It was so easy to make Miss Suzuki laugh.

"He's even walking like a cat! It's so cool!" laughed Miss Suzuki as she inhaled from her pen. He loved it when she laughed. He didn't see what was so funny about Mario in a cat suit, in his opinion the taunki suit was much cooler, but he wasn't going to contradict her. She was happy. That was what mattered.

What could have mattered more than making his best friend happy?

"It-it is, Miss Suzuki…um….do you want to play as someone else? Everyone has a different cat suit and…and I think you'd like that." Said Serizawa. He tried to pass her the controller. She pushed it away. She never wanted to play with him…was it something that he did? Or did she just not like the games he liked at all….but she had before….this was hard. He felt himself starting to shake. Serizawa didn't know what to do…

She put her hand on his arm.

"No thank you. I just want to watch you play, I like it. You smile a lot, like you're happy. You should smile more…a lot more." Said Miss Suzuki. Serizawa nodded and immediately got back to smiling. If she wanted him to smile then he would smile. If she wanted him to frown the he would frown. If she wanted him to cry then he would cry. He would have done anything for her. She had already done everything for him.

"Oh! Um…I will! I mean I'm not usually happy…I mean I am, happy, I mean…I mean that I can try, for you. I can be whatever you want me to be…I mean I'm still myself but I'm whatever you want…I mean…" said Serizawa. Miss Suzuki stared at him and scratched her head.

"I have no idea what you mean." Said Miss Suzuki. That was his fault. He felt his smile waver…but he kept it up. The least he could do for her was smile. He was such a burden on her…like he had been on Mom for his entire life. He had been nothing but a burden to Mom and she was so happy now that he was gone. He couldn't let that happen to him and Miss Suzuki. He wasn't that person, the scared person locked away in his room, anymore. Now he was a scared person who sometimes left his room…and the house, too. All thanks to Miss Suzuki…

He owed her so much. The least he could do was smile…or whatever else she wanted from him.

"I-I just meant that when you're with me I'm happiest. You're always so nice to me and….and I just like spending time with you. Also, you don't yell and throw things and say bad words when we play games together…I mean I like Hatori! I really do but…but he can get kind of upset sometimes." Said Serizawa. He hadn't meant to put Hatori down. He was a very nice person and good friend…he just got kind of mad sometimes. Even when he said that he was having fun. Serizawa had never gotten as mad in his life, not once, as Hatori got every single time they played something together. Even something like Animal Crossing…who could get mad at Animal Crossing?

"He can. I don't even know if he likes videogames, honestly, since he gets so mad at them." Said Miss Suzuki

"He says that he's having fun when he yells…I asked him….but it's not fun to hear him yell. He gets muted a lot…but he can unmute himself…and that just makes him madder." Said Serizawa

"I'd be mad too if I had to be best friends with my Dad." Said Miss Suzuki. Her voice got low, there, and she crossed her arms over her chest. He didn't know what he was supposed to do there. He couldn't agree with her, the President was her Dad and his friend, but he couldn't disagree with her either because she was his friend…but she was right, the President could be very mean sometimes…

This was very complicated.

"I….I…." said Serizawa. He didn't know what to say…but he was going to have to think of something, and fast! She was looking at him and time kept on ticking by and their game was paused and maybe he should have just un-paused it and gotten back to playing but that would have been rude and-

"No, no, that was mean of me to say….but he was mean to me first…everyone's been mean to me lately." Said Miss Suzuki softly. Ok, no, he wasn't going to run away from this. He didn't get to run away from this. She was sad and…and he had been mean to her. He didn't know what he had done but she had said everyone and he was a part of the everyone and-and he didn't get to run away. That was the old Katsuya, the new Katsuya…well he ran away but not all the time…and not when his best friend needed him.

"I didn't mean to be mean to you. Whatever I did, whatever it was, I'm so sorry and I promise not to do it again! I mean I have no idea what I did but if you tell me then I promise that I'll never do it again." said Serizawa. There. That had been…his aura had been showing and he had been shaking but it hadn't been so bad. She hadn't told him to get away from her and never speak to her again because he had been a terrible friend to her without even realizing it. No. She just…she was looking at him but she wasn't upset…

The was the best that he could have asked for.

"No, not you. You could never be mean to me. My dad just…he was mean to me and Minegishi is mean to me…well I haven't talked to them in a while but I think that they're still mean. Sho's mean…but you're nice. That's why I keep on coming back here, you're nice to me. Being with you is like…you're like a cold glass of milk on a hot day. Do you know what I mean? Like when…sort of like when outside is so hot you can see the heat rising and no matter where you go it's hot but then you get some cold milk and it's all better. You're the milk." Said Miss Suzuki. Serizawa nodded and tried to follow. It was…hard…sometimes, to follow her when she talked. It was like she was the player character and he was the NPC and it was one of those quests where you had to keep your NPC alive but he had really bad AI and he was always walking away and also there was no path….

He had to find one in the case.

"But…couldn't you just turn on your air conditioner?" asked Serizawa. He wanted to slap himself upside the head the moment he finished talking. Leave it to him to always find the absolute stupidest thing to say. She probably thought that he was stupid and now she was going to find someone smart to talk to, like Minegishi, but no they were fighting now…so maybe her boyfriend? But Shimazaki wasn't always that smart….that had been a terrible way to think about his friend and he was going to stop thinking now.

"Sorry! I wasn't thinking. That was a terrible thing to say and-" said Serizawa. She shook her head and put her hand over his….but….but she was just being nice!

"Serizawa, it's o-" said Miss Suzuki

"I mean that is if you-" said Serizawa

"Serizawa, it's ok. I know that what I said didn't make sense…sorry, Shimazaki got me another pen and this is really good stuff. Especially for China…anyway, you're like…you're like an ice powerup in a fire level…or maybe a fire powerup in an ice level." Said Miss Suzuki

"I think that I would rather be fire in an ice level. Fire levels are a lot easier than ice levels…I mean not easy but easier." said Serizawa. This was better. This was something he knew. Videogames. If only they could have talked only about videogames for the rest of time…no, no, that was asking for too much. Just for right now…that was enough to ask.

"You think so? I actually like ice levels. There's a lot of sliding around and that's annoying but there's a lot of blue. I like blue. Fire levels have too much red. Plus if fire touches you a lot of the time it's a one hit death." Said Miss Suzuki

"That's not in Mario, though." said Serizawa

"You're right…well if you have more hearts. I like to have at least two hearts….or like if you're playing an old Mario game and it's a mushroom that you need. Mushrooms are cooler than hearts because Mario gets taller and you can jump higher. Not that you want to go jumping in an ice level…unless you have the penguin suit. That's my favorite suit." Said Miss Suzuki

"Mine is the tanuki suit. I like how you can fly…I mean now he has a flying squirrel suit but I like the tanuki suit best. That's the one that…I mean I played a lot of Mario 3 when I was a kid." Said Serizawa. he rubbed the back of his head. Right, she didn't know the same games that he did. She was a lot younger and she was a girl. She liked games where you took care of things or dressed characters up…and she had been born in an entirely different era of gaming too. The difference between her and him was the same as the difference between him and President Suzuki…

She was that much younger than him.

"Oh right, that came out when you were little. Sometimes I forget how old you are." Said Miss Suzuki

"That's ok, I sometimes forget how old you are…thirteen? I mean I know you're never supposed to ask a girl her age but-" said Serizawa

"I'm still twelve, but it's ok if you forgot. It's not your job to remember how old I am." Said Miss Suzuki. Her voice was getting low again…that wasn't good. He could see her aura, too, and it looked sad…but he could help her. He could be there for her. He had to be. She had done nothing but be there for him. of course he could return the favor.

"It's not a job. I just want to be a good friend." Said Serizawa. This time he put his hand over hers…this was ok, right? She looked like she needed a friend but also she was a girl. She didn't push him away, though, so this must have been ok….right?

"You're already a good friend. You're not mean to me, that's enough. You don't ask me to do anything or be anything. You just let me sit here and smoke and play videogames. That's just…that's just all I want right now." Said Miss Suzuki. She put her other hand over his. This was alright…she was ok. That was good. He could help her…he was helping her. He was doing something right for once in his life.

"I'm….I'm just happy to make you feel better, Miss Suzuki." Said Serizawa

"I do. I feel….I feel good." Said Miss Suzuki. She smiled. She was so pretty when she smiled. She deserved to smile all the time. He didn't know, really, why she was so sad. Well because her Dad was being mean to her…but at least she had a Dad…and she and her best friend were fighting…but at least she had a best friend. Her little brother was mean to her, too, sometimes but at least she had a little brother. He didn't want to think these thoughts, to be like this. He had just spent so much of his life wishing that he'd had everything that she had. Friends, a family she could be around, two parents…

But not the boyfriend part.

"Me too. What are we feeling good about in here?" asked Shimazaki. The only thing that announced his entrance was the shift in the energy in the room. In an instant he was right beside Miss Suzuki. He leaned in really close to her. She leaned in and kissed him….Serizawa looked away.

That wasn't for him to see.

He looked away. He wasn't weird, he didn't like to watch people kissing, and also Shimazaki was covered in blood. Serizawa didn't like the sight of blood. It was just…blood was NOT supposed to be on the outside of your body! It was all gross and….and stuff. He picked up his controller and got back to playing. None of this was for him to see.

He knew to leave a private moment alone.

"Hi Ryou. We're just playing Mario, that's all….um…are you hurt? Do you need to see Fukuda?" asked Miss Suzuki. He heard the smacky sound of kissing. He brought his head down and his shoulder up, like a turtle. He wished he'd had his umbrella with him and that it hadn't been bad luck to open an umbrella indoors. It really was better for hiding.

"This isn't my blood." Said Shimazaki

"Oh." Said Miss Suzuki. Serizawa would have had more to say than 'oh' if he had been in her shoes…pink kitten socks…then he would have had more to say than 'oh'. So it was a good thing that he wasn't in her shoes.

"Yeah, it's been one of those days. Some guy insulted your Dad and then one thing led to another and then I had to roll some guy up in a carpet and throw him off a bridge." Said Shimazaki

"That's awful." Said Miss Suzuki

"After that…well the rest of the day is something I'd like to forget. Whatever. It's worth it if I can come home to you." Said Shimazaki. There was another smacky sound. Miss Suzuki's aura nearly turned into a barrier. Serizawa scooted away from her. This wasn't for him to see or hear or…or any of his other senses!

"It's still horrible, that my Dad made you hurt someone. Dad's been horrible lately." Said Miss Suzuki

"Eh, I offered my services and he accepted. I mean the guy had the balls to walk right into a meeting and insult your Dad to his face. Not because of his dumpster fire of a personality or because he always smells like eggs and ketchup, no, because he's half. I mean I don't care about your Dad but you said that you were half too and, like, you came from Suzuki so…yeah. I can't let people say shit like that about my girlfriend." Said Shimazaki

"You're half?" asked Serizawa. He covered his mouth. Immediately. That was…first of all she had mentioned it before, he had just forgotten, and second of all it was rude to point that kind of thing out! When he had been little people used to always make fun of him…even though it made no sense. He couldn't help who his Dad was...and Miss Suzuki couldn't help who her parents were….and neither could President Suzuki. Nobody should have been making fun of anybody, of course, but if they had to make fun of each other then…then at least they could make fun of you for something you could help…

"Not that I was making fun of you! I just…you don't look half and…and that was mean too and…and I'm sorry!" said Serizawa. His aura was showing now, brightly, and the room shook. Shimazaki covered his ears and shook his head.

"Stop screaming and stop doing that shit with your aura!" said Shimazaki. He shoved Serizawa, hard, not hard enough to hurt him but…but it had still been jarring. Jarring enough to make the power surge, jarring enough to get him back to the home screen on his game, jarring enough that Shimazaki pulled away from him and hit him once more.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean-" said Serizawa. He didn't like getting hit but he didn't like upsetting people either. He just…he wanted everything to be ok. Miss Suzuki put her hand over his. Shimazaki put his hand over hers. It was like a stack of hands…and she shook Shimazaki's off…even though it so clearly had hurt his feelings….

"It's ok. Shimazaki, you know that he doesn't mean it. Serizawa, I'm not upset with you. I know how I look…well how I looked before I dyed my hair…but it doesn't bother me. I'm mostly bothered that Shimazaki hurt someone and that he's covered in blood." Said Miss Suzuki

"But I did it for you. Toshi would have-" said Shimazaki

"I'm not Minegishi and I don't like that kind of thing. It's one thing if someone hurts you…or Dad, I guess, since he's your boss…but it's another thing to hurt people just for the sake of hurting them…and also I would never ask you to hurt someone for me." Said Miss Suzuki. She put her hand on Shimazaki's arm even though he had blood all down the side of his jacket. He kept his head low, he even kept his aura away from hers.

"…sorry…" said Shimazaki

"It's ok, I forgive you...but let me get you something clean to wear. Hang on." Said Miss Suzuki as she got up. She slid a little but Shimazaki reached out and steadied her. He left some red on the front of her shirt. Serizawa looked away.

He hated the sight of blood.

But that didn't matter to Shimazaki. As soon as he turned his head Shimazaki was right in front of him. Still sitting cross legged. Still covered in blood. Serizawa tried to look away but Shimazaki grabbed his face. He held him by the chin and just stared, his aura. Serizawa didn't know what would have happened if he closed his eyes, maybe Shimazaki would have pried them opened, Serizawa didn't want to find out. He had no choice but to look.

And to listen.

"I can't get a read on her sometimes, you know? She's like Toshi like that. You know how Toshi just kind of…they can be so closed off, you know? Mob can be kind of like that but…but opened? You know? Like she's tell you everything you want to hear but then nothing at all and…and it's like she tells you what she wants but it's not what she WANTS…you know?" said Shimazaki

"I….know?" said Serizawa. Sometimes it was best to just agree with Shimazaki. Like now, when he had your face in his hand and he smelled like blood and his nails were really sharp.

"Yeah, you do…she smells like you, you know? But I'm not jealous. See, Toshi thinks that I'm jealous but I'm not. I can handle shit. I can handle…it's just…Mob's so fucking complicated…but you get her…somehow you of all people get her." said Shimazaki

"I….do?" said Serizawa. He didn't think that he 'got' Miss Suzuki. He didn't understand anyone, not even himself, and…and that made him a lousy friend, didn't it? But maybe Shimazaki wasn't much of a friend or a boyfriend or whatever if he didn't know Miss Suzuki either.

"Yes! Exactly! Somehow you get Mob and you got Toshi…are you good looking? Because that's the only way I can see that there's any overlap in our romantic lives. I mean Toshi isn't picky with they're horny but, you know, I'm right here…but it's whatever. I'm not jealous. Toshi likes you…at least I think that they do. They liked you enough to kiss them and, yeah, I'm being a baby about this. You just kissed them, so what? That's nothing. I could kiss you and it wouldn't mean a damn thing….hey! That's a great idea!" said Shimazaki

"Wait, what-" asked Serizawa. He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Shimazaki kissed him. it was very difficult to speak when someone was kissing you. He had discovered that just now. Also second kisses were just as weird as firsts. He knew that now. Also he liked girls, only girls, and would only like girls until the day he died.

It was short.

That was good. It was over as soon as it began…which had been how his first kiss had gone. He had at least liked Minegishi…well sort of. They were mean but also nice sometimes and very pretty. Serizawa…well he didn't like them anymore…but at least he had liked them! This was…he was not going to freak out. He was not going to lose control. He was in an apartment building, not as big as the one had been in Shanghai but still big, and if he lost control then the whole thing would come down…he didn't lose control…

Just. Barely.

He thought about Miss Suzuki, how she was just down the hall, how she was going to be back any second. How if she came back and found the whole place wrecked….she would have been so disappointed in him. He balled his fists up and dug them into his robe. He closed his eyes. He pulled away from Shimazaki.

He didn't lose control. He held on. Just barely.

"There. Now we're even." Said Shimazaki. Even! What had he possibly done to deserve that?! He hadn't done anything that he could remember…he never did anything. He mostly just played videogames and watched TV and spent the rest of that time either asleep or waiting to see Miss Suzuki!

"E-even? For what?! I didn't-" said Serizawa

"You're right. You know, I've been doing a lot of soul searching lately and it's like…I don't like myself. A lot of things about myself. Maybe Toshi's right. Maybe I can be needy and jealous and possessive…thanks, Serizawa, you really opened my eyes. Metaphorically. If you actually did that then I'd have to kick your ass and, honestly, I'd rather now. Mob wouldn't like that." Said Shimazaki. He teleported so he was sitting beside Serizawa, not in front of him, and tossed his coat to the side. His shirt was clean…or maybe it was just red. Red hid blood…he was still so bloody…

Serizawa looked away. He didn't like blood, he didn't like being embarrassed, and he didn't like being kissed…at least he hadn't liked it so far.

But he did like Miss Suzuki. He heard the door open. First the front door, then the hall door, and then finally his door. It hadn't taken long, not even a minute, but it had been the longest minute of his life. He didn't like…he didn't know if he still liked…he was happy to have a friend, even one who kissed him when he hadn't even wanted him to. He liked having friends and….and he liked…he liked a lot of things about his life now. It was like Miss Suzuki had said, sometimes people just kissed you and that was just a thing that happened. It was over now and…and Miss Suzuki was back and….and it wasn't going to happen again….and…and he may have been her boyfriend but he kissed everyone so…so it was ok..

Miss Suzuki was back. He knew everything was going to be ok.

"I tried not to wake Minegishi but they have really good hearing. They're drawing you a bath but I don't think that you need one since it's mostly on your clothes. I can wash those, by the way, I know how to get blood out of things…but don't ask me how I know! I'll wash your clothes with Dad's after I soak them in peroxide…" said Miss Suzuki. She had a wet rag and she was wiping the blood from Shimazaki's face, now. He said that it hadn't been his blood but Shimazaki clearly had cuts on his face….he wondered what had happened to him…but he knew better than to ask. The last thing he wanted to do was to get Shimazaki talking again.

The only thing he wanted to hear was Miss Suzuki's laughter…but listening to her talk was just as good.