mob had seen that before on TV. The girl, well Minegishi wasn't a girl but they had been born one, but in moves when the girl said that she didn't want to have a baby she ended up having one and then she realized how having a baby wasn't so bad after all. Mob liked babies. They were so cute and they smelled good, their heads did, and they were really easy to take care of. They cried, they constantly threw up, and they always needed to be changed again almost as soon as you had changed them, plus they didn't sleep at night…but they didn't run. They didn't run or even walk. They cried but they didn't yell at you. They wanted less, too, mostly food but also to be held and rocked. Mukai…sometimes she wanted someone or something but only she knew what she wanted and to figure out what she wanted you had to play twenty questions with her. Also she ran…like now. Now she was done with Merida and she was trying to run over to the Cinderella stuff….even though her movie was boring. Mob thought so, Sho thought so, but dad…well he hated it. He said that there was nothing more disturbing than the idea of mice as smart as people who wore clothes and talked…he was kind of weird. Mob…well she hoped that Mukai didn't grow up to be as weird as dad.

But she really hoped that Mukai didn't wind up liking Cinderella the best.

"Mukai, wait for me. You could get lost." Said Mob as she caught up to Mukai. For someone with legs to short she could run fast. Mob was maybe in the wrong shoes for this. High wedge sandals were cool, Minori had said, even though Mob had no idea why. They weren't comfortable. They slid off your feet and they made it hard to balance. They made her legs look nice, Minori had said, even though Mob couldn't see it. They just looked like normal legs to her. Pale and kind of stubbly just like they'd been yesterday and the day before and just like they'd look tomorrow and the next day…but then again it didn't matter what she thought, it was what other people thought that mattered.

She didn't want other people to think about her at all, though.

She was dressed like this so that she would look normal, so that she could blend in. She tugged her skirt down as she walked. She tried her best to keep her eyes on Mukai. Another girl walked in front of her, a girl in one of those new Elsa's dresses with the train, and Mob lost sight of Mukai. Her eyes followed the girl for the ten seconds that it took her to fully pass. She was lucky. She was still little enough that she could dress like that. She didn't have to worry about how she looked, about looking good, or even just normal. Like a twelve year old and not a first grader.

First graders were so lucky.

So were preschoolers….or pre-preschoolers since that was what Mukai counted as. Her clothes were always super comfortable and easy to move around in. She mostly wore overalls and overall dresses. She liked them because she could store things in her overalls…and also her clothes had pockets. Mob didn't have any pockets in this skirt. She had never thought very hard about pockets but now she kind of wanted some even though all of her money and her phone fitted right in her Elsa bag. She hadn't had pockets that often, either, when she'd worn costumes as clothes…but she still wished…

Wishes didn't come true, not even if you made two thousand paper cranes.

"This now…this for me! You for this!" shouted Mukai as she tried to reach where the Cinderella dolls were. She reached out with her hand and the doll reached back. Mob quickly handed it to her.

"Mukai, don't use your powers in public like that." Whispered Mob. She didn't know if anyone around them spoke Japanese so it was best to whisper. Nobody could know about powers, nobody at all, not until the day came. Dad had always talked about the day but he had never told her when that day was going to be. The day when they took over the world was coming and when that day came then everyone was going to know about espers and then everyone could live together and be friends. Also dad would take his place as ruler of the world and he'd do everything he could to make the world a better place. Mob couldn't wait for that day to come. Hiding who you were…it was hard…especially with her powers being what they were. It was easier for someone like Sho…and Mukai because her powers were a lot like Sho's….but nobody should have had to hide who they were.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair that espers had to hide who they were just because they weren't normal. Worrying about being normal…it took a lot of headspace. Also hiding who you were as like lying to the world. Everyone you met thought that you were one thing when you were actually something else. That had always been kind of…lonely. Being so different from the other kids and having to hide from them. It was easier now since all of her friends but Minori were espers. Well it was easier when she was with her friends….not out in the world where all the normal people were. She was surrounded on all side by normal people…

It was weird.

"Want that please and thank you." Said Mukai. She held out her hands again.

"I'll carry it, your hands are full." Said Mob

"Want that now! Please and thank you!" shouted Mukai. She had gone right from talking to shouting…and now people were looking. A lot of people. Tsuchiya was looking at her too. She shook her head. She had this. Tsuchiya may have been Mukai's mom but Mob was Mukai's big sister. She could take care of her own little sister. Also she didn't want Tsuchiya and Shibata to stop talking. She shipped Shibata and Hatori, of course, but Tsuchiya and Shibata was good too. Especially since he wanted kids and Mukai was a kid so it would save them time…and maybe keep Tsuchiya with the group forever. Dad was going to come back eventually, he had to apologize sometime, and then when he came back…well he didn't like Mukai….but Mob liked her dad. He was…her dad. He liked hanging out with her and he always listened to what she had to say and…and he as interested in what she did even if he didn't understand it…

She had Mukai now, she shouldn't have been missing dad at all.

"I'm holding onto it for you, see? You're going to get this doll and all the others that you want…ok?" asked Mob. Explaining things was important. Mob had always gotten, well not upset, but she had never been happy when mom just id things without explaining things to her. Like why she couldn't come out and play, why Mob had to go away, why it sometimes felt like mom never wanted her around….Mob would never make Mukai feel like that. She would never make Mukai feel the way she did…and she would never do that to her daughters either.

She was going to be a good mom.

She was going to be a good mom, a better mom than hers had been, and…and she knew that she could do it. When she had her daughter she was going to explain everything to her and always play with her and follow her around and also they were going to go to the Disney Store every day three times a day and she would get her daughter whatever she wanted. Mom had never taken her anywhere like this. The world had been smaller, back then, only made up of the house and school. When she had been very little they had gone to the park and the library and the pool and stuff…but then mom had gotten sick and then all the outings stopped outside of birthdays. Mob had no idea what mom had been sick with…what Minegishi might have been sick with….but she knew that she would never catch whatever it was…and even if she did then she would never let it show…it might have been good to have had Fukuda around…but he had been around when she'd been little and he hadn't helped mom at all…

Mob would still do better.

"Ok! More toys! Now! Please and thank you!" shouted Mukai before she ran off again. Mob sighed and followed as best as she could. She felt Tsuchiya looking at her. Mob smiled and followed Mukai. She had this. She knew what she was doing, she knew how to take care of her little sister, and she had to look as happy as she felt. Even though Mukai was walking way too fast and Mob was having trouble balancing. Even though she had tug her skirt down after ever step. Even though it was kind of crowded and she was really following Mukai by the feel of her aura, she had been out of Mob's sight for a while now. Mob…she was fine. She was perfectly fine.

She had this.

This wasn't stressful or tiring. This was just the Disney Store. She had chased Shio through the Disney store a million times before…well he had been bigger than Mukai was…and Mob had been younger than she was now. She had been younger and she had been able to move around better, her old costume had been more comfortable than her new costume, and she had just been…Mob didn't want to think about that now. She couldn't think about all of that when she had Mukai to chase after. She wasn't going to leave Mukai alone, she was too little, and…and she liked spending time with her sister. Even if she wasn't the best listener. Even if she moved way too fast. Even when…well there were a lot of 'even thens'….but no matter how many 'even thens' there were Mob would always be there for her sister.

She wasn't her mom. Mom had left…and mom had never taken her to Disney Store either.