Serizawa knew that he needed to take a bath, and he wanted to, but he couldn't.
It wasn't his turn yet.
"Um…Minegishi?" asked Serizawa as he knocked on the bathroom door. He took a bath every other day. It was the other day. If he didn't take a bath tonight then his entire schedule would be thrown off. That wouldn't have been good, he needed his schedule, without it then…then it would have been so easy to fall back into old habits. To let one day turn into another and then into another and another again….it would have been easy for things to end up the way they had been before…
Especially since Miss Suzuki was so busy these days.
"Minegishi?" asked Serizawa, knocking again. He closed his eyes while he knocked. It was just easier that way. They had been born a girl and he was a boy and they weren't wearing anything on the other side of that door and…well things were just easier this way. They were his friend, just his friend, and he should NOT have been thinking about them like that…even if they had kissed him…but that had been more scary than anything. They were pretty, and very nice too even if they didn't act like it, but also they were scary…
Maybe he could just take two baths in a row so his schedule didn't get messed up….
No, he knew himself. It was a lot of effort to take even one bath every other day. He had to take a bath today…but he couldn't. Minegishi was in there now. They'd been in there for hours already…but maybe that just meant that they would be coming out any minute now…or that they had drowned. Mom had warned him about that back when he'd been little…
He did his best to stay calm.
"Minegishi? Did you drown? I mean if you actually had drowned then you wouldn't be able to answer me and…and I wouldn't even know how to save you if I had to and…and you're a girl and um…please tell me if you're drowning or have drowned!" said Serizawa, his eyes still closed. He stayed still, silent, waiting for them to say anything….but they didn't…
But he did hear water splashing around…
Oh no! What if they were drowning right now and-and-and there was nothing that he could do and-and he would have lost another friend! He didn't want to lose another friend…he didn't know what he would have done if he lost another friend…he could have been losing another friend right now! if he lost them then-then-then what would he have…what would Miss Suzuki have done? They were her best friend and…and she would have been so sad and…and he couldn't let her be sad! He couldn't let her be-
Someone touched him.
"Don't!" said Serizawa, pulling his shoulder away. He opened his eyes…it was just Tsuchiya. He didn't know who he had been expecting. Maybe Miss Suzuki? She was the only person who ever got that close to him…but she was in her own house taking care of her brother…he had still been expecting her even if she had been too busy for him these past few days…
Tsuchiya was nice too, though, but only when she wasn't trying to take Mukai away.
"Sorry! I'm sorry, you just looked like you needed help." Said Tsuchiya taking a step back. Serizawa shook his head. He should have thought before he acted. Now she was upset…or maybe it had nothing to do with him. It had been a very difficult time for her, too. She hadn't said anything but he knew that she must have been upset.
Miss Suzuki had threatened to stop being her friend. He couldn't imagine anything worse.
"I-I'm fine. I'm just…do you think they drowned in there? I think that they might have but I can't check, I can only ask, but asking doesn't do anything because they won't answer and maybe they can't and I can't check on them because I'm a boy and Miss Suzuki is busy and if they died then she'd be upset and I don't ever want her to be upset!" said Serizawa. He had to catch his breath by the end of it. He didn't always put pauses between his words. Sometimes they just came out too fast.
"Wait…are you telling me that they're still in there?" asked Tsuchiya
"Yes. I heard the water moving." Said Serizawa
"Its's been three hours. Three." Said Tsuchiya. Serizawa nodded.
"Three hours and sixteen minutes." Said Serizawa. Tsuchiya sighed and turned around. Her aura flashed bright as she pounded on the door. It shook. Her arm looked bigger too…he took a step back. He didn't know if she lost control like he did sometimes. He didn't want to find out.
"Three hours and…Minegishi! Come on, I know you're in there!" said Tsuchiya as she knocked on the door. Serizawa took another step back until his back was pressed up against the wall. She was scary when she was mad…actually everyone was scary when they were mad.
"I'm in here." Said Minegishi, finally, after a lot of knocking. Serizawa felt lighter, a bit. They were alive. They were mad but they were alive. Everyone was mad here. It was like a madhouse…wait, no, that was something else. It was like…like a place where everyone was mad at everyone else all the time and there didn't seem to be any end to it!
"I know you are, you've been in there all night. Other people need a turn." Said Tsuchiya
"Other people can go to a bathhouse in that case. I'm in here." Said Minegishi
"You've been in there for over three hours. That water has to be ice cold by now." said Tsuchiya. The pipes groaned…that was good! They were refiling the tub and now they wouldn't be cold anymore…wait, no, that was also kind of bad since now it would be even longer before Serizawa had his turn.
"I'll manage." Said Minegishi. Tsuchiya said something under her breath that Serizawa really hoped he misheard.
"Why are you acting like this? Aren't things hard enough around here already without you picking pointless fights?" asked Tsuchiya
"You would think so, but no. Now leave me alone. I'm not in any mood to deal with this right now, alright? You're not the only one around here with problems, you're just the only one who brings other people into them." Said Minegishi
"You've got…alright, fine, whatever. You want to sit in the bathroom all night and read or whatever then fine." Said Tsuchiya through gritted teeth. He could see her arms straining against the sleeve of her pajama shirt. He wished that there had been more space for him to move back. If he move to the side, either down the stairs or back to his room, it would have been rude. She would have thought that he was running away or something…and he wasn't! He was just…just putting some space between them, for her sake.
His sake and hers.
"I-I can just take a bath tomorrow or…or the next day….if they don't want to come out." Said Serizawa
"They don't!" shouted Minegishi
"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have to put up with this." Said Tsuchiya
"I-I'm fine! Really! I just…I don't mind messing my schedule up, really. I just don't want to bother anyone and if they want to spend the night in the bathtub then they can. I don't want to bother anyone or be mean or anything like that." Said Serizawa quickly. Tsuchiya nodded and then…and then she looked at him the same way mom looked at him sometimes…but at least she wasn't mad anymore…
Though she didn't really have to look at him like that either.
"Are you alright? You seem jumpier than usual. I know that this has to be hard on you. Out of all of us you're the most…um…sensitive to these kinds of things." Said Tsuchiya. He wasn't sure what she meant by that. Anyone would have been sensitive when their friends went away and the ones who stayed were fighting. He thought that he was dealing with it well. He hadn't exploded once and that was something.
Of course Miss Suzuki always made it easier.
"I-I've been alright. Sometimes I get sad or-or worried but Miss Suzuki always makes me feel better. She reminds me that I'll be ok and…and stuff." Said Serizawa. Another look, this one unknown to him. It came and went pretty fast, though, so it might not have been one to worry about. She had a lot on her mind right now, he could tell.
"Shigeko is a pretty good friend like that…stubborn as hell though." Said Tsuchiya
"Um…I…I don't know." said Serizawa. He didn't know what to say. He knew that the polite thing to do would have been to agree with her but also he couldn't have ever said or thought anything like that about Miss Suzuki. She was his best friend…and at the rate things were going it looked like she was going to end up being his only friend.
"And you're not?" asked Minegishi from the other side of the door. Serizawa closed his eyes. He couldn't see through the door but now he was thinking about seeing through the door and that wasn't something that he should have been thinking of.
"I'm…you know what? Enjoy your bath." Said Tsuchiya
"I will." Said Minegishi. Serizawa decided to turn his back on the door altogether. He kept his eyes closed. He felt another aura…he felt…not Miss Suzuki. Tsuchiya. He wished that it had been Miss Suzuki. He really just…he had to take his bath but also he had to go to bed and…and he had to get out of here….but where could he go?
"Hey, are you…are you going to be ok? Do you need Shigeko?" asked Tsuchiya. She shouldn't have sounded worried because her being worried made him feel…no, no, no. That was selfish. He should have felt bad for making his friend feel bad and not for being…for being the person he was. He turned around and opened his eyes. He didn't want to but he did.
Miss Suzuki would have wanted him to be nice.
"I-I'm ok. I shouldn't bother Miss Suzuki. I mean it's late and she works really hard and also all of the fighting stresses her out, neither of us like fighting, and…and losing our friends has been hard. I mean if it's hard for me then it's worse for her because she knew them for longer and she's a better friend than I am. I just….I shouldn't bother her. I might see her tomorrow so…so that's something." Said Serizawa
"Yeah…you do spend a lot of time with her. More than I do, anyway. She…she listens to you, doesn't she? I mean she has to listen to someone, doesn't she?" asked Tsuchiya
"Miss Suzuki listens to me no matter what I say…even if it's kind of stupid or just…just things that she doesn't have any interest in…um…like we both like videogames but I like RPGs and she likes simulator games and paper dol games…well we both like Mario games but she mostly just likes Mario Kart and Mario Party…but only up to seven…and…um…she listens to me a lot! Sorry to talk so much." Said Serizawa. He wondered if he should have bowed. That seemed like it would have been the polite thing to do but…but also it might have been weird since people didn't really bow as much as they did in games and movies and stuff and….and he wished Miss Suzuki has been there. She would have known that to do.
"She's your best friend…right…uh, hey…do you want me to walk you over to her house? You just seem stressed over here, that's all. It's been stressful on all of us. Even Mukai." Said Tsuchiya
"Mukai's been stressed? Is that why she ate a whole box of popsicles today?" asked Serizawa. Tsuchiya frowned. The seems on her shirt strained again. She probably hadn't know about the popsicles.
"Well that explains a few things…but no, I don't think she's stress eating. She's just been very angry lately and I wonder if it's good for her to be here…with everything that happened." Said Tsuchiya. Serizawa nodded
"That's why you want to leave too." Said Serizawa
"Yes, that's exactly why-" said Tsuchiya
"But you shouldn't leave. If you do then Miss Suzuki will stop being your friend and…and I can't think of anything worse than that. Miss Suzuki is the nicest person that I've ever met in my life, she might be the nicest person in the whole world….um…no offense. She's just…she's a good friend and she likes you a lot and…and if you leave then we'll be down another friend. Also she's Mukai's sister and…and I think that moms might be more important than sisters or…or maybe not important but…but I don't think that you should go. It'll make Miss Suzuki sad and…and you'd probably be sad too, later on and…and Mukai gets sad so easily…sorry…sorry!" said Serizawa. Sometimes he just talked and words came out. He never knew when to start talking so he just started and then he didn't know when to stop so he just kept going…no matter what he said. No matter how clueless he sounded. That hadn't been good at all. He needed to work on being better at this, at being a friend, or just being around people…
Miss Suzuki said that he was getting better each and every day…but he couldn't see it.
"You really care about her…I know you do…right, right. Well come on, it's late and I don't think that they're going to get out of there anytime soon." Said Tsuchiya. She muttered something afterwards that sounded like 'hopefully they drown' but he must have misheard her. She was a mom and moms didn't talk like that, moms were nice. He hadn't spoken to his mom since he left…it was for the best…but he hadn't forgotten her. How nice she'd been. How she'd sacrificed her entire life just for him. How she'd….he didn't want to think about Mom now.
She was better off without him.
There were times he wondered if everyone would have just been better off without him. He was a burden sometimes…most of the times. He knew that he should have been doing more to rejoin society, to do what he'd missed out on, to be someone better than he was now…but he just…it was like he couldn't. Like he was standing at the edge of the world and everyone told him to just jump, that he'd be ok, that he'd figure it out….but he knew that he couldn't. He was out of lives. This was the only one he had left and…and he couldn't make it worse than it was now. He couldn't mess up…and he would mess up. He messed everything up.
He couldn't even walk over to next door on his own.
Tsuchiya had been so nice to walk him over. She was a mom and moms were nice like that. He wished that he knew how to thank her. Maybe with a 'thank you'? He hadn't even gotten the chance. Miss Suzuki opened the door the minute he stepped in front of it….and she was kind of…kind of not happy.
He could always tell when it came to her.
"Tsuchiya, if you're just here to watch Serizawa then 'thanks' but if you're here to fight with me about taking Mukai and going then please don't. I know what I said, and that it was mean, but I won't change my mind. Nobody's going to take my little sister from me…from me and Sho. Sho can't handle it again." Said Miss Suzuki. Serizawa nodded even though she wasn't talking to him. He just…he knew that he hadn't been the one to start the fight but…but he just wished that it could end already!
"Shigeko, I won't be taking her from you. You can visit whenever you-" said Tsuchiya
"I don't want to stop being your friend so…so goodnight. Serizawa, you can come in." said Miss Suzuki. She didn't have to tell him twice. He ran inside, practically, and nearly slipped in the genkan. He just wanted to get away from the fighting…at least things were quiet here. He could hear the TV going, Frozen, the part with the trolls…that was a good song. Everyone was a little bit of a fixer upper…he wondered if that was true.
It would have been nice if it had been.
He slipped his shoes off and faced them the right way. She picked them up with her powers and put then next to her sandals. He didn't know why that made him happy but it did…like she wanted him near her. That was…there weren't a lot of people who wanted to be near him. There weren't a lot of people who even could be near him.
Fewer people than there had been before.
"Thank you, Miss Suzuki. I didn't know that you wanted my shoes by yours or…or I would have done it and…um…" said Serizawa
"It's ok, I just like to keep all of the shoes together, that's all. You don't have to be upset….but you can be if you want to be. I can't tell you what to feel. I don't want to. I'm getting tired of telling people what to do." Said Miss Suzuki. She was tired. She didn't have to tell him. He could see it in her aura, her eyes, the way she kind of slumped while she stood…he was probably going to make it worse. He was probably going to….to make her even more tired and…and…and he was a bad friend!
"I'm sorry!" said Serizawa
"For what?" asked Miss Suzuki
"For….for bothering you. You're tired and I'm only going to make you more tired and…and I should have just taken a bath tomorrow-" said Serizawa
"But you take a bath every other day, like Sho…well more than Sho does." Said Miss Suzuki
"I…I know but…but Minegishi is taking a bath and they like long baths so I was waiting but then Tsuchiya came and she fought with Minegishi and then…and then I wanted to come here…um…but I can go if you want me to!" said Serizawa. He didn't want to go but he didn't want to make her any more tired or upset than she was…and she seemed upset…
Or just tired…she might have just been tired…he hoped that she was just tired.
"Why would I want you to go? You're my friend…and it's kind of lonely around here without Dad and…and other people…but not Fukuda. I'm glad that he's…I'm not glad all the way but…but…do you want to watch TV with me? Sho said that he'd rather take a bath than watch Frozen and…and I really need…if you want you can sit with me and…and stuff…I just…I don't want to be alone right now. I mean Sho's here but…but he doesn't want to hang out with me right now." Said Miss Suzuki
"I wouldn't leave you alone, especially when there's something wrong…um…I mean it looks like there's something wrong." Said Serizawa
"My Dad blew up." Said Miss Suzuki. Serizawa gasped. president had lost control!? How could that have happened? He was always talking about how important control was. He had even said that power was nothing without control. Serizawa gladly would have given up all of his power if it meant that he didn't have to worry about losing control but that wasn't how it worked. He had asked. He was stuck this way but…but also not, because there was hope.
Or at least he'd thought there'd been.
"He….he lost control? How…how did he…how could he have…how…" said Serizawa. He reached for his umbrella…but he'd left it in his room. He didn't normally take it with him when he took a bath, the bathroom was the only place where he could expect completely aloneness and privacy, but…but he should have taken it with him when he left the house. He shouldn't have needed it if he was going to be near Miss Suzuki, she kept him safe, but…but there were some things that she couldn't keep him safe from…like himself…
He had thought that…that there had been hope but…but now he didn't know and…and she didn't….
"No, no, not like that. Someone put a bomb in a car, that's all…and he says that he's fine but…but Hatori isn't and…and Dad would have died if he hadn't been paying attention and Hatori…Fukuda should have been there but he ran away and…and what's the point of being in charge if I can't keep the people I love happy?" asked Miss Suzuki. She was crying….not sobbing but he could see the tears in her eyes. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know…he had to figure it out. He couldn't say anything. If he said something, if he tried to, then he knew that the words would just come out.
So he did something.
He hugged her, quickly, and let her go. That was…she hugged him all the time so this was ok. But he couldn't hold onto her for too long. He might have held her too tight, or he might have lost control or…or something. He didn't want to make her feel any worse than she felt now…any worse than he'd felt now. Losing a friend was hard…but he hadn't really lost his friends. He knew, now, what it was to lose someone. Death was…he had never seen anyone die, never lost anyone, and he didn't want to. He could have lost Hatori and President Suzuki…
He hugged Miss Suzuki one more time. This had to have been harder on her than it was on him.
"Are you ok? You're not usually like this, not that I mind. I like warm hugs…but I shouldn't be joking around right now…um…just tell me if you're not ok, ok?" asked Miss Suzuki. If HE wasn't ok? Why did that matter? She was the one who's dad nearly died!
"Me? What about you? You almost lost your Dad and our, your, friend…and you're tired, too, I can tell. Also your brother won't spend time with you. I don't have any brothers and sisters so…so I don't know what it's like…and actually I don't have a dad either so…so I guess….um…I'm just worried about you, that's all." Said Serizawa
"Don't worry about me, I'll be…I'll be fine. Dad's fine and Hatori lived and…and I'll find Fukuda and make him spend time with Dad so he doesn't die…but he needs to be here for Sho and Mukai…and…and it's kind of hard…but it's ok. I'm ok…so…um…do you want to watch Frozen with me?" asked Miss Suzuki. She didn't have to ask him twice.
"I-I'd love to!" said Serizawa, and he meant it. He didn't mind Frozen, if it was Miss Suzuki's favorite movie then it was his too. He didn't mind, too, that his schedule was getting messed up. He just wanted to be near her. He just wanted to spend time with his best friend…
Maybe even his only friend.
People were leaving. They were working and…and even if it wasn't for work they were still leaving….but she would never leave him…but he was thinking of himself again. He needed to think of her. This had to have been hard for her. This had to have been…he didn't know why people did that, why they tried to hurt the President. He was just trying to make the world a better place, like Miss Suzuki was, and…and the world didn't make sense sometimes. But Miss Suzuki always did. So long as he stayed with her, next to her, then he knew he was going to be fine.
He knew that he had to take a bath but Miss Suzuki wanted to watch Frozen and she needed him…but he needed her more.