It was important to have meals together as a family.

Even Dad thought so and Dad didn't normally like spending time with them…mostly with Sho but with Mob now, too. He mostly just liked Mukai…but who Dad liked didn't matter anymore. He was gone off somewhere with Hatori on a long mission. Mob was in charge now and she decided if they were going to have dinner together and when.

Yes, and right now.

She'd made plain noodles with a little bit of butter, bread with a lot of butter, and salad because they needed to eat green things to be healthy. With Fukuda gone they really had to watch out for their health now. She could always have had someone go after him…but she didn't want to. She hoped that he was happy wherever he was. She'd have someone go and get him if he was needed but right now he wasn't. Besides, if he had been there then he would have just made Sho have dinner with him at his house away from his family. That wasn't good.

They were a family, the Suzuki family, and they were all going to have dinner together like families were supposed to. Just her, her brother and sister, and also Serizawa since he was such a good friend he might as well have been family…and also he got kind of lonely when she wasn't with him.

"Sho, don't draw at the table." Said Mob as she put Sho's bowl down in front of him. She loved it when he drew pictures, he was a really talented artist, but right now they had to have dinner. He got grumpy when he was hungry and also if he didn't eat then Mukai wouldn't eat. She was already just mostly playing with her food as it was. If she didn't eat then she'd get grumpy and then Tsuchiya would think that Mob didn't know how to take care of her own little sister and then she'd talk about taking Mukai away again…

There was no way Mob was having that conversation with her again.

"Yeah Sho, stop drawing." Said Mukai as she poked her food with her fork. This tasted boring. Mama made better food, and Hiroshi made the best food, but Shigeko let her stay up late so she was staying here.

"I'm almost done." Said Sho as he shaded a little faster. Just because Big Sis was in charge now didn't mean that she got to tell him what to do…well she had for most of their lives…but he was fine. He was twelve and a half, he knew when he was hungry and he'd eat then.

"Sho's almost done." Said Mukai, pointing her fork at Shigeko.

"But it's dinner time." Said Mob as she poured Mukai a glass of milk….which she then pushed away for some reason.

"Yeah Sho, it's dinner time." Said Mukai as she pushed her milk away. She didn't want plain milk, she wanted soda. Shigeko took her cup away…but instead left her water. She pushed that away too and reached for Sho's cup.

She was too short.

"This is important." Said Sho as he used his powers to pass Mukai his soda. He could feel her reaching for it. She could just have it, he was old enough to get his own.

"Yeah Shigeko, it's important." Said Mukai as she took Sho's cup in her hands.

"Wait…who's side are you on?" asked Mob as she used her powers to keep Sho's, well it was Mukai's glass now, steady. She didn't feel like fighting with them about soda now. She was tired of fighting. Everyone in Claw was fighting again, they all wanted to be the center of the uprising, and she didn't know what to do. Planning the Universal trip had been less stressful than dealing with all the Division leaders…

Maybe if there were more trips then people would be in a better mood and have their priorities in order more.

"My side, obviously. See? That way it all balances out. She's always on my side and Serizawa's always on yours." Said Sho. He felt Serizawa jump. Sho rolled his eyes. Sho had no idea how someone as strong as him, and as big as him, could have been such a fraidy cat. If Sho had been as strong as Serizawa then he would have done…well a lot of stuff. Mostly beating Dad up in different ways. He wouldn't have been afraid of anything…not that he was right now! Or ever!

"I-I didn't know that there were sides..." said Serizawa, picking at his dinner. He didn't like it when there were sides. He always had to side with Miss Suzuki, of course, but that meant that he was going to have to side against someone else…and he didn't want to side away from Sho. Sho was his friend. They were all his friends.

"There's salad. Eat it all gone." Said Mukai as she pointed at the salad. The more he ate the less Shigeko would try and make her eat. Green stuff was for the ham-hams and Mukai was not a ham-ham.

"Mukai, don't make people eat." Said Mob

"Yeah, that's your job." Said Sho

"I don't make you eat…I just like it when you eat all of your food, that's all, because you get grumpy when you don't eat." Said Mob softly

"Um…I don't think that you make people eat. I think that it's-it's like you said. You just want everyone to be ok, that's all." Said Serizawa. He tucked his head down when he was done. He had said too much…or maybe too little. He could never tell.

"See? You're always on Serizawa's side and he's always on yours. So Mukai's always on my side. See? That's even." Said Sho before he got back to shading. He was almost done. When he finished then he could eat and then he could work on something else and then he would go to bed at some point, but not at his bedtime because he was way too old for a bedtime, and then tomorrow…well then tomorrow he would do other stuff. He was twelve and he could do whatever he wanted…twelve and a half, actually.

"You have a point…but there aren't really sides, I just don't want you to miss dinner." Said Mob. Sho rolled his eyes and picked up his fork with one hand. He kept on drawing with the other hand. Some people were left handed, some people were right handed, but Sho was both. It was kind of interesting that he could use both.

Mostly.

"Damn it!" said Sho as his noodles feel off of his fork. At the last second Big Sis caught them for him…but still! This was why he didn't like to be distracted while he worked!

"Sorry!" said Mob, quickly. She didn't want him to get mad, the last thing that she needed was him to get mad. She just wanted a nice dinner, that was all. It was supposed to be better, now, that Dad was gone. It was supposed to be easy. Nothing was ever easy, though.

"It's fine. I don't care. You caught it, can we please just eat dinner." Said Sho, pulling his sketchbook to his chest. Big Sis was looking at him, now, her worried look.

"Ok…but…um...that's why I wanted you to put that down. Remember when you were little and you used to try and draw at the table? I didn't mean to be bossy." asked Mob. Sho had always tried to draw at the table. Dad used to get so mad at him and then that would just make Sho mad and then he'd end up spilling food on his drawing…and then also he used to kick holes in the walls. The last thing she wanted was to go back to those days. Ever.

"Yeah, I got food on my sketchbook and then Mom made me eat with a towel draped over me so I didn't get dirty." Said Sho, rolling his eyes. Mom had said, when she had around and he'd been little, that he could draw at the table as much as he wanted…but then she put a towel around him so he couldn't even use his arms. Mom had been bossy, too, but in a different way…but whatever.

"No, I meant after Mom left. Remember? When you spilled a whole bowl of ice cream on your sketchbook and I didn't catch it in time. How mad you were?" asked Mob

"Yeah…I kicked a hole in the wall." Said Sho

"Oh…um…ok…." Said Mob. She decided to start eating and let Sho do whatever he wanted. She knew what it meant when Sho got like that, she was clueless but not that clueless. She was just going to let him draw…even though she hated it when his drawings got ruined. She hated it when he got upset. She just wanted him to be happy…she just wanted everyone to be happy.

That was kind of hard.

Dad had decided, when he was her age, that he was going to rule the world one day and he was going to do what he'd said. She had decided, then, that she could make everyone in the world happy. It was a goal. Dad had always said that it was very important to have goals so you'd know what to do with your life. Well she knew what she wanted to do with her life…she just didn't know how to do it. She didn't even know how to make her own little brother happy.

Her sister was happy, though, so that was good.

"I'm eating worms right now!" laughed Mukai as she held her noodles in her hands. She knew that they weren't worms but everyone else didn't know that. She could trick them and then they would be scared and then it would be funny. Mama always got so scared, it was so funny! Funnier than when Mama got mad, anyway.

"No you're not, they just look like worms." Said Mob before she could think.

"No! You're supposed to be scared!" said Mukai, slamming her force against her bowl.

"I think it's a game." Whispered Serizawa. He had seen her play this with her mom. Sometimes little kids played games like that. He did the same thing, though he never pretended that his noodles were worms since worms were gross and kind of scary. When Serizawa had been little he used to play a game where he pretended that his broccolis were trees and Mom used to play too.

"Hey, you have to freak out, like this….oh my God! Why are you eating worms!?" shouted Sho. Serizawa gasped and jumped, again, even though he knew that it had been coming. He was worse than Hatori. At least he didn't try and hide, though, so at least he had that going for him.

"Oh, I can do that….Mukai! That's so scary!" said Mob, putting her hands over her mouth like she was gasping. She looked over at Serizawa. He hadn't needed to pretend that he was scared. He really hated loud noises…she reached over and put her hand over his.

"I-I'm ok…I just got a little scared, that's all." Said Serizawa as Miss Suzuki patted his hand. He was alright. He really was. He just…he needed a moment. She was here, though, so that helped a lot.

"Yes! I scared you!" said Mukai before she tossed her noodles back into her bowl. Seri was the most fun person in the whole world to scare. Then Mama. Then Shibata. Then Sho and Shigeko. But not Caterpillars, he didn't know how to be scared.

"You did good, Mukai." Said Sho

"You're doing good too, Sho, now eat your worms." Said Mukai

"In a minute, I'm almost done." Said Sho

"What are you drawing?" asked Mob. Sho sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Something for you. See?" asked Sho as he turned his drawing around. It was supposed to have been a surprise. He would have let it be a surprise, too, if she hadn't kept on asking him. Well whatever, it was nearly done anyway. She was going to like it…well at least he had figured that she would have liked it.

She didn't have to start crying.

"Sho…thank you so much." Said Mob as she wiped her eyes. Sho had drawn him and her and Mukai and they were in Mario Land and they were happy and…and the whole thing was just so beautiful! She loved her brother and sister so much…she wiped her eyes. She hated when she got like this. Sometimes she was mad at everything, sometimes she was sad at everything, and sometimes she was a little of both. Now she had just been really sad…or happy.

Or a combination of the two.

"Miss Suzuki, are you al-alright?" asked Serizawa as he wiped her tears with he sleeve of his robe. He didn't know what else he was supposed to do. She had just started crying like she'd been sad and…and he had never been good at helping people when they'd been sad. He didn't even know what it was that had made her so sad. It was a really nice drawing.

All of Sho's drawings were really nice.

He could have been an artist, like in a museum or something. He really was that good. Sure that drawing wasn't colored in all the way but Serizawa could still tell what it was. Miss Suzuki and her brother and sister at Mario World. She'd had a good time when they'd went, she'd said so, and she didn't tell lies. He didn't get it, he just didn't get it.

But he wasn't going to ask her, of course, she was in no state right now to be explaining things to him.

"Stop crying, you're not a baby." Said Mukai, shaking her head. Shigeko was much too big to cry. Only babies cried, Caterpillars had said so and he knew a lot of things. If he had been there then he would have been mad at Shigeko for crying, and at Sho because he was always mad at Sho, but Caterpillars wasn't here…she didn't know where he was...

"Do you want me to fill up your hot water bottle for you?" asked Sho as he used his powers to top of Mukai's sodas. Both of his sisters were sad now, but he knew what to do. Mukai just kind of had feelings sometimes that she didn't know what to do with, kind of like him only she didn't put holes in the walls. Big Sis sometimes cried a lot or yelled a lot, her version of yelling, and that was because of that horrible girl thing that happened to her. He was so glad that he didn't have to be a girl.

"No, no, it's not about that. I'm just really touched that you would draw something for me." Said Mob. There was no way that she was going to talk about ANY of that with her little brother. She could fill her own hot water bottle later.

"I draw you shit all the time." Said Sho

"Not for a while." Said Mob. She missed getting Sho's drawings. She hadn't even seen some of Sho's new work in a while, aside from just now. Dad had a bunch of Sho's drawings framed in his office but that wasn't the same.

"Yeah…I guess so, but I'm doing this for you now so…so like it, I guess." said Sho with a shrug. He used to draw more things for her when they'd been kids…he just didn't have as much time now. He had a lot to do these days. He and Mukai had to hang out and Big Sis was always working…shit changed, that was all, shit just…changed.

"I do, Sho, I really do love it." Said Mob

"I just figured…since you weren't coming with us…you know." said Sho. He knew that she liked Disney better but it would have been nice if she came with. They'd all gone together last time. It hadn't been that long ago…it felt like a long time ago. It was right after everything had gotten so…so…the way it was now…

Or maybe it just felt like a long time because it was getting colder out and the leaves were starting to change.

"I want to but I can't…but you have fun, ok?" asked Mob. She didn't mind Universal, Mario World was a very fun place, but she couldn't leave whenever she wanted. It was a weird feeling, being stuck in one place, kind of like she had felt when she'd been a little kid.

"We will! All the fun! You can't have any!" said Mukai. Only people who came with on the trip got to have fun. People who stayed home had to be bored. If Shigeko and Seri wanted to have fun then they could come with like they should have.

"I-I don't want any!" said Serizawa quickly. He didn't want to go with. Even if Miss Suzuki had been able to go…well he would have gone with, of course, she was his best friend. Wherever she went he followed.

"Sho, Mukai, don't laugh. Come on, let's just have dinner. Ok?" asked Mob. That was all she wanted, for them to have dinner together. A nice dinner, not the kind where she had to always remind people that they had to eat. She didn't know what they would do at Universal, Sho didn't normally go off totally on his own. He would be pretty much in charge of Mukai on his own and…and they both never ate at meal times. She didn't know if they'd be able to eat enough or if they would get too grumpy and forget to eat or…or what else could go wrong…everything could go wrong….she ate her dinner.

She wanted to have a nice meal with her family so that was exactly what she would do.