Mob was not a fan of sand.

It was rough and grainy and it got everywhere. It was so annoying…maybe that was why Hatori had been dumping it on people lately to punish them. She didn't think that it was a very nice thing to do, dump sand on people, but it was better than what dad did. He hit people when he wanted to punish them…and Mob didn't like hitting. Not at all. So if it was a choice between hitting people and dumping sand on them then she would pick the sand.

Though in a perfect world nobody would ever have to be punished ever.

Dad had always said that when he took over the world he would make it better, perfect even. She hoped that when he tok over the world he took away all kinds of punishment from getting your iPad taken away to being put in time out all the way up to being hit so hard on the side of the head that your ears rang. In a perfect world everyone would be good all the time and nobody would ever need to be punished. Everyone would be happy all the time and there would be no more mean people or fighting and all the espers in the world could stop hiding…and also she would, maybe, find a way to make the beaches less…

Sandy.

"Sand for you?" said Mukai

"No thanks." Said Mob. Mukai was holding up a bucket of sand, on of hers. They had…a lot of beach toys. Mob had gone a little bit beach toy crazy but she'd had a good reason for doing it. Mukai had never been to the ocean before. She had been born in Japan and lived there for her entire two years of life but her mom had never once taken her to see the ocean…but that was ok. Mob hadn't ever seen the ocean before, either, back when mom had been around. No, the closest that Mob had ever come to the ocean was stopping off to play in the sandbox at the park while she and mom and Sho had been on their way to the public pool. At least she knew how to swim, though. Mukai…wasn't the best at swimming.

But she did like playing in the sand.

"No, sand for you! Please and thank you!" said Mukai

"Mukai, no. I said that I didn't want any…sand." Said Mob. Maybe Mukai had a problem with listening…or maybe she was just too little to understand things. She was only two…and Mob didn't really remember being two…so maybe Mukai was too little to remember things. No, Mob's first memory, her first clear one, was from when she was three and mom was making breakfast for dinner like dad liked. Breakfast was his favorite meal of the day and mom would always make breakfast foods when he came back from his trips. Mob had been three and Sho had been two…or maybe it had been the part of the year when their birthdays overlapped…or something…she didn't know for sure. She had been too little back then to pay attention to things like dates.

So maybe Mukai was too little to know not to pour buckets of sand on people.

"More sand for you, now." Said Mukai

"Mukai, please don't…alright little sister?" said Mob as she tried to take the bucket from Mukai's hands…but Mukai wasn't having it. She pulled her bucket close to her chest and turned her back. She had sand all on the back of her overalls. She hadn't wanted to wear a suit, that had been a VERY long fit, so now she was just in her overalls…which was alright because she was just a little kid…even though Mob had gotten her a really cute suit. One that matched hers, too, since they were sisters…

Though Mob wouldn't exactly have been twins with her anyway.

"Please and thank you." Said Mukai

"No, that's not what I-" said Mob

"I more sand for you get." Said Mukai

"Don't….you ran away. Ok then." Said Mob as she tried to brush the sand off of her shirt. She was wearing a swimsuit, a blue one to match the Elsa one she'd gotten Mukai, but she just…didn't want to wear it. Not all on it's own, anyway. There was a lot of…sun…here. The sun was bad for you, it gave you sunburns. That was why Sho was in a swim shirt and pants…well that and his scars. He didn't want people to stare at him.

And neither did Mob.

She was sitting under an umbrella reading. If Minegishi had been there then they would have been sitting right beside her…but they weren't. They were off somewhere in Japan…maybe they were guarding the Tokyo house…or maybe they had gone to commune with nature like Shimazaki had said. Well he had said a lot of things, actually, mostly because of all the coke. He had said that Minegishi was off communing with nature, that they had run off to be with Matsuo, that they had gone to Osaka to visit their parents, that they had gone off to parts unknown….Mob didn't think that they had gone off to parts unknown…and also their parents were dead…but it would have been nice if they had at least texted her to tell her that they had landed safely…and it would have been more than nice if they had been right there beside Mob…

It would have been nice, at least, to have had some company.

She was all alone here. Everyone else was in the water…well everyone but Sho. He was digging a really deep hole. Mob hoped that he was digging for buried treasure or something and not so that people would fall into the hole and hurt themselves. That was why Shimazaki had been digging holes earlier. Now he was talking to someone with almost as many tattoos as he had…and Sho was glaring at him with his aura. It would have been nice if Sho had taken some time from his glaring to keep her company.

It was kind of lonely being here all on her own.

Well she wasn't totally alone, this wasn't a private beach or anything like that. There were people around but not that many. Their group had pretty much taken over the spot between the ice cream man and the garbage can with all the birds fighting around it. If Hatori had been there he would have been taking pictures to mess with later…or he would have been scared because loud noises freaked him out. Actually a lot of things did…she hoped that he was ok being all on his own with dad. He had said that he was, and that all of the pieces were coming into place. Mob didn't know what that meant but she did wish that he was here, at this place.

But only in a friend way.

She only thought about him in a friend way now. Well in her dreams…dreams were different…and there wasn't a lot of love in them. Hatori used to be her boyfriend in her dreams but now he was just a boy who was there and wanted to hold her hand and kiss her and stuff. She wasn't ever going to fall in love with him or one of her friends again. She was never going to fall in love ever again. If she fell in love then she was just going to get rejected again…and she didn't want to have to deal with that. It hurt and…and maybe it would work out….but she didn't want to take that risk. Never in a million years.

She had friends and that was enough.

Even if her friends had left her all alone. Shibata and Tsuchiya were helping Mukai build a giant sandcastle…well they were building a sandcastle for Mukai and she was dumping sand on top of them. Mob wondered if she and Hatori were distant relatives or something….but then that would have made Mob and Hatori distant relatives…and she did not want to have had a crush on a relative. That was just for anime and stuff…so many guys were in love with their little sisters…she didn't get it. Like those weird pictures Minori had showed her a while ago. Sometimes people and things were just…weird…and that was just the way that things were. Well Mob thought so anyway.

It wasn't like she had anyone that she could ask.

What was she supposed to do? Go up to a boy and ask him why boys were so weird? She didn't even know any boys that she could ask. Sho was her brother. Shibata freaked out when you asked him questions like that…or maybe just when Shimazaki asked him questions like that…and Shimazaki was out too because he was just a weird person. Hatori was gone…and that would have been awkward…and dad was gone and even if he hadn't been gone then it still would have been awkward since he was her dad.

She was all alone.

She was all alone…her friends were leaving her and her family was cut in half and…and she was just…all alone. On a beach. Surrounded by people. She was still alone, she could feel it in her bones, but also…also if she was alone then why did she feel like she was being looked at? Maybe it was because she was only in a bathing suit and a shirt and some shorts she borrowed from Sho. It didn't feel right wearing a skirt or a dress with a swimsuit. It felt sort of like she was naked…even though she knew that she wasn't. This wasn't that kind of beach…and she never would have gone to that kind of beach anyway. She didn't want other people to see her naked and she didn't want to see anyone else naked.

Especially boys.

There were a lot of boys here…or maybe she was just noticing them. There were some off on the other side of the garbage can playing soccer…and also wresting and hitting each other. Boys. Why did they have to be so weird like that? Everything was a fight with boys. Fighting was their favorite thing in the world. She would never understand them as long as she lived…but also she liked them…especially boys in swimsuits with no shirts on. That was…not something that she should have been looking at…and she wasn't looking! And even if she had been then…then it wasn't like she was going to go over there and TALK to them. No way! If Minegishi had been there then they would have told her to go and talk to them, that it wasn't like talking to some boys was going to kill her, and that she deserved to be happy. Minegishi only wanted her to hook up with, she thought that was the right word but she'd have to ask Minori about it later, someone because they liked to do stuff like that. Sometimes when a person wanted to make another happy they only thought about what would make them happy. Like when Mukai wanted to make everyone happy…no…Mukai wanted to come here because she liked 'big water'. Mob was guilty of that though, like when she had tried to make all the Jell-O in the cafeteria red because red was the best…something which completely left out the people who liked green and yellow and blue. Sometimes when you wanted someone to be happy then you only thought about yourself and…and Mob wished that Minegishi would have been there to push her to talk to them anyway…just so that she would have had Minegishi near her.

She might have even gone over and said 'hi'…or something.

"What are you staring at?" asked Sho. Mob almost knocked them umbrella over as she jumped back. She hadn't been watching her brother…and she should have been watching him! What if he had drowned? Or…or fallen in the hole and gotten stuck, since he never would have gone in the water in the first place…or what if he had…gotten sunstroke or…something? She never would have forgiven herself for being such a terrible big sister!

"N-Nothing! Are you ok? Do you need water? Food? More sunscreen? Actually you're starting to get a little red…like at the top of your forehead-" said Mob as she grabbed the sunscreen bottle. Sho too it out of her hands and tossed it behind him.

"Sho!" said Mob

"I hate that stuff and you know it. Besides, I don't need it. If my head is red that's because of my hair and not the sun. I have on sun clothes. I'm fine." Said Sho. He pulled at his sun shirt like Mob didn't know that he was wearing it. She wondered how he could have stood to be in long sleeves and long pants in this sun. She may have been in two layers but at least she was in shorts…but she wasn't going to ask Sho…

She already knew the answer. He didn't have a choice.

"But…ok. You didn't have to throw it, you know. I could have just put it back in the bag with our stuff. I am guarding it after all." said Mob

"Yeah, about that….think you can take a break? I need someone to go down into the hole and get the water out. I would use my powers but there are a million normal people around here and, you know, we've got to keep it a secret even though keeping secrets sucks." Said Sho. Mob, if she had been a meaner person, would have asked Sho where that attitude had been when he had been keeping Mukai from her…but she was not going to be mean and say something like that…even though it felt like her internal thinking voice was telling her to…and it kind of sounded like Minori…which was all the more reason not to be mean to her own little brother…the best little brother in the world…

Even if he did throw sunscreen.

"Um…no…because our stuff might get taken…and also I don't want to go in the hole. I'm happy here….but maybe we can collect shells or build a castle. You know, like we did when we were little." Said Mob

"You don't want to do that stuff. You just want to stay here and stare at guys." Said Sho

"Sho! Not so loud! And…and I wasn't staring…that much." Said Mob. She looked around to make sure that nobody had been listening. She and Sho had been speaking Japanese but if there was one thing that she had learned on her travels it was that a lot more people in the world spoke Japanese than she would have thought.

"Yes you were. You were totally zoned out and staring. I saw." Said Sho

"Little brother…please stop talking about this." said Mob. She drew her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her knees.

"Want me to kick their asses?" asked Sho. Mob looked up so fast that her bangs got all in her eyes. She brushed them back with a sweaty, sandy hand…and now her hair had sand in it…that would be annoying later. Not as annoying, no, not annoying. Not as…not good….as Sho fighting people would have been. Boys! When Mob grew up she was having nothing but girls. She didn't know how these things were decided but she was going to make sure that she had nothing but girls. If she ended up with a boy…well then she could teach him not like fighting….well she could try. She really hoped that she only had girls, though.

After Sho she did NOT want to have to take care of a little boy ever again.

"No. Why would you even say something like that? You know that fighting is wrong, Sho." said Mob

"Fighting isn't wrong when guys are looking at your sister and making her feel bad. I'm your brother, it's my job to beat up guys who look at you and stuff." Said Sho

"…boys are looking at me?" asked Mob. So the feeling like she was being watched had been a real one. Boys were looking at her….boys were looking at her? Boys….were looking at her? Boys were….looking…at her? Boys were looking at…her? Why she looked like a first grader, Minori said so, and Mob wasn't even wearing something nice. Just this old t-shirt and a pair of shorts that she had borrowed from Sho…and a swimsuit….but the swimsuit was under her clothes. She looked over in the direction of where those boys were.

And then she looked away.

"See? I told you. That tall guy in the green swimsuit is definitely looking at you…and maybe that blond guy…and the cute one, I mean the one with the cute…I mean….you know what I mean." Said Sho. Alright, now he was red…and Mob was going to blame it on the sun if he said anything. Wow. She'd never heard him call a boy 'cute' before…well he never would have had a chance. Dad had told him that he wasn't allowed to like boys the way he liked boys…and Mob had told dad that if he ever tried to punish Sho for liking boys then she would take him and run away…but dad was still dad. Even if he never said anything, well hadn't said anything in a while, about that he still had thoughts in his head…mean ones…

So it was a good thing, then, that dad was back in Japan.

"I…kind of think that they're all cute…but the blond boy in the pink swimsuit is especially cute." Said Mob. She laughed a little. It was weird, talking about boys with Sho, but not because he liked boys! No! It was because…well they had never talked like this before. This was new…kind of grown up…like she and Minori talked about boys…well no, actually, not like that…because she would not be telling Sho the story of how she got felt up in some bushes in Berlin. No, that was a her and Minori story only. She didn't want to hear any of Sho's stories if he had any, too. She…knew that he had a girlfriend…even though she had no idea what was going on there…and she knew that they might have done more than kiss…

But nobody wanted to think about their little brother kissing, let alone more than kissing, anyone. Yuck.

"He's not that cute…anyway! You sure that you don't want me to go over there and kick their asses? Because I totally will! Nobody looks at my sister and gets away with it!" said Sho

"Sho, please don't…and nobody's looking at me. If anything they're looking at you. They didn't start looking over here until you sat down." Said Mob

"….no they aren't…" said Sho. Now it was his turn to hide his face. If Mob hadn't known any better she would have sworn that he'd caught sunstroke or something. He was so red. She reached into the cooler bag and handed him a bottle of water. He didn't drink it, he just put it down on the blanket next to him.

"Sho…come on. I think that they are. I mean…nobody was looking over here until you got here…and if I weren't your sister and also a boy I would have thought that you were cute." Said Mob. She knew that he had a girlfriend…but she also wanted him to be happy….and also he wasn't glaring at Shimazaki with his aura anymore. Mob knew that Sho knew that Shimazaki didn't love him back…but the rejection hadn't made Sho's feelings go away…not like it had with her and Hatori.

Well Sho was an entirely different person…and also he was a boy and their hearts worked differently, she figured.

"…come on." Said Sho

"Really! Um….ok. Me and Minori do this sometimes when we can't decide if a boy is looking at us." Said Mob

"Do what?" asked Sho

"Ok. You get up and buy an ice cream. If someone goes up and talks to you then that means that you're the one they were looking at. If they talk to me then that means that I was the one that they were looking at…and it's probably going to be you. Nobody ever looks at me." Said Mob. She wasn't lying. When she and Minori did this, well they had never done this at the beach but at stores and malls and stuff, Minori was always the one who boys talked to. That made sense. She was the pretty one. Mob looked like a first grader.

Well maybe a little older.

Shimazaki had said…well he had said a lot of things about her. He had said that he thought she was pretty and also that her breasts were almost perfect…and she did NOT like thinking about the fact that her best friend's boyfriend thought about her like that. It was weird. They had been friends for years and Shimazaki was Minegishi's boyfriend….and also the age thing…but it was also…kind of nice. If he thought that she looked nice then other boys would have thought that she looked nice.

And she wasn't sure if she was ready for that.

Well it was kind of late to be talking about ready and not ready. She had been ready back in Berlin when she and Teru…did all of that stuff. The kissing and touching and stuff. It had all happened so fast…and it had felt right…and also she kind of knew him. Well she had met him years ago…and that was kind of like knowing someone. She didn't know his favorite food or color or movie or flavor of milk…but she knew that he was an esper…which was a lot….and also she knew…well she knew that he was half German and played soccer and…and she knew that she would never see him again…

She decided to stop thinking about Teru before she got too sad.

She decided to focus on Sho. He was getting an ice cream…and nobody was looking at him. Poor little brother…well she didn't want him to cheat on his girlfriend…and he didn't want him to break up with his girlfriend….but she did want him to be honest. With everyone and himself. When she ruled the world, well when their family ruled the world, then she was going to make it illegal for anyone to make someone feel bad for who they were…she had no idea how she was going to enforce it because she was also going to have a world without punishment…but she would figure something out.

Right after she made Sho feel better.

"Sho. I'm-" said Mob as she sat down. He had a twin pop…but he didn't break it in half. He licked both sides.

"Your turn." Said Sho

"But I-" said Mob

"Your turn, big sis." Said Sho as he licked both sides of the twin pop again…blue flavored. She could have gone for a blue one...and it seemed like Sho really wanted her to take her turn…even if they both knew what the outcome would be. No boy had ever looked at her…well besides Teru…but that was different. She had saved Teru from being accidentally kidnapped after all. That meant something even if they were never going to see each other again. Really she had no idea why she was bothering with this. She didn't even know if she wanted a boy to look at her…let alone what she would do if one tried to talk to her.

Maybe run away.

She wasn't the best at running on sand. She was wearing her jelly sandals and they were hard to run in when she was walking on the normal ground. Her feet were slipping around inside. They were all sweaty…and the sand wasn't helping at all. All of the sand in her shoes was only making it harder to walk…and now she was walking funny and she probably looked funny and why had she agreed to do this!? How could she have possibly been so clueless? She needed to turn around, to run back, to go and play in the hole with Sho or whatever it was that her little brother wanted her to do. This was too much. This was crazy. This was a bad idea. This was-

Ooh! They had the Olaf ice pops with the bubblegum eyes!

Well now it was worth it. She would give Sho the eyes, one of the eyes, or…or both because she wasn't going to be greedy and then everything would be ok…and she would let Mukai have the ice cream part….some of it. She'd had a lot of sugar…that was why she was going sugar crazy and trying to put the sand back in the ocean. Mob didn't know if she was mad at the ocean or giving it an offering. She would have believed either. Mukai could be so weird sometimes…and so could Sho…and so could see. That was a part of having siblings, she figured, they each thought that the other was really weird.

But that was ok since they would love each other no matter what.

They would love each other ever if…no. No. This was not happening. A boy was not coming to talk to her. She was not going to get her hopes up…or freak out…and she was going to keep her aura calm. Sho had already said that he would beat up any boy who tried to talk to her…she looked for him…he was breaking off one side of the twin pop and giving it to Mukai…even though it was gross with his spit…and even though Mukai was already sugar crazy…maybe she should have gone over there….actually she should have gone over there…

She didn't go over there.

"Hi! I mean, hey, how's it going?" asked a boy...the blond, tall, very cute boy who she had been sure had been looking at Sho…bit no. he had been looking at her and he was looking at her now…and he was really tall…really, really tall….in a nice way….and she had to stop looking and stop thinking and just…she had to stop. She had to stop thinking and staring and…and she had to make words.

Right now.

"Kon'nichiwa." Said Mob. She wanted to die. She wanted to crawl into the hole Sho had dug and bury herself alive. English words, Shigeko, English words! If Minori had been there she would have told Mob off for being embarrassing. If Minegishi had been there then they would have rescued her before she could embarrass herself any further…but there was no one to tell her off or rescue her…she had to stand there and think about what she had done.

Kon'nichiwa?!

"Oh….you don't speak English. Sorry…um…yeah." Said the boy. He put his hands together and bowed…which was kind of weird….but she had been weird first!

"I speak English…just…not as a first language. That's why I spoke Japanese first…because I'm Japanese…so when I think of saying something I think about it in Japanese and…um…that's how that works." Said Mob. She was playing with her hair with her free hand now…and she didn't know why she was doing that. She was shifting around in place too, her shoes were sliding around in her jelly sandals. She didn't know why she couldn't sit still…or why she couldn't stop talking. She needed to stop it. She was making an idiot out of herself.

Also she was going to drop her ice cream, too, if she kept this up.

"Oh….cool! I mean it would have been cool if you didn't speak English but it's cool that you speak another language so…cool. Um…cool." Said the boy

"Cool." Said Mob since that seemed to be the word to use. She didn't know if it fit. She didn't know if she was even meant to say anything. She was bad at this. She was the worst at this. She should have just stayed under the umbrella until it was time to go. She should have gone to play with Sho. She should have let Mukai dump sand on her. She should have walked off into the ocean and never come out…well for air…she just…she couldn't think right now…but now there was silence and she had to fill it with something…words…polite ones…the ones that people used when they spoke….to each other…as people often did….

"H-Hi…I'm Suzuki Shigeko….um….hi." said Mob. That was right. People traded names when they said hi…but she had already said hi! That was way too many…she just…she was an idiot. Even Minegishi would have said so and they were always super nice to her. She looked down at her sandals. They were all sandy and stuff.

Great. Just great.

"Hey…Suzuki…or is that your last name? I know that in Asia and stuff names are backwards…or maybe we're backwards…um….I'm Jeremy. Hi." Said the boy…Jeremy….she wondered how that was spelled…but she was not going to ask…or maybe that was something to ask…or maybe not. She…well aside from introducing herself she had no idea how she was supposed to keep this going…oh! He'd asked a question! She had to answer it!

"Hi…I said that already…um…Suzuki is my family name…and Shigeko is my given name…you can call me either." Said Mob

"What's your middle name?" asked Jeremy

"I…don't know what that is. Sorry." said Mob

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't know that Asian people didn't have middle names." Said Jeremy

"I…don't really know about everyone….but I don't have one…um…do you?" asked Mob

"Yeah, it's Jacoby...my mom liked the 'J' sound. Jeremy Jacoby Jacobson." Said Jeremy

"That's….a lot to remember." Said Mob. She tried to laugh and play with her hair like Minori did, maybe because she couldn't keep her free hand out of her hair. She didn't think that she laughed right…but he was smiling at her and that was good. Boys were supposed to smile at you. That was how it worked. Boys smiled at you and then they liked you and…stuff…happened….not that she wanted any 'stuff' to happen!

She dropped her ice cream.

"Shit! Sorry, I almost had that…heh. I'm better at soccer." Said Jeremy as he reached for her ice cream. She maybe shouldn't have taken the wrapper off. She maybe shouldn't have even come here. Now her ice cream was all sandy…so much sand…why did the beach have to have so much sand?!

"Um…it's ok…it's just ice cream." Said Mob

"Well maybe your boyfriend can get you another one." said Jeremy

"Boyfriend?" asked Mob. That was…she knew what that word meant…but she had no idea why he had said that to her. Mob…a boyfriend? The only boy around, boy her own age around, was her little brother.

"Uh…it's a word that means…like a guy who's into you and buys you stuff and kisses you-" said Jeremy

"I know what it means…but I don't have a boyfriend." Said Mob

"What about the red haired guy? You guys aren't together?" asked Jeremy

"Him? That's my little brother…not my boyfriend. That would be weird if he was my boyfriend." Said Mob

"Oh yeah, no doubt! That would have been weird as hell…uh…so you don't have a boyfriend? Because you look like you have a boyfriend. I mean you look hot-because it's hot out! I mean…uh…" said Jeremy

"Huh?" asked Mob. Well now she really couldn't follow…of course it had been hard to even think up her own words to say let alone listen to someone else's. Maybe she just didn't get it because she was too busy thinking about what she was supposed to say next. She…was coming up with nothing…and now she had to say something. There was a lot of silence…and she didn't like silence. She disliked it almost as much as she disliked sand.

So…a lot.

"Nothing, nothing, I shouldn't have said that. That was like…not that good…but you do look really…um…kawaii." Said Jeremy. Mob looked down. She didn't think that she looked cute. She looked like she was wearing clothes at the beach. She was covered in sand. Even her swimsuit was showing through her shirt…maybe she shouldn't have worn a white one…but it was way too hot out to wear something dark colored.

Still, she looked dumb, not cute…and she didn't even know if she wanted to look cute.

"That's a word, right? Kawaii?" asked Jeremy

"Um….yes. That's a word…in Japanese." Said Mob

"It's a good thing, right? Because I have no idea what I just said and you're looking at me like I said something really bad and….yeah." said Jeremy. He was playing with his hair, too, he was rubbing his hand across the back of his head a lot. She was playing with her hair, too. She wondered how this looked…she was glad that the ice cream man hadn't said anything. She didn't know how she was supposed to explain this.

"Um…yes? It means…something like 'cuteness'? Like you said that I have a lot of cuteness." Said Mob

"Oh…well you do. You're really cute…um…so what kind of ice cream do you want? Seriously, I'll get you whatever you want…and then maybe…you could eat it with me? Like I could get myself something and you something and then we could eat together and talk….some place?" asked Jeremy. Mob swallowed even though she had nothing in her mouth to swallow. She knew what it meant when a boy asked you to go off with him…and the thought made her heart beat really fast…in both a good way and a bad way…but both of those ways were not…they were not something that she was…that she was ready for….right now….

Nope.

"I-I'm going to…um…no thank you! I'm going to go and…play with my little brother…and my little sister too! I just…um….goodbye!" said Mob. She bowed and then ran away. That had been…a lot…and…and she kind of wished that she had just gone into the hole like Sho had asked…but she could go in there now. She ran right how and practically jumped into it…and there was water at the bottom…and rocks…and also sand.

But it wasn't so bad.

"Sand for you!" said Mukai. The hole wasn't that deep…so at least Mob wasn't in above her head. No, she was in up to her waist…maybe a little higher. High enough that Mukai managed to get her in the face with a bucket full of sand….but at least it wasn't her hair…but also maybe her hair would have been better. She spat sand out of her mouth…but really it was better that she had sand in her mouth than some boy's spit…or his tongue…yuck…but also not yuck…but also…also…also it was just…she did not want to think about this now!

"Mukai, don't put sand in the hole. I'm going to make it bigger." Said Mob. If Minegishi had been there then she would have had someone to rescue her…and to shield her…but she didn't have her best friend anymore. She had herself…and…and she had her brother and sister…and she was going to play with them like she should have been and not…and she was not going back to the umbrella. No, she was going to stay in the hole.

Even though Mukai dumped more sand on her.

She didn't mind the sand…not that much. She didn't mind anything. She was fine. She was at the beach with her friends and family and…and she just…she was fine. Even though her family had been broken in half, even though half her friends were gone, and even though she had sand all down the front of her shirt…she was fine. She was happy. She was…she was not going to linger over how stupid she had been. She was going to play with her siblings like she had…like she would have if she had been little.

She wasn't a fan of sand…or how stupid she had been…but she was a fan of her brother and sister and she would do anything for them. Even stand in a hole and get sand dumped on her.