If it was a choice between underreacting and overreacting Shibata was going to underreact.

He used to be an overreactor when he'd been a kid, people would even call him the Hulk, but those days were long behind him. He could control it…mostly. He hadn't broken out of his clothes in a long time, barring the other night, but that had been an extenuating circumstance. Shimazaki had confessed to…he hadn't even confessed, he'd just come out and said it like…like it was nothing.

It was not nothing.

It was something. It was the worst thing that Shimazaki had ever done in his life…that Shibata knew about. Mob was only thirteen and Shimazaki had…he was going to stay calm. He was not going to overreact. He was not going to break out of his clothes, find Shimazaki, and beat him into paste. He'd tried that already. It was impossible to keep hold of him…and it wouldn't have taught him anything anyway. President Suzuki had already beaten him up and, obviously, he'd learned nothing…and anyway this wasn't about Shimazaki.

Well it was but…but also it wasn't.

It was about Shibata and how…how he hadn't done enough. That was the feeling he got from it. He was the one who should have done more. He had trusted, not completely but enough, Shimazaki. He had thought that he would have been at least afraid enough of President Suzuki not to try anything…but of course he'd been wrong and now the kids were the ones to suffer the consequences. Sho…well he was always angry…but Shigeko wasn't taking it well. She had come back from her trip and immediately gone and locked herself away with Serizawa to play videogame…which he was not worried about. Serizawa was a lot like one of the kids himself…Shibata wasn't worried about that. He was worried about the kids, how they were all taking it. Even Mukai. She didn't seem to know what was going on but she did seem to be in kind of a bad mood.

Or maybe she was just hungry.

He could hear her in the hallway. She was walking up and down the halls asking for cookies. Shibata had been told not to give her one, she'd had enough sugar, and now it was time for her to start winding down for bed. She wasn't going to be able to sleep anytime soon, he could tell. It would have been easier to just give her the cookies and then let her pass out on her own than to make her suffer like that. Tsuchiya disagreed…and she was Mukai's mother so what she said went.

Even if he didn't always agree…but then again what did he know about kids?

Certainly not how to protect them. He hadn't….he was calm. He was not going to beat himself up. He was not going to try and beat Shimazaki up again. He was going to stay here in his room on standby in case Tsuchiya needed him. She was packing again, more this time, she had said that…that she'd been given permission to go back to the Seventh Division. All the way in Seasoning City…

And she'd said, too, that he was welcome to join her.

He didn't know if he was, first of all. President Suzuki kind of deferred to Mob most of the time when it came to the group. He was away now, with his girlfriend, and Shibata had no idea when he was coming back…and he didn't know, too, if he even wanted to go. He wanted to be with Tsuchiya and Mukai but…but the kids needed him here, too. Shimazaki was somehow still alive. He was alive and he was still telling anyone who would listen that he'd done nothing wrong, that he loved Mob, and that all of this had been blown out of proportion. Every time he popped into the room he just kept on running his mouth…over and over again….

He was lucky that Shibata hadn't broken his jaw.

Shibata was strong, not fast, but Shimazaki had to rest eventually. He had to sleep sometime…and on the couch, if Minegishi was serious about the whole 'breaking up with him' thing. He hoped that they were. They should have been protecting Mob, they knew her the best, and when it came down to it they had to side with her…not that there even were sides. Mob was thirteen. Shimazaki was thirty something. There were no sides, this wasn't a debate, and he couldn't believe that he had almost let it become one…and in his own mind, too. Mob wasn't Little Miss Suzuki anymore but she wasn't an adult, either, and she couldn't make those kinds of choices. She couldn't…she couldn't keep herself safe like that…

That was his job…even if he'd been doing a pretty poor job of it lately.

A poor enough job of it to make Tsuchiya leave him…to make her leave. She had said that he was welcome to come with and…and he could have asked Mob. It wouldn't have been hard, she was right in Serizawa's room…but she must have been tired. They'd just come back from Osaka after all. Osaka to Tokyo, and by train too, was one hell of a trip. All the kids needed rest. Tsuchiya, too. She was unsteady on her feet, her very red feet, and her hands were even shaking…maybe she needed some rest. Some time to sit and rest and….and think, too.

Some time to think this over.

"Tsuchiya, can we talk?" asked Shibata as he sat down on the bed. It dipped under his weight, the suitcase on top of it threatening to tip over. This one was filled with more of Mukai's clothes. Mob loved dressing her up, she was like a little doll sometimes, even though Mukai herself didn't much like being the little doll. She was cute, though, adorable even…the cutest three year old he had ever met. He just wanted to hug her and squeeze her and never let her go.

He'd learned from his mistakes. He wouldn't be doing that again…he wouldn't be losing her…though there were plenty of ways that he could lose her.

"I don't understand why one person needs so many dresses…" muttered Tsuchiya as she packed, actually packed, not the way she'd done it before where she'd just thrown everything into a suitcase with little thought to the future. She had to downsize Mukai's wardrobe, most of this wasn't even going to fit in six months. A lot of this didn't even fit now…she'd have to have Mukai try some of this on…

But she clearly wasn't up for a fashion show right now.

"I want cookies! Give me cookies! Right now please!" sang Mukai as she walked up and down the hallway.

"Tsuchiya." Said Shibata, putting his hand over the suitcase. He nearly covered the whole thing.

"I just-what? What's…what?" asked Tsuchiya as she put the stack of clothes down onto the bed. She needed to sit down. She'd been sitting down for three hours, she didn't need to sit anymore. She could almost hear her parent's voices in her head. When had she gotten so lazy? When had she gotten so slow? See? They had been right, she'd lost all of her discipline. She'd lost everything and…she silenced those voices. She told them to shut up, spoke to them in ways she would never have spoken to them in life, and…well it worked, a bit…

But now only her own voice could be heard.

She didn't berate herself for being lazy, she berated herself for being stupid. She berated herself for putting her daughter in danger. She had been patting herself on the back before for her plan, the one that got Mukai out of this…this place, but now…well now she had a whole new set of problems to deal with.

Problems that Hiroshi was not helping with right now.

"I was just…I think you should sit down. You've been gone for a while and I know how long a trip it is to Osaka-" said Shibata softly. He just needed her to think…he just needed to think. Maybe they could come up with something together. He didn't want her to leave and he knew that this would destroy the kids too. They were the ones who mattered her. They had gotten older, true, but he didn't seem them taking this any better at twelve and thirteen than they had at nine and ten.

"I was sitting for three hours. I'm done. I have to get us packed and then I have to get us going-" said Tsuchiya

"Tonight? Are you sure?" asked Shibata. He could hear the seems of his shirt straining. Tonight was…so soon. She had just come back and…and less than a week ago they had all been eating dinner together and now…he took a deep breath. In for four and out for four, like she always did…it helped. A bit.

"No, not tonight. I just…I want to get us packed up tonight and then I have to give Mukai time to say goodbye…that's not going to be easy. If she even knows what's going on." said Tsuchiya. Mukai was still running around. She was going to let her get some more of her energy out before putting her to bed and explaining…she had no idea how to explain this. She was used to moving around, to breaking apart and coming together. Tsuchiya wondered if she even remembered a time before this was her life. She wondered how she could possibly explain that they were going back to the Seventh Division and that her brother and sister were staying here.

She would have taken the kids if she could.

But she couldn't. Shigeko had an official job now with duties and responsibilities…she couldn't just leave. Sho would go where Shigeko went. She was the closest thing that he had to a mother after all. He and Shigeko had never warmed up to her the way that she had wished…but it was what it was. There was no way to bring them with. She was so…so powerless. She could crush concrete with her bare hands, bend steel, and lift cars if she wanted to but right now she was completely powerless….

No, not completely.

"It wasn't easy the last time." Said Shibata softly. The kids…it had nearly destroyed them. He had never heard them cry like that…well Mob cried. Sho had mostly screamed. Screamed and broken so many things…kicked holes in the walls….it had been hard. Those had been hard times for all of them. He hadn't exactly taken it well…but he was an adult. He'd had no choice but to look like he was taking it well. Even though he hadn't ever finished that baby blanket for Mukai…

He hadn't finished her Christmas Sweater yet.

"This is different. This is…they know where she is, first of all. I didn't get the full story on what happened before-" said Tsuchiya

"Fukuda just kind of dragged her away. It nearly destroyed the kids. Sho especially. He was…a lot angrier back then. Or maybe he's just the same amount of angry but he doesn't show it as much. Back then he was like a volcano, just constantly erupting over everything." Said Shibata. Sho had been a little kid back then. He was still a kid now but not as little. He was nearly thirteen now. The way he'd gotten angry back then…Shibata had no idea what that would look like now. He had no idea how it would look for Mob either, she always turned inwards…and she was already going through so much. Shibata couldn't even imagine what it was like for her.

"That's why I have to go. I don't want Mukai to end up like that. I love Sho but…but he has a lot of problems. Both of the kids do and…and we went over this before. I haven't changed my mind and I'm not going to. I have to go, ok? So can you move over?" asked Tsuchiya

"You don't have to go so soon…or at all…" said Shibata. She shook her head. Her hair hit him in the face with how fast she shook her head…she hadn't even had to think about it…

"I don't know how you can even think that. I have to go. Mukai can't stay here, we went over this already-" said Tsuchiya

"I know, I know, but now that we know what to look out for…I mean-" said Shibata

"I'm doing what I have to do. I can't believe…it's not just Shimazaki. He's a big part of it but he's not everything. I just…I don't want Mukai to wind up like the kids." Said Tsuchiya. It sounded terrible but it was true and she was not going to take it back. The kids had needed someone like her in their lives years ago…someone who actually cared about their wellbeing. She knew that Hiroshi and the others loved the kids but there was a difference between loving someone and giving them whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, without any sense of limits or guidance.

"The kids are great." Said Shibata. He loved those kids. Sure Sho could be kind of angry a lot of the time and Mob…well she had her troubles but they were still great kids. They didn't have to go through this again. None of them have to go through this again.

"The kids are going through a lot and…and I don't want the same for Mukai. I have to do what's best for her, ok? You can come with if you want to so…so just make a choice already. Don't try and tell me that you're going to stay and try to make things better. If things haven't gotten better by now then they won't." said Tsuchiya

"We don't know that yet. Mob's in charge now, well she says that she is. The President can change his mind at any time but I don't think he will in this case. He's busy, too busy to chase after Mukai right now." said Shibata. Mukai had stopped running around and shouting, he could hear the sound of silence…the terrifying sound of silence. It was never good when she stopped moving….he assumed that there was a mess somewhere that he had to clean up. Well that was alright. He had plenty of time to clean up after her. The President didn't have the time to take care of her in any way. He had been around when the kids had been little. He knew how the President parented…or rather didn't.

"She shouldn't be in charge. She's only thirteen. How can you now see that? Sometimes I feel like I'm in Wonderland or something. Shigeko is just a kid. She's just…this is why she thinks that she's an adult, because everyone treats her like one. I don't want Mukai growing up like that…I have to go.." said Tsuchiya. She clenched and unclenched her fists. She was fine. She needed to calm her qi and…and maybe she could finish this tomorrow. Mukai had stopped shouting, maybe she was done now. It was nearly bedtime. She had slept on the train but…but they had to keep to a schedule. It was good for Mukai…

She was the one who was important here.

Everything Tsuchiya did she had to do for Mukai. They had to leave for her sake, it had nothing to do with the fact that Tsuchiya was just….she was done. She was done with this place and just about everything…and she didn't like the person that she'd become here. She was done and she had to go and…and this was what was best for Mukai.

She was her daughter.

"No, no go! You want a cookie?" asked Mukai as she kicked the door opened. She held the cookie box in one hand. A bunch went on the floor…oh no! She turned around to pick them up but Shibata grabbed her by the back of the dress and handed her to Mama…and now she was trapped!

"No, no, don't want to be stuck!" said Mukai as she tried to get free. Mama was too strong. She was like Mine! They had trapped her too….why were people always trying to trap her!?

"Mukai, were you going through the cabinets again?" asked Tsuchiya as she held her daughter close. Mukai was still trying to get away. She reached out with her aura. Tsuchiya heard the door groan. For a moment her heart stopped. She knew that Mukai had powers but right now they were nothing. If she ever got as strong as…her powers could not grow without her…if her powers were growing then Tsuchiya…she had no clue what she would do…

That hadn't been Mukai.

She looked up. Minegishi was lingering in the doorway, hair wet and plastered to their forehead. They had a lit…that was not a cigarette…in their hand. Their eyes were red. Whether from smoking or crying, if that had been what she'd heard through the walls before, she didn't know. She wasn't about to ask, either.

She didn't want to fight. Not right now.

"No, that was me. How about you spend less time arguing about Mob, we share a wall by the way in case you forgot, and more time actually watching her. I'm tired. I need to sleep to live and I need to live to sleep. If I were more awake I'd explain it to you but I'm not. Goodnight everybody." Said Minegishi with a wave of their hand. It had been a LONG few days. They needed to rest. Tomorrow would be Mob's first day running this insane asylum. She'd need them there…and they knew that the whole time they were by her side it would be, every ten seconds like clockwork 'are you mad at me' and 'I'm sorry' or some combination of those two phrases.

They needed to save their strength for what really mattered.

"Wait!" said Shibata. Minegishi turned around and glared at him. He shrank back.

"For?" asked Minegishi. They were not getting in the middle of this, they didn't have the energy to get in the middle of this. This was just…they had their own fight with their own partner to deal with.

"The-the last time Mukai left…the kids didn't take it well. Right? The kids-" said Shibata, forgetting what exactly he had been about to say. They had that affect on him. He had no idea how someone so small could be so terrifying.

"The survived. Tsuchiya can go wherever she wants. I have bigger things to worry about and so should you. Now goodnight." Said Minegishi, turning and leaving. They needed to get to bed before Ryou came back from wherever he'd found himself…before he tried to start up an argument that they shouldn't have even been having. He had slept with Mob, that was not ok, there was nothing else to it.

It should have been simple…as simple as these people's problems were, anyway…but it wasn't so they had to go. Simple as that.

"I was never arguing with you…and if you can't see that then I…I don't know. Alright? You can come with me if you want and you can stay if you want. It's up to you." Said Tsuchiya as the door slammed shut. Mukai crawled free and immediately went under the bed, taking the box of cookies with her. Tsuchiya would go and get her in a moment. She just…she needed some time to think. To settle this. She had no idea what Minegishi had been so upset about. She wished that her problems would have been as simple as theirs. At least it was cut and dry between them and Shimazaki.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Shibata. Whatever she wanted he would do but…but not if it wasn't what he wanted to do. He didn't even know. He wanted to stay with the kids, he had to stay with the kids, and they were the ones that mattered the most…but Mukai was a kid too. She mattered…she had Tsuchiya. She had a mother. Shibata wasn't…he wasn't anything to her. He wanted to be, more than anything else in the world, but he wasn't.

He was just himself….only himself.

"I'd like you to come with us but not if you don't want to. I like you a lot, Hiroshi, and…and I want to be able to keep liking you. Caring about you…feeling the way I feel." Said Tsuchiya softly before sliding off the bed and down to the ground. She loved…she didn't know if she loved him and it didn't matter. She had to put Mukai first. That was what it meant to be an adult, a parent, a mother. She had to put her daughter first and…and this was not the best place for her.

No part of Claw was…but this was the worst.

"I want that too." Said Shibata softly. He really did. He wanted…her. To be with her. He had found everything that he had ever been looking for in a partner and…and he didn't want to lose her. But he had to think about the kids. He had to think about…he didn't know. Mukai was a kid too and she needed him. Or maybe he was just trying to justify himself. Maybe he was just trying to justify only thinking of himself and what he wanted…what Tsuchiya wanted too….what they wanted.

It was a choice between staying and going….and he didn't know which one he wanted…which one he needed.