Hi.
That was what you said when you saw someone you knew. Hi. That was all that Mob could say. Hi. That was all that she could think of. Hi. Hi? Hi. Her best friend was there, right there, laying down and trying to sleep in the tall grass…and all Mob could think to say was hi. Her best friend who had run away from her was laying there in the tall grass and all she could say was hi. Her best friend who, apparently, had killed people before…including their own parents…was laying there in the tall grass. Her best friend in the whole world was laying there in the tall grass and all Mob could think of to say was hi….
Well it was better than what she had spent the entire plane ride over thinking of saying.
"Hi." Said Mob again. This time she decided to speak up. They might not have been able to hear her over the…the wind…and also some birds were singing too. They might have been too focused on the nature around them to hear her, their best friend, or the person who they had called their best friend. Were they even still friends? Friends…friends didn't run away….friends didn't leave….friends didn't keep very big secrets from each other….friends….friends were….
People left.
They left all time…and friends were people…so of course friends could be the sort of people who left. When all of this was over then…then Mob was going to make sure that she never took her friends for granted again. That was what made people leave, when you assumed that they would always be there for you, so she would spend every moment of her life from this moment on grateful that she had friends and worried, very worried, that one day she would wake up and they would be gone….yes….that was how she would feel….
Which would have been a lot better than how she was feeling right now.
"Hi, Minegishi." Said Mob. This time she made sure that they could hear her. She had almost been shouting. That was…that was rude, it was rude to yell at anyone let alone your best friend, but….but they might not have even been friends. Sometimes people just left and…and you couldn't predict it or….or figure out why. Sometimes they just…walked away….and you had to find a way to keep going without them and….and she couldn't let that happen.
She wasn't going to let that happen.
"Minegishi Toshiki! I said hi to you!" said Mob. She actually was shouting that time. The birds went quiet. There had been some picking at the fruit on the ground. They got quiet and some of them flew away…and she didn't blame them. She shouldn't have just come into their home and shouted at them. If Sho had been there then he would have been so mad…but Sho wasn't there. The others were back in Tokyo. Mukai had never been to Tokyo Disney World and…and Mob….she hadn't even wanted to go in the first place. This was something that she had to do alone.
This was something between friends.
Shimazaki had wanted to come too, he had said that Minegishi got like this sometimes and they just needed someone to pull them out of it, and that he could have been that someone…but Mob…she knew things that he didn't. She knew something big, so big, big enough that it could have torn not only Shimazaki and Minegishi's relationship apart but the very fabric of their friend group…and they were made out of very good fabric. Tulle…maybe…or satin…something that was very good for making clothes. If their friend group had been clothes then…then they would have been the expensive kind that Minori liked…and…and Minegishi could have been the buttons….and…and you couldn't have clothes without buttons…well you could…but also…also they had been a shirt and Minegishi had been all the buttons and…and without Minegishi then their shirt was buttonless and….and Mob needed them back and…and….
And she just needed Minegishi to…to say hi back…or….or something!
"Hi…hey, Mob. Hey." Said Minegishi. They were still laying in the tall grass…but that…was just something that Mob was going to have to get used to. If that was what her best friend was planning on doing today then that was what they were going to do together. They were best friends and…and from this point on anything that they did they were going to do together. That was the way that it had to be. No more separating, no more being apart from one another, no more….of any of that. From this point on anything that they did they were going to do together.
Mob laid down next to Minegishi.
The grass was tall and itchy. She could feel it poking her legs…she should have worn a longer skirt…or leggings…or something. It was hot out, way too hot out for all of that, but at least then she wouldn't have been itchy. She had no idea how Minegishi could have stood to be laying down in the grass like that…maybe because they were wearing long pants. They had on a short sleeved shirt, though, a black one…even though it was really hot out. Mob didn't know why they were dressed like this…but then again she had no idea why they had done any of the things that they had done. Running away…chopping off all of their hair…kissing Serizawa…none of it made any sense…but that was ok. Mob didn't care if they made sense.
She only cared that they were there.
"What are you doing?" asked Minegishi
"Laying down." Said Mob as she made herself comfortable. She wasn't that itchy, not when she smoothed down the grass. It was…alright. She could get used to this…if this was what Minegishi wanted to do then this was what Mob was going to get used to.
"Why?" asked Minegishi. They didn't look at her. They turned their head to the side.
"Because you're here." Said Mob. Minegishi didn't turn to look at her, they kept on facing away. Mob tapped their aura with hers. They didn't look over at her. Mob reached over and touched their sleeve. They still didn't look over at her. Mob reached down a little lower and touched their wrist, their bracelet. They tensed.
And then they sat up.
"Go home, Mob." Said Minegishi. They turned their back fully on her now. Mob sat up…but she didn't go home. She didn't even really have a home, she lived wherever she wanted, so…so she could live here then. In the tall grass. With Minegishi. Even if she had a home to go back to she would have stayed here with Minegishi.
"No." said Mob. Minegishi waved their hand. Some grass grew, another layer of it, it grew tall and it grew between them. It was like a fence….but why? Fences were there to keep people out…and why would Minegishi want to keep her out? They were friends. They were friends but…but the grass grew tall between them….
Mob made it short.
She took control away from Minegishi. She shouldn't have done that, it was rude, but she had to. She made her aura brighter than Minegishi's and she practically ripped the grass away from them…but then they took it back. Mob hadn't been trying, not really, so that was why they took it back. They took it back and tried to make the grass tall again…but Mob didn't let her. She was stronger than Minegishi, she was the strongest esper in the world next to dad, and…and she didn't like to show it…but this was one of those times when she had to. Dad would have agreed if he had been there…well he was, he was somewhere in Osaka, but he wasn't right there with Mob. She wouldn't have wanted him there anyway. This was…this was something that she had to do…something that she had to do for her best friend. Dad wouldn't have understood. Nobody would have understood.
Mob, herself, didn't even fully understand.
"Mob…just go." Said Minegishi
"No." said Mob
"Yes." said Minegishi
"No." said Mob. She sounded like Mukai at bath time…and she didn't care. She just wanted Minegishi back. She knew that if she didn't get them to come back today then she was never going to be able to get them to come back. She would have to…to go on without them….to be without her best friend for the rest of her life. Like if they died or something….but worse…because then they still would have been alive. She didn't want them to die, she wanted all of her friends to live forever, but if Minegishi died…then it would have been easier. They would have been a spirit that passed on and their body would have been in the ground…and then it would have made sense that they were gone. It wouldn't have been like they hadn't wanted to be with Mob, it would have been like they couldn't be with her because they were dead….
But if she had a choice then nobody in the whole world would ever have to die, ever, especially not Minegishi.
"Yes! Shigeko, will you just go home already!?" shouted Minegishi
"No! I-I-I'm not going anywhere without you! Besides, I don't even have a home…just places I live…and….and I don't want to live in any of those places without you!" shouted Mob. Minegishi didn't say anything, they just stood up. They didn't look at her when they stood up, their back was still to her, and they didn't turn around when they started walking either. Mob let them take two steps, just two, before she managed to remember how to get up.
She followed them.
She got up and followed them. They walked over towards the other side of the plum tree. She didn't know why they wanted to be there, aside from the shade, unless…unless they were trying to get away from her. Unless they didn't want to be near her. Unless they didn't like her anymore. She didn't know if they…if they were done with her. That happened sometimes. Sometimes people just…just got tired of being with you….and…and then they got up and left…and you never saw them again…
That was never going to happen again.
"Mob….just stop. Stop following me. Just….leave." said Minegishi. They were leaning against the plum tree, now, and the tree….well it wasn't happy with that. Mob could tell. Plants didn't talk like people talked, not with words, but more with…feelings. Like the tree didn't want to be near Minegishi, like it didn't like them, like…like it wanted to run away. Why did everything and everyone here want to run away!? Well Mob didn't want to run away!
She wasn't going anywhere.
"No. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here for the rest of my life if you want me to. I'm your best friend and…and if you're here then I'm here too….alright? I can't….I don't think that I can…that I can…I can't let you….I can't let myself….I can't-" said Mob
"Yes you can. You can turn around and go home…or wherever the hell you're living these days. You have two feet. You have shoes on your feet. Start walking. Start walking and don't stop…not until you're far away from here." Said Minegishi
"But…but you're my best friend…" said Mob. Minegishi…wanted her gone? But they were her best friend. They were the person who…who was always where for her. They were the person who made her feel better when she was sad…they made the bad times better….and the good times that she'd had with them…they had been the best times in her life. They were…they were her best friend and…and they might not have been acting like it right now…but nothing had changed. They were her friend and she was theirs and…and….
And….and….
And….
"No, I'm not." Said Minegishi. Mob could feel her heart. It stopped beating. It hurt. Her heart stopped beating and her lungs stopped pumping and…and all the blood in her body had stopped….and the air in her body was heavy, too. The air in her lungs was just sitting there…and it was so heavy….and her blood was all…all warm and…and clumpy….like it was hot syrup…it was stuck in front of her body, in her heart, and…and her chest was too heavy. Between the blood getting stuck and the air…her chest was way too heavy.
She couldn't breathe.
"I'm not your best friend. I'm not even your friend. I'm just….I'm the reason your life is so fucked up! I'm the reason…I'm the reason that you….I'm the reason that you drink! I'm the reason you drink and I'm the reason that you smoke and I'm the reason that you spend most of your day stoned out of your mind! I'm the one who taught you….I'm the one who taught you all of your coping mechanisms…because they're mine. You…you're me. You're me…you're what I would have been if I was worth something, if I was someone. I'm….I'm nothing. I ruin everything….that's what I do. I ruin things and…and I ruined you. You were a normal kid and I just….I came in and ruined your life…so go! Get out of here! You don't need me and I sure as hell don't need you! I don't need some kid tagging along imitating everything I do! I don't need to spend my life entertaining some lost little kid! I don't need….I don't need you! So just get the fuck out of here already!" shouted Minegishi. They had said….things. So many things. They had shared information…a lot of it….and Mob….she had no idea what she was supposed to do…to do with….
"I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with that information." Said Mob. There. She had managed to make her body work again. Her blood was moving…and her lungs were pushing the air inside of her around…and some of that air became words. She had no idea what to do with that information. That was one of the first things she could ever remember her dad saying. It had sounded weird when she had been a kid…but now it made perfect sense.
She had no idea what she was supposed to do with what Minegishi had just said.
She knew that they had said words….but those words hadn't made any sense at all. Those words had been in Japanese, which Mob spoke, but…but they had all been…mixed up…like word soup. Like Mukai had been the one talking. She couldn't hear anything but what Minegishi had said…but the words had turned into sounds…sounds that she was supposed to put together….but she didn't know how to put them together! She just…she had to think…but the world was going too fast. Too fast and too slow…too…too much…and too little and…and….
And a plum hit her on the top of the head.
Then another….and one more…and then more than she could count. It was raining plums. The world had become plums. The sky was darkened with plums. They were hitting her on the head…and rolling down the back of her shirt…and pooling around her feet. The plums were ankle deep…and rising. She couldn't see her shoes anymore….and now her socks were disappearing….and the plums didn't stop coming. They just kept on coming down like the summer rains. The tree, the one that separated her and Minegishi, was pink. It was pink and blue…and green. Her aura…Minegishi's aura…it was like their auras were fighting….but they weren't fighting! They were best friends and best friends did NOT fight! Best friends…they got along all the time! They were….they were always supposed to be together….they were never supposed to fight….this was….this wasn't right….
There was something in her hair.
It was sticky….plum goo….but there wasn't supposed to be plum goo in her hair. Her hair…she had just washed her hair…and now it was all sticky and…and she was selfish. This was proof, undeniable proof, that she was selfish. She was standing there worrying about her hair when her best friend was saying things that made no sense. Wanting her to go away….saying that they weren't friends…but they were friends! They were best friends! They had the bracelets to prove it! Those bracelets meant something….their friendship meant something!
Mob meant something.
"That…that doesn't make sense. That doesn't make any sense to…to anything! We're best friends. Best friends don't leave their other friends and-and-and-and we have the bracelets to prove it! See? We have these and…and they mean something! They mean that…that we love each other and…and that we're always going to be there for each other and…and that we won't leave! We won't leave and…and we won't send each other away! See? See!? SEE?!" shouted Mob as she ran up to Minegishi. She slipped in the plum goo but caught herself with her powers. The plum rain had stopped now. She couldn't see her socks anymore. She didn't care. She didn't care if she had plum goo on her face and in her hair. She didn't care if her shoes were full of plum goo or if the good was making her feet slide around inside of them! She didn't even care if her favorite pair of Frozen jelly sandals got all dirty! Nothing mattered! Nothing mattered but…but being there with Minegishi…and making them stop….stop saying things that made no sense!
They weren't making any sense at all.
"Do you see? We have these and….and they're forever! See? I have best and you have friend! Together-" said Mob as she held her bracelet up so Minegishi could see…but they didn't want to see. They pushed her arm away.
She didn't stop.
"See? You have friend and I have best-" said Mob
"Shigeko." said Minegishi. They pushed her arm away again but she just put it back up. They were trying to turn away from her…but she didn't let them. She turned them back around even though she knew that moving people with her powers was rude. She needed….she just needed them to stay…to stay and…and she needed them to be there! She wasn't going to wake up alone again! She wasn't going to lose her best friend! She wasn't going to lose anyone else!
"You have friend and I have best-" said Mob
"Suzuki…" said Minegishi. They tried to turn around again but Mob stopped them. They closed their eyes and clenched their fist. Their aura showed, brighter than it had ever been before, but Mob….it didn't matter. She didn't care. Sure their aura was bright…and mad…but they could sort that out later! When Minegishi was all the way done with saying and doing things that made no sense at all!
"You have friend and I have best! And that makes us best friends…and…..and we're always going to be best friends…so stop it! We have these and they mean-" said Mob
"Suzuki! Will you PLEASE just SHUT UP already! Just shut up about the damn bracelets! These are just….they're just cheap plastic! They were made in china probably by a kid younger than you were when we got them! These are just…these are cheap and…and they don't mean anything! These are just cheap, Chinese junk!" shouted Minegishi before they did the unthinkable. They took off their bracelet…and they threw it. They took it off and threw it in the plum goo….
So that was where Mob went.
She dove into the plum good after Minegishi's bracelet….but there was so much…there were plum EVERYWHERE! And they were all squishy…like they had been on the ground for a while…but they had just rained down from the tree! Mob dug her hands through the goo even though she still had her powers. They just…she didn't trust them right now. She knew that her hair was floating around her head….she knew that she was losing control…and she knew that if there were any normal people in the houses around her then she was in big trouble….but she didn't care. She couldn't care. She couldn't care about anything other than Minegishi and…and finding their bracelet. That bracelet might have been cheap and it may have come from a hundred yen UFO catcher game….but she didn't care. It did mean something. It meant even more than real jewelry…than metal jewelry…the fancy kind with diamonds and stuff. This was…this was proof that they were best friends…and without this….without this then….then they were nothing….just two people who….who were there getting all sticky with plum goo….
If she didn't find this bracelet then she wouldn't have a best friend anymore.
So she kept on digging. There was plum goo all up and down her arms. She could feel her skirt sticking to her legs. She could feel her shirt clinging to her. She knew that she was all dirty but she didn't care. She had to get the bracelet and then…and then they could go back to being best friends again. They could paint each other's nails and read books and drink coffee and garden and watch TV and talk about stuff and…and whatever else Minegishi felt like doing! From now on they would do whatever Minegishi wanted to do whenever they felt like doing it and…and then….and then everything would be ok…
It had to be.
She heard something squishing behind her. She didn't look. She didn't have time to look. She had to…she had to keep digging…but her hands wouldn't work. She wasn't moving anything. She was just…just squishing everything….she was squishing everything that she got in her hands. She just…something wet was on her face…but that was….that was ok. She was crying and…and at least her tears would wash the plum goo off…and then…and then everything would be better. She would be clean and she would have her best friend again and…and everything….everything would be alright….
It would.
"Mob." Said Minegishi. That was them. They were standing right behind her now. The sun was gone…and she needed the sun. She kept on looking…and looking….but all she found were squished plums. They was dirt stuck to her hands, too, and seeds…but….but she had to find…she just….she didn't have time to listen to Minegishi saying any more mean things that didn't make any sense at all. She was doing something that made sense….that made all the sense….and she couldn't be disturbed right now! Like dad said when he was busy…she was busy….and…and she just…she had to do this….
A hand was on her shoulder.
"Shigeko." said Minegishi. Mob didn't stop. She couldn't stop. She sniffled…but it wasn't enough. She could taste her own snot…it was all salty and gross. Sho and Mukai ate their own snot…but she wasn't going to do that. That made no sense, snot was gross and she had food. She was wrist deep in food…she wiped her nose…and now she had more sticky plum goo on her face…..but her tears would wash it off….and anyway she had to stop being selfish. Being selfish was what had gotten her into this mess in the first place. Right now….right now she just….she had to stop being selfish…
She had to get her best friend back.
"Suzuki." Said Minegishi. Mob didn't listen. She heard her name, her family name, but she didn't…she also didn't. She heard the syllables that made up her name, Su and Zu and Ki, but she didn't hear her name. She heard…she heard the characters….she saw them in her head. Like they were being written in the air. Suzuki. Bell tree. That was what her name meant….but there weren't any bell trees around….and there wasn't anyone named Suzuki around…there was just Mob….but her name was Suzuki…her name was Suzuki Shigeko…but her name was Mob…and she had to keep looking. She couldn't stop. Stopping was not an option. If she stopped then she would lose her best friend and then…and then she would be all alone. She would be all alone and…and she would wake up and Minegishi would be gone…but she wasn't asleep….she was awake…she was wide awake…she was wide awake and there was a…there was something that she needed to do and…and she just….she had to keep moving. If she stopped moving then…then she…she…
There was a hand over hers.
She kept on working. She kept working until the hand over hers held both of her hands in place. That hand was a lot bigger than hers…but that made sense. That was Minegishi's hand and they were an adult. She was just a kid. She didn't normally feel like a kid but….but now…now it was different. She was small….she stopped moving. She was small and hot and sticky and…and there was so much…so much snot on her face….and so many tears…she kind of missed the plum goo. The plum goo at least…a least it wasn't…wasn't…
At least the plum goo wasn't snot and tears.
Another hand was on her face. Even though it was gross her snot was wiped away…mostly. The hand that was touching her face shook a little…and so did the hand that was touching her hand. She didn't know why Minegishi was shaking. It was hot out here, so hot, hotter than any place that Mob had ever been at before. It was like…like what the h-word must have been like. She wondered if this was what it was like if you went to the h-word…Mob certainly deserved to be there. She….she was…she had been….
She had been such a terrible friend.
"Suzuki….Shigeko…..Mob….come on. Stop it. You…you're just making a mess." Said Minegishi
"I-I can't….I have….I have to find it…we have…we have to be friends…again." said Mob. The words didn't want to come out. She knew them, she knew the syllables that made them up, but when it came time for her to use them it was like they were running away from her. Her mouth felt dry and sticky…and salty…she had been eating a lot of snot. She couldn't….she couldn't stop…she was shaking….she couldn't stop shaking….
And it only got worse when Minegishi let go of her.
Her legs itched. Something hit her over the head. More grass. More plums. More plum goo. She couldn't help it, she couldn't stop, and she couldn't make it stop…even though…even though she just…she wanted it all to stop. She wanted the whole world to just…to just stop. There was so much…and she was so little….and….and she just…she had to find it. She had…once she found it then it would all stop. She could….she could make it all stop. She just…she just…she just…
She couldn't stop.
Minegishi let go of her and reached a hand into the plums. They were most goo at this point, sticky goo, and Minegishi…they didn't like things that were gross and stuff….and they didn't like her anymore either. They didn't like her and…and…and they wanted her gone…but if they wanted her gone then why were they here? This didn't make sense…none of it made sense…or maybe Mob didn't make sense. She couldn't stop shaking…a bright light hit her in the eye. That was…the sun had gotten caught on something….something….
Something blue.
"Found it. I found….it's here. You can stop…you can stop and…and…." Said Minegishi as they held up their bracelet. They had found it, there it was, and….and…and Mob could stop now. She could stop digging and…and she could stop shaking….and she could stop crying….
Her body wasn't listening.
"Mob….I love….I'm sorry….I'm just….I didn't mean to…I didn't….I'm…." said Minegishi. They were shaking now, too, as they held their bracelet in their hand. Mob could see them…but she also couldn't see them. It was like she was looking at them but her brain had to remind her of what she was looking at. She was shaking…and she was all sweaty and…and she was warm. She needed….she needed to find it…but Minegishi had already found it…so why….so why was she still shaking?
"We need…we need to go. This place….this isn't the place for you. Come on let's….I need to take care of you….let's get cleaned up and then…and then things can be….better than this…we just…we have to go. Now." Said Minegishi. Mob felt them tugging on her shirt. She couldn't get up. She couldn't move. It was like she was glued to the floor….but she wasn't. That wasn't glue holding her down, no, it was goo…and it wasn't that sticky….and she just needed to get up. It shouldn't have been this hard….but it was hard. Her body….it just….it didn't want to listen…
She had to make it listen.
Her powers…this was like when her powers didn't listen….but to make her powers listened she drank or smoked until they were too tired to disobey her. Now….now it was her body and…and she wanted….she wanted a drink….she wished that she was with Shimazaki, he always made her feel better, but also she added Minegishi to her wish. If she and Minegishi had been with Shimazaki then…then things might have bene back to normal. She had no idea if things were ever going to get back to normal. Maybe this was what life was. Sticky and shaky and scared….
Minegishi was picking her up now.
They hooked their arms under her armpits and lifted her to her feet. They slid a little…and she slid a little….but that was at least enough to get her body to work again. She planted her feet on the ground as best as she could. Jelly sandals were slippery….way too slippery…but she had to stand. Her feet…they were listening…and her heart was listening…and her lungs were listening. She was…she was making her body listen…..she just…she was standing now….and she had stopped crying….
Now it was Minegishi's turn to cry.
They were wiping their eyes…even though that made no sense. Now they were all dirty and sticky. They hated being dirty and sticky…..and they might have even hated her now…but no. They were wearing their bracelet….it was on their wrist….but it was all sticky….but they were wearing it…and they were crying….not like she had been crying. There wasn't any snot but…but there were a lot of tears…more tears than Mob had even seen them cry….and…and they shouldn't have been crying….her best friend should not have been crying…
That was the worst feeling in the world….the one she got when she saw her best friend crying….
"Come on. Let's…get the hell out of here. You need…we both need a bath…something to eat just…come on..." said Minegishi. She let Minegishi take her by the hand…and she let Minegishi walk away…and she followed. She let herself get dragged away. She didn't say anything…she didn't know what she could say….maybe that she was happy to have her friend back….maybe that she loved her friend…maybe that…that she was so tired that she needed to sleep…she didn't say any of that….she didn't' say anything….
They had both said enough already….there wasn't anything….left.