Fish were kind of cool.

Sure you couldn't play with them, and they didn't do any tricks, and they didn't even look at you like they loved you but that was ok. It was cool how they swam around and their scales were pretty cool and it was kind of cool how they lived in their own little world…and they were kind of cool.

They had nothing on hamsters though.

"Ham-hams go swimming too." Said Mukai as she tapped her hand against the glass. It was funny when all the fishies ran away. They were having fun. Swimming was fun. Maybe they could go swimming later, in the big ocean, not the little ones the fishies lived in. Their ocean was too little even for her. She couldn't fit in there but the ham-hams could.

If Sho would let her.

"Mukai, don't. If you put the hamsters in there, if you do then it'll mess up the water for the fish…and the hamsters might not be ok either. Now leave the glass alone…fuck…I sound like Big Sis." Said Sho. People just got kind of bossy, maybe, when they became big brothers and sisters. You kind of had to be bossy otherwise your little sister did dumb stuff, the sort of stuff that got her hurt…her or you hamsters…or your fish…and also she kept on trying to bite the cat…

Being a Big Brother was hard work sometimes. Harder even than making a home for fish.

"Ham-hams like swimming. Swimming fun…we go swimming today." Said Mukai

"Um…maybe you can go with someone else." Said Sho. He dipped a finger in the water, just one…and that was ok. He dipped another finger. That was ok. Then another…that was still ok. Then he tried to go in up to his wrist…that was still ok.

He took his hand out of the water.

That was…that was ok. He flicked some onto his face…just a drop…and that was…less than ok. He didn't dare try that again. He could feel Mukai watching him. He looked down. She stood on her tiptoes and tried to reach into the tank. She was too short, of course. She could barely reach up high enough to tap the glass.

She really shouldn't have been doing that.

"Mukai, come on. You know that you shouldn't tap the glass and…and maybe when Big Sis comes home or your mom stops being pissed off then we can go swimming, but not now." said Sho

"We go swimming today! Please and thank you!" said Mukai. Please and thank you were the magic words. If you wanted nice things to happen they were the words that needed to be heard. She knew the song, the words were in that funny way of talking but she knew the song….and she knew that something nice was going to happen.

And it did.

"Ryou! You come back! Look Sho!" said Mukai. She could feel him before she saw him, that was how it had always been. She hadn't forgotten him even though he had been gone for a long time. He'd missed out on so many trips…maybe he wanted to go swimming. Maybe he wanted to take her somewhere fun and also…also maybe he wanted to put the ham-hams in the little ocean too!

They would have liked it there. Everyone loved to swim.

"Shimazaki!" shouted Sho. He was back! He was…he'd gone but he was back! This was…he'd left though…Sho didn't know what he felt. He wanted to hug Shimazaki but also he wanted to kick his ass for being a coward. If he had really loved Big Sis he would have stayed and fought…but also there was no beating Dad and…and he watched the aquarium.

Fish were very relaxing. Shiori has been just as right about this as she had about everything else.

"This is new." Said Shimazaki as he touched his hand to the big glass rectangle…water inside. Huh. Sho was into fish now? What else had he missed? Well whatever, he was back now and in the little time they had…who was he kidding?

He barely even had time to say goodbye.

"Don't mess with the aquarium. I just now got it right." Said Sho

"Holy shit, this thing's huge. What's in here? Giant carp?" asked Shimazaki

"Little fishies." Said Mukai

"Just regular goldfish, you cant tell?" asked Sho

"Water makes things looks fuzzy." Said Shimazaki, dipping his hand into the tank. He could see a little better now. All of this water for two little goldfish? The things that they gave away as prizes at festivals?

"Don't go swimming, Ryou, it's not a pool." Said Mukai

"And don't put any new fish in or take those fish out. We worked really hard on this." Said Sho

"Ok, ok, I'll leave your fish alone…though I would have liked to have been invited to the fish party." Said Shimazaki. There were fish now? What, was everyone just going to change on him or…or something? What? First Mob and now…was it him?

"I didn't know where you were." Said Sho. This was not his fault. If he didn't know where people were then…then how was he supposed to know if they wanted to hang out with him? If people wanted to hang out with him then…then why did they leave? Why did everyone….why…he watched the fish. He got them. They needed water and food and a heater and a filter and…and they were always there.

"I have a phone, you know, and I can even use it. These are crazy future times we're living in." Said Shimazaki

"Games?" asked Mukai

"No games, just calls and texts. Sometimes music too." Said Shimazaki

"Should get some games, Ryou, fun ones." Said Mukai

"You're right, kid, I should. Especially since nobody tells me anything around here anymore." Said Shimazaki

"You're the one who ran away. If you wanted to come with us to the fish store then you should have been around or…or whatever." Said Sho

"I had some heavy emotional shit to deal with, you don't want to know, but yeah next time invite me…or don't, actually, since I have no fucking clue when I'm coming back." Said Shimazaki. He had better not have come back and the kids were all grown up or something, he didn't want to deal with

"You go trip too? With cookies?" asked Mukai. Was he coming too? Were there enough cookies? Shibata had promised to make more but he and Mama were still getting their angries out. They had a lot of them.

"Cookies? Uh…here. Pretty sure that this isn't an edible." Said Shimazaki as he fished a cookie out of his pocket. At least he assumed that it was a cookie all wrapped up in plastic wrap like that. At some point it had mostly been crushed into crumbs. Most of his emergency food had.

"That's a brownie." Said Sho as he reached for it. Mukai gave him a look, hissed, and then turned around…ok. She was going to be a cat now. He hoped that it was just a regular brownie and not the kind with weed in it. Tsuchiya was mad enough already. He didn't know what Shibata had done to her but it must have been really bad. He hoped that they didn't break up, though, since breaking up was really bad for you. Fukuda had just broken up with some lady today and he'd gone off somewhere that 'only adults could go' which Sho figured meant one of those drinking places or something. He didn't get it….but also he kind of did.

Heartbreak was a bitch bastard.

"My brownie!" said Mukai. She turned her back to the both of them and unwrapped her snack. She knew Sho, he was going to try and have some. Well, he couldn't!

"I had a brownie?" asked Shimazaki, feeling his coat pockets. He hadn't known that…fuck…well what was done was done and she needed it more than he did…though now he needed another emergency brownie. Toshi usually stuck emergency food in his pockets…but he could do it himself. They just did it better. They knew what he liked and they knew…they knew a lot of things…but so did he.

He knew exactly how much he was going to miss them.

"I have a brownie." Said Mukai, holding it close to her chest. Why was everyone after her food? They were tall, they could reach the food in the kitchen just fine on their own.

"Yeah, it's yours now. Something to remember me by." Said Shimazaki. Was she even going to remember him? How good were kid's memories at this age? He had heard that they were like goldfish…damn. He could maybe even end up coming back to an older version of her that didn't

"Tell me when you're coming back and we can hang out. We haven't gone to the park and stuff in a while, we could see the baby birds. We could go sock skating at the HQ too, Big Sis would probably make them wax the floors for us. We could go throw rocks at people, too, but not hard enough to hurt them." Said Sho

"You're getting soft on me, Suzuki. It's no fun unless someone gets hurt. Otherwise what's even the point?" asked Shimazaki

"I don't want Mukai to grow up to hurt people. She already hits people enough as it is." Said Sho. Sometimes she acted like Dad. Sometimes she screamed and hit people and broke things when she didn't get what she wanted…she could be bossy sometimes, too. Sho wished that he remembered who her mom was, her blood mom, then he could tell Mukai about her and how she was supposed to act like her. You were half of both of your parents so you had to pick the one that you were most like. Sho knew that he was a lot like Dad but he could try to be like Mom…but without the running away part.

"Sometimes you have to hurt people. That's the life." Said Shimazaki with a shrug. He didn't know how Sho thought he was going to make it in this world.

"I don't want it to be her life….or mine. I don't know, I'm just tired of fighting. We can do other stuff. Want to get some fireworks and set them off in weird places? I saw this thing where this guy set them off in a store and a bunch of people freaked out." Said Sho

"Damn that sounds great…but no, I can't. I've got to get the fuck out, official orders." Said Shimazaki with a sigh. This hadn't happened in a while, new orders. He used to move all the time. Place to place, job to job, not all of them fun...but the moving had been nice. Staying in one place was like death, a slow living death, but…well he didn't mind staying in one place so long as it was with people he cared about. Damn…he was going to miss Sho…both of the kids. He was going to miss Toshi and Mob…Serizawa was always good for a laugh…so was Hatori. But this was the nature of the work or whatever…and nothing ever lasted forever…

And he had never wished, before, that it had.

"Oh…because of the uprising?" asked Sho. It was getting closer. That meant that his uprising would have to get closer…but he didn't know how it was going to happen with Fukuda all heartbroken because some lady had ripped his heart out like in Mortal Kombat but less cool.

"Maybe, I don't ask questions. I just go where they tell me to go and do what I have to do…but what I have to do is boring as fuck." Said Shimazaki

"Fishies are boring." Said Mukai as she ate pieces of her brownie. It wasn't as good as the ones Shibata made. Maybe when he and Mama were done getting all their angries out he could make her some…and a cake too…and a pizza…and also candy, but the gummy kind and not the hard kind.

"That they are. I have no idea why you got some. I thought you were all about hamsters and cats and, uh, baby snakes. That one time, remember? Your dad screamed like a girl." Said Shimazaki with a laugh.

"No screaming. you scare the ham-hams. They cry." Said Mukai

"Yeah, I remember the baby snakes…whatever. I like fish too now. They're…they're pets. Anyway when are you coming back? We can hang out together then…and Big Sis, too, if you want." Said Sho. Shimazaki looked away. He turned away and his aura jumped away….what? Had Big Sis broken his heart too? Was everyone sad and running away today?

He was so glad he had a boyfriend. Girls, it seemed, were nothing but trouble.

"I honestly have no idea. Apparently I'm stalking an asset or an enemy or something…it's going to be a long job and then after that I have no fucking idea. Your Dad has this thing against me, I mean I thought it's be over after he kicked my ass-" said Shimazaki

"If he kicks your ass again then I'm kicking his." Said Sho. No. Dad did not get to just…just do whatever he wanted! Sho should have kicked his ass for even thinking that! He should have…he was nowhere near strong enough to beat Dad's ass into the ground. He was nowhere near strong enough to…to beat him but…but he had to try! He didn't have time to wait until he was strong enough. He didn't have time to wait…sometimes it felt like he had nothing but time and sometimes it felt like he had no time at all.

"I'd rather you lived long enough that we could hang out again. Don't go and start a pointless fight with your Dad, kid, it's not going to end well." Said Shimazaki. There were some fights that you just couldn't win. It wasn't a fun thing to admit, when you were powerless, but it would keep you alive a hell of a lot longer. You always had to make sure you lived long enough to fight another day. Maybe when that day came you would win.

He didn't want to gamble with Sho's life like that, though, Sho was his favorite kid in the world after all…well he was tied with Mukai.

"What am I supposed to do then? If he kicks your ass again-" said Sho

"He's not going to, not so long as I do what he says. He'll forget about me eventually, and if he doesn't then he'll just die eventually. Don't fight him, trust me. You're going to want to wait, if it ever comes down to it, until he's too old to fight back or whatever. Or someone else tries to do him in. You don't have to fight him, you know, you just don't have to save him." Said Shimazaki. He knew how Sho felt. He'd been there before. If he had been Sho's age and in his position then he would have done the same thing, he would have dreamt of the day when he could have his revenge for the terrible life he'd been forced to live or whatever…but he knew better now, hindsight and shit like that, or the benefits of age or whatever. Wisdom. The kind of shit he had to pass down to his kids.

The ones he knew, anyway.

"….I don't have that long." Said Sho

"You do, you just don't realize it yet. You know what? Maybe when I come back we can 'not save' him together….but just to be clear we're not plotting his murder so don't go running to Fukuda about this." Said Shimazaki

"Fukuda run away." Said Mukai, rubbing her hands on the front of her shirt to get the chocolate off before someone tried to wash them for her.

"He did? Fuck, I always took him for a coward." Said Shimazaki

"No, he didn't run away, he's just pissed off because of some lady." Said Sho

"Well I can't imagine what happened, he's usually so nice to everyone." Said Shimazaki. He would have rolled his eyes if he could, not that it was necessary. The effect wasn't lost on Sho, though, but as for Mukai…well sometimes she just laughed for the sake of laughing…

God, he was going to miss these kids.

"Why we laughing at?" asked Mukai

"Fukuda, mostly, just him being a…God, I'm going to miss you two so fucking much…" said Shimazaki

"Missed you too, Ryou, missed you lots." Said Mukai. She had missed him so much but he was back now. Maybe this meant that Caterpillars was going to come back too. Then they would all be together and they could go to a much better place, like they had before.

"I missed you too….I guess….it's whatever. When you come back we can hang out and stuff. Mukai wants to go swimming and-" said Sho

"That's all you, Sho, you know I don't trust the ocean…and anyway by the time I come back she'll probably be able to swim on her own anyway." Said Shimazaki

"She's still too little. I couldn't swim on my own until I was four and a half." Said Sho. He could remember it like it was yesterday. Mom had told him that he was too little to swim on his own, that he needed to swim only in the shallow end with the other little kids. Well he'd shown her. She'd gone to one of the mom chairs to read her book and Big Sis…well she'd been bossy back then too…and then she'd told him to stay but he hadn't listened. He'd dog paddled out into the deep end but he hadn't been scared, not once. He knew that he could do it.

He had been a lot braver back then.

"I'm this many. We can go swimming now. I know how." Said Mukai holding up three fingers. She was big enough to swim all on her own. With a floaty jacket on but that was better than when Mama used to carry her. She was big now and she could decide what they all did! She was big now, like Sho!

"Later, when I come back…whenever that is. I just wanted to say bye to you guys so…bye. We'll meet again and all of that." Said Shimazaki before he teleported away. God, this wasn't supposed to be so hard…but it was…but he wasn't going to cry or anything like that. It was boring, watching someone cry, and that was the only thing worse than being the person who cried so…yeah.

He didn't do boring.

"Bye Ryou! We see you later!" said Mukai waving at the space he'd been in. He would come back soon, or maybe later than soon. She didn't know, she couldn't tell time yet. She could tell, though, that it was time to go swimming…if only Sho would let her!

"Bye, I guess…anyway, come on Little Sis. Stop tapping on the glass, we have stuff to do. Let's go feed the hamsters before they start trying to eat each other again…and don't ask to go swimming until Big Sis comes back. You know I can't swim." Said Sho…not in a pissed off way. Not that he was pissed off. He had no reason to be. So his kind of best friend disappeared again and he couldn't take his sister swimming and his fish were probably pissed off at him because everyone had been touching the water and tapping on the glass…he was ok….he really was. He just…he had to focus on taking care of his fish…that was all.

Even if they hadn't been cool, kind of cool, he still would have taken care of them. They needed him.