For once in his life Hatori had gotten lucky.

The Hongkong apartments were small, smaller even than the Shanghai ones, and that meant that everyone would have to double up. For once they divided up evenly. Shibata and Tsuchiya to a room, Minegishi and Shimazaki to another. That just left the third bedroom for him and Serizawa. As far as roommates went he was the best one left.

It was either him or moving in with Fukuda….and not even Suzuki wanted to live with Fukuda and they'd slept together.

"Ok, so how about this. We can use my N64, your Dreamcast, my Master System, your Famicom, and then-" said Hatori as he pointed to the pile of consoles on the ground. Between the two of them they had every single console that had ever been released in Japan, maybe even the whole world. That meant a lot of doubles. They couldn't do any unpacking, no clothes or anything, until they got this settled.

"But-but what about the 2600? I mean if the President ever comes to visit then he's going to want to play with us…I mean he's going to want us to watch him play." Said Serizawa. Hatori nodded and moved Serizawa's 2600 to the 'keep' pile. Suzuki was rough on consoles. He could ruin Serizawa's.

"We'll use yours." Said Hatori

"A-alright!" said Serizawa

"For the Switch I was thinking that we could keep them both in case we ever want to play multiplayer but for the WiiU I think we can put both of ours in storage because, really, there's no reason to have a WiiU when you have a Switch." Said Hatori

"What about Breath of the Wild?" asked Serizawa

"I have that on my Switch." Said Hatori

"But it's…I mean I think that it's better on the WiiU." Said Serizawa

"Nothing is better on the WiiU." Said Hatori

"What about-" said Serizawa. Hatori didn't know what he was going on about. The Wii only had one sequel and that was the Switch. The Wiiu was like…a weird phase. That was all. Anyone would have agreed with him, even Mob.

Wait-

"Catz is better on the Wiiu." Said Mob. Hatori turned…too fast. He nearly wound up sprawled out on his back. Mob caught him…it was a good thing that she was there…but why was she there? She had her own unpacking to do and…well nothing was weird…her eye was but….but Mob was his friend, practically his little sister, and…and this was normal. Her coming to hang out with him….this was all normal.

"Mob…hey. How…how did you get here?" asked Hatori as Mob caught him and set him back on his feet. Serizawa was overjoyed. Hatori…he was ok. Really. So what if he had kind of let Mob walk right into…they were alright. That was why she was here, right? To talk about how alright they were? Or…or maybe she was here to see Serizawa? Maybe she wanted to return his Mario shirt…no, she was wearing it but….Mob wasn't pissed at him, that was what mattered. He was pissed at himself but…but that didn't matter…

"I got here on the plane with everyone else." Said Mob

"No I mean…whatever, it's not impo-" said Hatori

"Hi Miss Suzuki! I mean…I should have said that before but then Hatori was talking to you and I waited my turn but then I thought that it was weird that I didn't say anything and it just felt weirder and weirder and-" said Serizawa

"No, no, it's ok. It's not weird. You're not weird, I mean. Do you know what's weird, though? Soy milk…I don't understand it." Sais Mob

"It says that soy milk is made from-" said Hatori

"I know that it's made from soybeans but I don't understand why people drink it. It doesn't taste good." Said Mob

"It for people who are allergic to milk…I mean I'm pretty sure that it is." Said Serizawa

"No, it is but I was just thinking that if I was allergic to milk then I wouldn't want to drink anything at all. I mean I can't think of anything worse than soy milk." Said Mob

"Have you ever had powdered milk?" asked Hatori

"Do you mean like what babies drink?" asked Mob, wrinkling her nose. Hatori did the same thing, he couldn't help it. He'd tried formula once when he'd been watching his neighbor's baby back when he'd been a kid. No wonder babies were always spitting up, that shit tasted disgusting. That shit was even worse than powdered milk.

And there weren't a lot of things worse than powdered milk.

"No, not formula. It's milk that's been dehydrated and then they just add water to it…it's like drinking chalk." Said Hatori. That was the best way to put it. Like drinking chalk water. You couldn't just have regular water, no, because then you wouldn't grow up big and strong…at least that was what they'd told him. He had been fifteen…and actually he hadn't grown since then…so maybe Matron had been right….

"That sounds terrible. Why would you drink something like that?" asked Mob

"That's what they gave us in the group home." Said Hatori. He realized his mistake about ten seconds after he'd said it. That might have been to heavy for Mob to hear about right now. She…wasn't ok. She'd been drinking a lot, a lot for Mob, which was way too much for a normal person. Suzuki had been kind of an asshole to her. He could see her eye, the black eye Suzuki gave her. It was healing but he never should have gave it to her in the first place…Hatori never should have let her go in the first place. He had not idea how he was supposed to do that…

But he should have tried harder.

And he should have thought before he spoke! Mob was doing that thing where she played with her hair and looked down at her feet. Something was wrong, even Serizawa could tell. He even opened him umbrella and held it over her head…well that was about seven years' worth of bad luck. Seven years added to the hundred years Hatori had….fuck! Ok, ok, he could fix this. Mob was feeling down but…Catz! She liked that game! Dogz, too, and maybe she'd like Babyz or maybe Minecraft or Pokemon or-

Or….

Or anything that didn't have to do with this conversation…with where it was going. He had only been in the home for a month, not longer enough to end up like Minegishi, but long enough that…well it hadn't been a good time. He didn't have any right to complain. He'd just had to deal with a few weeks of crappy food, no privacy, and icy showers. The home Minegishi had grown up in had been shut down by the government for being cruel and also they'd found bodies in the garden….maybe a chicken/egg scenario…Mob didn't need to know about this. She didn't need to know about any of this. She was just a kid. She needed….she needed to play something….

Videogames made everything better.

"Hey Hatori?" asked Mob suddenly. He jumped. Serizawa gave him a concerned look. Right, right, he had to calm down for his roommates sake…for his friend's sake….

"You want to play something?" asked Hatori as he looked over the pile of consoles on the floor. There had to be something there she would have liked. Between the two of them he and Serizawa had every single console known to man. Mob had to have wanted to play something…anything. Even that weird Elsa dress up game she had been into when they met.

"Can I ask you something?" asked Mob

"S-Sure…" said Hatori. It was never a good thing when someone asked if they could ask you something. He tugged at the collar of his sweatshirt. Mob was past that weird crush she used to have on him…right? He hoped so. That hadn't been fun, rejecting her, and…and he did noticed her checking him out sometimes but she was nearly thirteen so that was normal and-and-and….ok, calm down. This probably wasn't anything weird…and if it was then he could deal with it, calmly, unless he felt like setting Serizawa off or something…that wouldn't have been good for anyone….

"Did you love your parents when they were alive?" asked Mob. Well that hadn't been good for anyone either. Hatori hadn't been expecting that, he hadn't been expecting anything close to that. His heart jumped into his throat. His powers jumped out of his body. His aura showed and…and now he and Serizawa would have to redivide the consoles again because he was sure that he'd fried at least one of them. Damn it…why did she have to…she was a kid. She didn't know what she was asking him.

She was just a kid.

"Yeah…I did." Said Hatori. He prayed to God that there weren't any follow up questions. He didn't like to even think about this let alone talk about it. He smelled smoke…but that might have just been Shimazaki's cooking again or…or something. He swallowed. Serizawa held his umbrella out over Hatori's head. He didn't need it. He was fine.

So long as Mob didn't have any follow up questions then he was fine.

"Were you sad when they died?" asked Mob just as suddenly. That was…she was a kid and kids asked questions. Hell, just the other day he'd had to explain to Mukai how cartridges worked…he wasn't sure if she'd gotten anything out of that but eventually she'd stopped asking 'why' all the time. Mob…she was still just a kid. She was a kid and kids asked weird questions. Plus she was Suzuki's kid and he was the single weirdest human being that Hatori had ever met in his life…he was a cool guy when you got to know him but he was seriously weird. Mob just got his weirdness genes or…or something….

Hatori had to be normal, he wasn't a kid, he was an adult and he had to answer the fucking question like an adult.

"I…I don't…I mean when it…when it was over then…yeah, I was sad." Said Hatori. He wasn't a little kid anymore. Everyone thought that he was but he wasn't. He was twenty two years old and…and this had been seven years ago. He was over it. Houses burned down, people died, that was just how the world worked or…or whatever. He didn't know. He mostly just knew about videogames….maybe they could get back to that.

"Hey Mob, have you ever played-" said Hatori

"And are you still sad about it?" asked Mob. Of course she didn't want to play anything. She just wanted to keep this up…why? She was Mob, she liked happy things like stickers and makeup and kittens…and Minegishi…maybe they'd rubbed off on her or something.

"I don't like to think about it." Said Hatori quickly. It only hurt when he thought about it so the best thing to do was to never, ever, ever think about it. He'd been doing good for the past seven years….but now…he reached for his phone but stopped himself at the last minute. Right. Mob still wanted to talk…why couldn't she have had a crush on him again or something? That would have been more awkward to deal with but less painful….Hatori eyed the space under the bunk beds…he was still small enough to fit…but then Serizawa would have freaked out and then he would have had to deal with all of that.

"Oh….I'm sorry, then to have made you think about it." Said Mob

"It's…it's fine. Just…yeah. What's all this about?" asked Hatori

"I just want to know what it's like to be an orphan and you're the only orphan I know. I mean the only person I know who didn't make himself into an orphan." Said Mob. Hatori opened his mouth but then promptly shut it. She was right. The only other orphan here, one that hadn't been a self-made orphan, was Fukuda if the Claw records were to be believed. Hatori didn't know what he was supposed to say to that. It sucked. Not having parents…in a lot of little ways, too. They did a lot for you, you parents, and taught you a lot of things. It had taken him so long to figure out how to wash his own clothes or cook his own meals…or that body spray wasn't a substitute for a bath…it was hard to figure stuff out on your own. it was…it sucked…

It really sucked.

Why did she…what was she even thinking about this for? She had a Dad. Suzuki…well he could be kind of a piece of shit but he was still her Dad and…wait, he knew what this was about. She was worried about Suzuki. She was really nice like that, worrying about him even though he'd hit her…really hard, too, now that he looked at it….

Poor Mob…

"It sucks, Mob, it really sucks….but it doesn't matter. You're not an orphan. I know that you're probably freaked out about Hong Kong HQ but people send us bombs all the time. This is the first time in a while it had anthrax in it but-" said Hatori

"What?! Are we going to be ok?! Are we going to die!? Are we-" said Serizawa, his aura showing bright purple. Hatori braced himself for the incoming explosion…the explosion which never came. Mob put her hand over his and as soon as his aura appeared it vanished….wait, no, not vanished. Just disappeared…just got smaller…huh. Well that was new.

"We're not at the HQ so we'll be fine…but that's not what I'm worried about. Dad has Fukuda and he can heal anything. I was just…my Dad wants to have a baby with his girlfriend. I don't know if she's having the baby or not, she said something about an abortion-" said Mob

"What's an abortion?" asked Serizawa. Hatori eyed the door. This was not…he wasn't….yeah, no.

"It's a thing the doctor does when you don't want to be pregnant anymore…when girls don't want to be pregnant anymore. You'll never have to worry about that…because you're a boy, I mean. Not because nobody wants to do things with you. I mean somebody will, eventually, because you're actually a really nice person and also very tall. Girls like that. Boys too, maybe. Sho likes boys who are taller than him, actually Sho likes most boys. I bet lots of boys would like you, Serizawa." said Mob

"B-But I like girls!" said Serizawa

"That doesn't matter. When someone likes you then you have to like them back. It's not so bad when it's your friend. Kissing is kind of weird but you get used to it." Said Mob

"It really is…but you…you're a girl! I can't talk about this with you!" said Serizawa. Yeah, Hatori was with him. How had they gone from depressing shit to….this?

"Why are we talking about this at all? It's weird." Said Hatori. Yeah…no. He wasn't going to sit there and talk about kissing with Mob. There was no way it wouldn't have looked or felt weird. He loved her like a sister but even if she had been his actual sister it still would have been weird….or maybe even weirder. He didn't have any sisters but he wouldn't have wanted to discuss kissing with them. That would have been like the start of a bad hentai game.

"Because Serizawa didn't know what I was talking about." Said Mob

"Ok. But how did we get…to this? Wait, is Shiori actually-" said Hatori

"Don't say her name!" shouted Mob. The windows slammed opened….he hadn't thought that they were the kind that opened. Serizawa shrieked and hid under his umbrella…he hadn't known that he had such a high voice. Hatori…well he was calm, mostly. Sure he took a few steps towards the bed but he didn't dive under it. There…progress.

"I'm sorry! I mean Hatori's sorry! I mean-" said Serizawa

"No, no, no. I-I'm sorry. I think I might just be kind of drunk right now and…and it's just…I don't like her! she isn't nice and…and she wants to take my family away!" said Mob

"She said that? Why would somebody say something so awful?" asked Serizawa. Hatori…well he knew Shiori. She could be kind of a bitch sometimes but she wasn't tying to steal Mob's family. Actually she had been doing everything she could to avoid being Mob's stepmom...Mob just didn't know Shiori, that was all, and it didn't seem like Mob wanted to know her…which was weird….

Mob loved everyone. She was Mob. That was just who she was as a person.

"She…she didn't say those exact words but she said…she said that if Dad didn't…she said that she was either going to have a baby or an abortion and…and if she has a baby then Dad won't need me or Sho or Mukai anymore. He hasn't loved Sho ever and…and he hates me….but he loves Mukai. She's too little to know what it's like for Dad to love you and then…and then stop. It hurts…" said Mob

"What? Mob, no, your Dad loves you. You're like his second favorite kid." Said Hatori

"Y-Yes! I mean the President loves you a lot…I can tell. Dads don't have to love you, actually they can leave…I mean my mom never said that my dad left because he didn't love me but…but I know that I can be a very difficult person to love and-" said Serizawa

"No! Serizawa…no. Don't say things like that. Please don't say things like that about yourself. I love…we love…I love you and Hatori loves you and Mukai loves you, well she loves everyone but you're an everyone, and…and don't say such mean things about yourself. Ever." Said Mob

"But, Miss Suzuki-" said Serizawa

"Mob, don't talk like that either. Your Dad loves you. He can be kind of an asshole but I know that he loves you. Trust me, I know what he does to people he hates. Trust me, if he hated you then you wouldn't be here right now." Said Hatori

"What does President Suzuki do to people he hates?" asked Serizawa. Hatori shook his head. Serizawa didn't need to know about that. There was no way in hell that he would have been able to handle it. He was amazed that Mob could handle it…if she even was handling it. She was swaying where she stood…he new that she had been drinking a lot lately….her version of handling it….

"Minegishi said the same thing…" said Mob

"Yeah, they're smart like that….anyway, come on. Me and Serizawa were just dividing up our consoles. You want to help or…or to play something?" asked Hatori

"We could check on our farm…I mean if you want to, Miss Suzuki." Said Serizawa. Hatori crossed his fingers. Come on, Mob, take the bait.

"I…I would like that." Said Mob. Hatori sighed in relief. Serizawa to the rescue. Who would have thought?

"Ok, cool. Where were we? The WiiU? Yeah…yeah, that's where we left off." Said Hatori as he went back to the console pile. He had gotten lucky, again, and he wasn't going to jinx it. Mob was just in a bad mood, that was all, Suzuki could be kind of an idiot and not the best Dad…but he had his moments. He still loved Mob, she was just…not doing so well….but she'd get better. Once she realized that she didn't have anything to worry about…that Suzuki still loved him. He could be an asshole but he didn't hate her…he didn't hate any of them. He could be so…well nice and….

They were lucky, she was lucky, to have him as a Dad…sure he could be an asshole but he was better than nothing.