Meetings were boring but important.
It was important to get everyone in the same room when you had something important to tell them. Calling people and texting them and sending emails didn't always work. Some people just kind of ignored their phones even though they were on them all day and some people pretended that they never got any messages even though, of course, they did. Hatori said that most of his job was telling people that, yes, they were getting the internal memos. Mob didn't know why anyone would lie about that, but then again she had never been much of a liar.
She didn't like lying, which was why she was never going to do it.
"Ok, I bet you're wondering why I gathered you all here today…um…tonight." Said Mob. She was sitting at the head of the table, that was where the boss was supposed to sit when there was a meeting. Mob kind of wanted to go back to her old spot next to Sho and Mukai but she was, kind of, working right now. Calling a meeting for just your friends still counted as a work thing…maybe.
She wasn't sure so she was going to go off of what she knew.
"Because it's dinnertime?" asked Sho as he twirled some pasta onto his fork. Mukai watched him and tried to do the same but just wound up getting sauce everywhere. He hated sauce on his noodles, it made them all slimy and gross, but Big Sis made it this way and he had to eat it. He had to be nice to her and stuff.
Though, really, plain noodles with a little bit of butter would always be the better recipe.
"It's spaghetti time, right now." said Mukai as she tried to get her noodles to twist onto her fork like Sho did. He knew how to do all kinds of neat stuff. All she knew how to do was get sauce everywhere…and now Mama was trying to take her fork away!
"Here Mukai, let me." said Tsuchiya as she pried Mukai's fork out of her hands. More food was getting on the table than into her mouth. Hiroshi passed Mukai a spare fork without a word…in for four, out for four. They'd talked about this…about undermining her…and about spoiling Mukai. It felt like she was trying to swim upstream. Mukai was getting spoiled and Tsuchiya was the only one trying to fix it. She had thought that it would have been easier without President Suzuki around…but it wasn't.
Mostly the same, maybe worse.
"Maybe just cut it for her, in case she chokes. We wouldn't want that, would we?" muttered Minegishi. They were too tired for this. Ryou had been calling and calling…and they were not up to talking to him. They'd had two choices, pick up the phone or go back to sleep…they had chosen to go back to sleep…and laid awake in bed all night. They needed rest…right now.
But Mob had been very insistent that they all needed to have dinner together tonight.
"Ch-choke! She's going to-" said Serizawa. Miss Suzuki put her hand over his and passed him his umbrella. He held it close, his dinner left abandoned on his plate…he needed to eat. Everyone else was eating and he was the only one who was afraid but…but if Mukai choked then it would have been horrible! She was too young to die. She wasn't even four years old yet. She…well not everyone who choked died but…but he didn't want anything bad to happen to her at all!
"She's going to be fine, Serizawa, really. I mean she could choke but she has all of her teeth and she's good at chewing…she's mostly good at chewing. I mean…um…maybe we should cut her food for her." said Mob
"Come on, Mukai, let me have your plate." Said Tsuchiya. It was a good idea, actually. She hadn't known that Minegishi cared quite so much. She was even…grateful? Yes. She was even grateful in a way? Now if only Mukai could have absorbed some of that gratitude.
"No, no! I want to do like Sho does!" shouted Mukai as Mama tried to break her noodles up. Then they would be too short and she wouldn't be able to twirl them and that would just be the worst thing ever!
"Maybe if you twisted it for her-" said Shibata. Tsuchiya gave him a look…the same look she had been giving him for weeks. He looked down and got back to his meal. This was not the time or the place to start a fight…or maybe just keep up the fight that they'd been having.
"I've got it." Said Tsuchiya
"She said that she didn't want you to-" said Sho
"Ok! I bet everyone wants to know what this meeting is about! Right?" asked Mob, before the fight could start. She could see everyone's auras. Not good. Not good at all. She didn't know why they always had to fight all the time but maybe things would get better once she told them what was going on. That Shimazaki was coming back. They might have been happy or…or maybe they would have been mad. Everyone was still talking about what she had done, what she and Shimazaki had…everyone was still talking about things that were very personal and none of their business.
But she could ask them to stop.
Like Joseph had said, she was the one in charge here. She didn't like being the boss, and she didn't want to be mean to her friends, but she was the boss and…and sometimes you had to be bossy. Sometimes you had to be bossy when your little brother didn't take a bath for a week or your sister kept on trying to make her own cereal or your Dad acted like a jerk to your little brother…or when your friends kept on talking about something that, yes, was wrong…but also none of their business!
It had happened, she had made a mistake, but she was never going to do it again so….so everyone could just find something else to talk about.
"I-I don't! I mean I just like being here with all of you." said Serizawa
"Give me break…" muttered Minegishi
"S-Sorry. I didn't mean to-" said Serizawa
"Ok, um…that's ok. I guess all of you don't want to know what it's about but…um…I can tell you anyway. I called you all here because…um…something really good is going to happen." Said Mob
"If this is about my birthday, please, just get me more pencils. Real pencils, not the kind Mukai uses." Said Sho. He didn't really play with toys anymore, if he wanted a videogame then he would get it himself, and he didn't need any more clothes either. Especially not giant sweaters that fit him like dresses. Sho had thought that he would have eventually grown into Shibata's sweater but Shibata just made them bigger every year.
"It's not about that…and also I kind of already got you a present." Said Mob. She had gotten him a bunch of new clothes and new shoes, too…but now that she thought about it that was maybe a present that she would have liked, not him.
"Is it more pencils?" asked Sho
"No." said Mob
"Is it more paper?" asked Sho
"No." said Mob
"Then I don't want it." Said Sho
"Hey, come on. Just because it's your birthday that doesn't mean that you get to talk to people like that." Said Tsuchiya
"Like what?" asked Sho. He hadn't yelled or cursed or anything like that. What had he said? It was his birthday and he got to ask for whatever he wanted.
"How about you just be happy that you're getting any birthday presents at all?" asked Minegishi
"I am happy! I just don't want any new clothes or giant sweaters or books-" said Sho
"You don't want a sweater this year?" asked Shibata. Well that was about three months of work down the drain…no, no, no. If it was for one of the kids then it was a labor of love…though he didn't know why Sho wouldn't have wanted a sweater. He had been wearing that same jacket for years now, the one he'd gotten from Shimazaki. He needed a sweater or a jacket, if he wanted it…but Shibata knew nothing about making jackets…but he had plenty of time to learn. Sho's birthday wasn't terribly far away and he had plenty of time…unless Sho felt like taking Mukai out somewhere…though Shibata still learn if he gave up on sleeping…
If it was for the kids then it was worth it.
"No, I already have a bunch of them. I mostly just want pencils but I guess that paper is ok too…and don't look at me like that! They're my birthday presents and I should get to decide that I get." Said Sho, crossing his arms. He didn't see why this was such a big thing. He knew what he wanted and he knew what he needed. He wasn't a baby, he could pick his own birthday presents…and he had been picking his own birthday presents since he'd been a kid. He used to just have to tell Mom and Dad what he wanted and he'd get it. Sometimes he didn't even have to say anything, stuff just happened, like that one time with all the cakes.
"Present? Christmas?" asked Mukai looking up from her plate. She had been trying to twirl her noodles even though Mama had cut them all up. She was going to do it. She was going to be just like Sho.
"No, it's not about Christmas, but we should have a meeting about that, too. I was thinking of throwing a big party and inviting everyone in Claw, to the HQ not the house, or maybe one for just backers because Dad's worried about money again." Said Mob
"Who cares what Dad's worried about? I mean besides Fukuda and Hatori…and probably Serizawa, too, since he cares about everyone." Said Sho
"Thank you very much! I mean I think so. I mean it sounded like you were being nice but also it sounded like you weren't and I'm not good at this kind of thing and…and, um, if you meant that in a good way then thank you very much! I mean I don't know how you could have meant it in a bad way-" said Serizawa
"He didn't, he meant it in a good way, and we can talk about Christmas later. Right now I have something very important to tell everyone…and all of you have to promise not to get mad. That's really important." Said Mob. Even though these were her friends, the best friends that she'd ever had in her life, this was still going like any other meeting. Lots of people fighting, lots of disagreements, and lots of people getting off track. She didn't like the word tiresome but she kind of understood why Dad was always calling people that.
Because, really, meetings like this could be kind of…really, really tiresome.
"Come on, Mob, get on with it." Said Minegishi. They were reminded of a meeting, one of those meetings that somehow went nowhere even though it took over an hour. They slumped down in their chair. They had to be here, it was important to Mob…they would deal with their pounding headache later…and maybe try and get some sleep tonight.
"But since we're talking about Christmas I was thinking that we could get started on the gingerbread village a little early this year. Last near we were really scrambling to get it done and it was kind of a lot with the other decorating and the presents and the tree." Said Shibata. He watched Tsuchiya…she didn't seemed excited. She loved Christmas. Her parents had never let her celebrate it, not like the other kids got to. She had told him so…she had told him so many things..
She hadn't told him much of anything lately.
"The tree was fine, all of you just have very high standards." Said Minegishi. Mob could grow the tree this year. They were not up to everyone's tree related demands this year. They didn't feel like they were up for much of anything this year. They wondered if having Mob wake them on New Year's Day was an option.
"Of course we have high standards, it's a Christmas tree. It's the most important tree of the year." Said Sho
"No, the tree isn't important! You don't know, Sho, you don't know. The most important is the gingerbread guys." Said Mukai. She was going to be the Mukai Godzilla again and stomp on all of them buildings and then eat the people, and then she could put on the shiny foil and become the Mecha Mukai Godzilla. And then there would be hot cocoa.
"I-I think that being together is most important…um…that's just what I think." Said Serizawa
"Serizawa has a good point, it is about togetherness." Said Shibata
"And presents, don't forget about the presents." Said Minegishi, rolling their eyes. There was no point in dressing that holiday up as anything other than what it was.
"I want presents! I want presents and the gingerbread guys. We need to make them right now! I'm Godzilla Mukai!" said Mukai
"We can do that later…maybe not the Mukai Godzilla thing…but we can make the gingerbread village later. In a few days, when Shimazaki gets back. That's what this meeting is about. Shimazaki is coming back….but nobody get mad, ok?" asked Mob. She quickly looked down at her plate and curled the noodles around her fork. She could feel everyone's auras against hers. Minegishi's was the biggest, then Tsuchiya's, and then Shibata's….Serizawa was scared, not mad, so he didn't count. The only people being normal were Sho and Mukai.
She was so happy that at least her siblings were normal.
"Is Hatori coming back too?" asked Sho as he slurped his noodles down. Maybe you were only supposed to do that with soup noodles…he didn't care. It was more fun with the sauce on the noodles, you could get it all over the table, and the people in front of you, too. He used to do stuff like this with Shimazaki back when he'd been a kid. Shimazaki was fun like that.
He may have been a coward but he was a good friend.
Shimazaki wasn't going to be on his side in the uprising, but maybe he would be on Big Sis's. Dad had told her to get rid of Shimazaki but she made him come back. Love prevailed above all! Or…actually he didn't want to think about that kind of stuff when it came to his sister. She had said that she wasn't in love with him but it made no sense, then, why she would do all that stuff with him. That was for when you were in love…not that he was ever going to ask his sister about any of that.
Because, really, that was not the kind of thing to know about your own sister.
He knew what he needed to know about her, anyway. She was being more on his side and less on Dad's. That was good. Even Fukuda, who hadn't had anything nice to say about her in years, thought that without Big Sis on his side Dad didn't stand a chance. He was getting old, Fukuda had said, and he couldn't fight like he used to. Big Sis could have even taken him if she had wanted to….not that she wanted to.
For some weird reason she still loved Dad and stuff.
"I asked Dad but he said no…so I'm going to ask him again. We should all be together, I think, and-" said Mob
"No." said Minegishi. She had just said…no. Their answer was no. Nobody had asked them about…nobody had even thought…no!
Not. Happening.
"No, I think that if I ask enough times Dad will let him go. Or maybe if I just ask Hatori to come back on his own-" said Mob
"No." said Minegishi
"No, I think that he'll listen to me-" said Mob
"I said no! No, no, no, a million times no! Ryou is NOT coming back! Do you hear me? He is not coming back here!" said Minegishi. A planter behind them shattered. The kitchen floor was covered in dirt and shattered pottery. Everyone was staring at them. Everyone but Mukai, she had crawled out of her chair to play in the dirt…at least someone here was having a good time…at least someone here had something better to do than to stare at them!
"That was pretty cool." Said Sho. It had felt like a bomb going off, but not in the scary way. More in the cool way. Mukai was playing in the dirt now…Sho wanted to join her…but Big Sis would have been upset with him. She would have wanted him to finish his dinner and take a bath or something….and anyway she needed him here. Everyone was freaking out. He had no idea why they were freaking out but they were. It was so weird….well not for Serizawa, he was always freaking out, but for everyone else it was weird as fuck.
"Hey! You guys know what we haven't had in a while? Dinner and a show? How about I clean this up and then we pick a movie and we just…don't talk to each other for a while?" asked Shibata. The sleeves of his sweater were about to rip. He had to keep calm. He was so tense…oh. He'd been holding onto his fork. Now it was completely flat…he put it down.
He needed to calm down.
"Hiroshi, no, we need to talk-talk about this…" said Tsuchiya. Hiroshi had clutched his fork until it was flat. She looked down…she'd done the same. She could feel her qi pooling in her arms. She had to calm down. She had to…she was not going to freak out. She was going to, calmly, talk to Shigeko about this…and tell her that this was a terrible idea. She didn't want that man near Shigeko, she didn't want him near Mukai, or Sho, or…or herself. She didn't know if she could share a roof with a man who had done…who had done the unthinkable.
"No, we won't be talking about anything because there is nothing to talk about. Ryou is not coming back here. End of discussion." Said Minegishi
"But it's not a discussion, I said what was going to happen. He's coming back. He got hurt and he has to see Fukuda anyway and…and he's coming back. Ok? That's just what's going to happen. I know that what I did was wrong, I shouldn't have…I shouldn't have done a lot of things, and I know what I did was wrong but I don't do it again so…so stop being upset about it and stop talking about it and just…just stop." Said Mob. She could feel her hair starting to float. She knew that they would have been mad at her…they were always mad at her…and they had a good reason to be mad at her. She had done so much with their boyfriend and…and she should have at least asked and now they were broken up but…but they could get back together.
Then everything would be back to normal.
"This is a discussion. Shigeko, you don't have to let him back into your life. You're…you're young and you don't understand but you don't have to let him come back just because he asked." Said Tsuchiya. Shigeko should not have been the one with the power here…but she was…this was just all so backwards!
"He didn't ask, I asked him to come back…well I told him that he was coming back…I maybe should have asked, but he wasn't happy all the way in Osaka anyway." Said Mob
"Who's going to be guarding Shiori?" asked Sho
"I don't know. I don't think it matters. She's not in Claw." Said Mob. She knew that she was being mean but…but Dad had always said that Claw came first and also…also Dad just…he didn't get to break her friends up just because he was worried about his girlfriend. Maybe he should have taken some of that worry and put it into…not finding Mob but…but into something else like Minecraft or old videogames or-or other Dad things!
"People keep on trying to fuck with her, though, and it would just suck if she got killed. That's all." Said Sho. She was kind of nice and she knew a lot about fish stuff. If you could ignore the fact that she was in love with Dad…disgusting….then she was alright. She didn't deserve to get killed just because she made the dumb choice to fall in love…sick…with Dad.
"I don't want her dead, I could never want that, someone else can just watch her. Ok?" said Mob. She was not going to fight with Sho. She was not going to fight with anyone. She was just going to eat dinner. That was the point of this. She dug her fork into her food. She felt Mukai stealing her sock. She let her.
She didn't want to end up fighting with Mukai, too.
"Ok…but make sure that they know what they're doing." Said Sho
"Ok." Said Mob
"Ok? O…Ok? What in the….this is not ok. Shigeko, I know that this is all very confusing for you-" said Tsuchiya
"I'm not confused, I just want things to go back together. Shimazaki and I aren't together anymore so now things can get back to normal. Ok? And I don't want you guys to keep on talking about this. It's none of your business. Ok? I learned my lesson and you guys don't have to be…to be like this, ok?" said Mob
"Learned your…there is nothing for you to learn. Nothing that happened to you was your fault." Said Tsuchiya
"It was and…and I don't want to talk about this anymore." Said Mob. She kept her head down. She didn't want…she could feel her barrier trying to come up. She didn't want to talk about this or anything else anymore. She poked at her food. Tsuchiya wasn't going to stop talking about it, she was sure of it, and Minegishi…they had stopped talking all together. She didn't know which was worse. She felt Serizawa's aura on hers.
At least someone was being nice.
"Yeah, Big Sis doesn't want to talk about this anymore and, really, you guys are being really fucking weird about this. Sometimes people break up, it's a thing that happens. It doesn't mean that we have to talk about it. I really don't want to, actually, since Big Sis is my sister and I don't want to think about my sister doing it with anyone, especially not my friend." Said Sho. Adults were so weird sometimes. People did it. It was a thing that happened. Sho wouldn't have wanted anyone to ask him about doing it, not that he was doing it with Ritsu yet, and if they had asked then he wouldn't have said anything. It wasn't anyone's business, like Big Sis had said. Adults were so fucking weird. Fukuda had gotten weird first but he was the oldest adult that Sho had ever met in his life.
Sho was going to do whatever he could to stay normal once he became an adult.
"Little Brother!" said Mob. Her hair flew up behind her. The milk in her glass jumped up into the air and got stuck there…she had to put it down, and her hair, and…and she didn't know how she was supposed to do any of that when her little brother…her own little brother…had just talked about her…about what she had done…
Sho wasn't allowed to talk about that or think about that or-or even know about that!
"Miss Suzuki!" said Serizawa. She was upset and-and he didn't know what to do….that was the worst feeling in the world, not knowing what to do. Not being able to hep her…he wanted to go to his room. He didn't want to be in the room when everyone was talking about this and he didn't want her to be upset but…but he wasn't going to leave her. He couldn't leave her.
But he couldn't do anything to help her, either.
"How about we all just calm down and, um, maybe we could-" said Shibata
"I'm calm." Said Sho
"I-I'm fine! I am…but…um…please, Sho, never talk about that ever again…and nobody else talk about it either, ok? We can do something else or…or…I don't know. Just please stop talking about this. I just want everyone to just…to just…I just want everything to go back to normal." Said Mob. She took a deep breath, in for four and then out for four, before pulling her aura back in. Her hair went back down to laying across her back, her milk went back into his glass, and Mukai stole her other sock…that didn't have a lot to do with her being upset but…well it was a thing that happened….so many things were happening….
"Shigeko, we need to discuss this." Said Tsuchiya in her best 'mom' voice. The one she used when Mukai was being particularly obstinate. Shigeko didn't even look at her…of course she wouldn't listen. She thought that she was an adult. She had spent her entire life being treated like an adult…of course she thought that she…that all of this was her fault.
"No, we don't. There's nothing here to talk about. Ryou is not coming back. Alright? Now, we aren't going to talk about this anymore." Said Minegishi before they got up and left. They were not going to sit there and argue with Mob all night. They had heard what Tsuchiya was trying to do, mother Mob, and it didn't take a soothsayer to know that Tsuchiya was going to get nowhere. Mob did whatever she wanted to do. She didn't make good choices. She was…she was thirteen and there was no arguing with her.
So, they weren't going to try.
Ryou wasn't coming home. She didn't get to do this, make blanket decisions like that, decisions that affected everyone. She had said that she wanted everything to go back to normal. That wasn't going to be possible. Not after what had happened. Not after what Ryou had done. How were they supposed to…to be in the same house as him after…after all of that? How were they supposed to look at him? Talk to him? Share a bed with him? How could they have possibly gone back to normal after-after all of…after he had-
-it wasn't possible.
Mob thought that it was. Mob was also high for most of the day. She didn't know how to think things through. She was young, too young to even be able to think things through. She was going to try and turn this into a debate, one which she thought that she'd win. There was no way for her to win. There was no way for things to ever get back to normal. They could sit at that table and talk about it all night, like Tsuchiya wanted, but that wouldn't change the outcome. Nothing could possibly change the outcome and there was no point in trying.
But, of course, that wasn't going to stop Mob
"Minegishi, wait! Don't run away!" said Mob as she practically chased after Minegishi. She felt something crunching under her feet, it looked like Mukai had gotten into the chips again. She wasn't going to let them, or anything else, slow her down. She couldn't. She had to talk to Minegishi. She had to try and make this better.
She had to try and…and fix things between them.
"I'm not running, I'm walking quickly." said Minegishi
"But-but that's not…please stop walking quickly." said Mob. Minegishi didn't stop. They just walked into their room…and tried to close the door. She held it opened with her powers. She wasn't going to let them close the door. If they closed the door then they were going to go to sleep and if they went to sleep then-then they would just get madder and madder at her and…and they were already pretty mad at her.
She could tell.
She caught up to them. They were standing in the middle of their room with their arms crossed. The plants around them had grown taller, like a jungle. There were bell plants, too, and flytraps. They were so big…she worried about Minegishi. They were right in the middle of it…but of course they were safe. These were their plants. The plants were more likely to hurt other people than to turn on them…and Mob was other people…but Minegishi would never have done anything to hurt her.
Even though Mob had done everything to hurt them.
"What?" asked Minegishi
"I-I want to talk to you, that's all. You didn't have to do that with the plants." Said Mob
"I know." said Minegishi. They hadn't done it on purpose. That just happened sometimes. It hadn't happened in a while but they had never felt so…riled up…in a while. It was instinctive, they decided, they were just trying to protect themselves from the much more powerful person coming after them…this was Mob.
They called their plants off. This was Mob.
"Oh…um…thanks." Said Mob
"You're welcome. Now get out of my room." said Minegishi
"I will, but I just…I wanted to talk to you. I don't want you to be mad at me and…and I'm sorry! I said it before and I'll say it again. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I broke you and Shimazaki up and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that he was in love with me and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that I was his girlfriend and I'm sorry that I made you both fight and break up and-and I'm sorry! I'm sorry but I just…I want everything to go back to normal. I think Shimazaki and I are broken up, I mean I never said that we were because I don't want to hurt his feelings but I think that we're broken up so you can get back together with him and then everything can be normal again." Said Mob
"Mob…are you high right now?" asked Minegishi, running a hand through their hair. Beside them a bell plant tried to grow. It would have been nice to crawl inside of it, to just…be digested. To get the hell out of here.
"No." said Mob. She wasn't high. She'd smoked a little but she hadn't gotten high...though maybe she should have.
"Drunk?" asked Minegishi
"Not drunk all the way, I just had some milk before dinner." Said Mob, shaking her head.
"Coke?" asked Minegishi
"No, I don't even know what you did with it." Said Mob
"And you never will. Now leave. We're not talking about this. Ryou is not coming back. End of discussion." Said Minegishi. They tried to turn their back on her, to go lay down in their bed, but she just grabbed their hand. They had no choice but to stay facing her…she never gave them a choice.
"But I said that he was and…and if he comes back then everything can get back to-" said Mob
"I swear to God, Mob, if you try and tell me that everything is going to get back to normal I'm going to tear my fucking hair out!" said Minegishi
"Don't! You have really pretty hair! Don't punish yourself just because you're mad at-" said Mob
"If you ask me one more time if I'm mad at you then I'm going to put my head through a wall." Said Minegishi. They felt like they were going to explode. They could see their aura. They were glowing, practically. If Ryou had been there he would have told them that…it didn't matter. Ryou was gone and he wasn't coming back and Mob…she wasn't going to bring him back. She wasn't going to try and force them…for all of them…for things back to normal. There was no going back to normal. This was normal. This was their normal.
"Don't do that either! Just…please, don't be mad or…or if you're going to be mad then can we please talk about it? I don't like it when we fight. It's better just to talk about things than to let them get worse and worse and grow and grow and…and please just talk to me." said Mob
"You want me to talk to you? Is that really what you want, Shigeko?" asked Minegishi. She nodded. Fine then. If this was what she really wanted.
"Yes, that's what I've been saying this whole time." Said Mob
"Fine. Then we'll talk. There is no way in hell that things will ever be able to go back to normal between Ryou and I. He slept with you. That's not something that I can look past. I'm not mad at you…or maybe I am. Part of me is, a part of myself that I hate, a part of myself that forgets how young you are. The part of me that looks at you and sees another adult. That's partially my fault, God knows I haven't been the best influence, and part of that is you. You can't just make these decisions for all of us-" said Minegishi
"You are mad at me! I knew it!" said Mob. Minegishi pulled their hand from hers…she knew it. She had known it all along. She had known but…but now things were going to be better. So then it was worth it…Minegishi being mad at her like this.
"Of fucking course I'm mad a you! You slept with Ryou! You…you kept that from me! For months! You kept all of that from me and…and sometimes I feel like you wanted to hide it from me! Ryou's a moron, I know he didn't know any better. You're supposed to be smarter than him…than me! You're supposed to be smarter than me, Mob, so why the hell are you trying your best to make all of my mistakes?" asked Minegishi
"I-I didn't make any of your mistakes. I made my own mistakes. You didn't have anything to do with…with what I did." said Mob
"No, you made mine. You made mine because-because I never taught you any better! I never asked for this, you know? I never asked to be this person to you but I am and…and I fucked up. I fucked up and you fucked Ryou and now this whole situation is just…it's never going to go back to normal. Not matter how much wishing and hoping you do this is never, ever, going to go back to normal." Said Minegishi
"But…but we can try…can't we?" asked Mob
"I don't want to try. Not with him. Not after…he's a moron. He's a moron but he should have known better and…and you know who I'm angry at? I'm angry at myself. I'm angry at the fact that I didn't see this coming, I'm angry at the fact that part of me blames you, and I'm angry at myself….the part of me that still loves him…alright? So, yes, Mob. I'm angry. There. You got what you wanted." Said Minegishi
"I never wanted all of that…" said Mob
"Well, I want to be alone right now." said Minegishi. This was what they wanted and what they wanted…it mattered. Unless they wanted to have a Mob level explosion then they needed to be alone….Mob's eyes welled up with tears.
Minegishi would not be dissuaded.
"O-Ok…I can do that…I can do that right now…if you want me to." said Mob
"I do." Said Minegishi
"Ok…I'll just be going now…and I'll put your dinner in the refrigerator for later." Said Mob. She didn't wait to hear what else they had to say. She just left. They wanted to be alone and…and it would be the least that she could do for them. She had already done so much wrong. She had already…it was supposed to have been easy. She was sorry for what she had done, learned her lesson, and now things should have been able to go back to normal.
But they weren't.
Everyone was in the living room now. They had picked a movie without her…Mukai had picked a movie. Train to Busan. It was always Train to Busan. She didn't know why Mukai liked that movie so much. Maybe she wanted to go to Busan like Dad had thought. Maybe Mob wanted to go, to, to Busan…or somewhere else. Somewhere where she didn't have to worry about…about everything. A place where people didn't know what she had done…where nobody talked about stuff that she didn't want them to talk about. She didn't know where that place was but she knew that it wasn't here.
Maybe at home.
She put Minegishi's plate in the refrigerator like she said that she would have. She was still a good friend. She was still….she was going to make things better. But not from here. She wanted to go home…to wherever home was. She knew that her house was next door but her house wasn't home….and neither was the Castle. The Castle was just another Claw house now. They were all Claw houses…home wasn't a house. Home was where your family was…and your friends…but her friends and family were in the living room.
Her friends and family were all talking about her.
Not right now but they had been….and if she went into the living room then they'd all start talking about it again. Even Sho…and she never wanted her little brother to talk about stuff like that ever again. The only person who wasn't talking about what had happened was Mukai…but she was only three and a half. She didn't even know…and she could never know. Mob knew that everyone knew and they were all going to want to talk about it…
Not everyone.
Serizawa wasn't in the living room. He was back in his room. She didn't even have to sense him. She knew that he would have gone there when she had left…so that was where she was going to go, too. She snuck past everyone. They were bust talking about if that movie was ok for Mukai. Sho was winning, he was talking the loudest…and not about her…but she didn't want to risk it. He was too little to know about stuff like that. They were close to being the same age again….but she would always be older. She was always going to be older than him and…and she should have warned him. She knew that she needed to tell him about love, about how so many things could go wrong, about…about stuff. About how sometimes something can feel really good but it can be a bad idea and then your best friend gets mad at you…she should have told him….
But she couldn't.
Not now. She just didn't have the energy to talk about anything right now. Not about what had happened. She just needed to relax. She needed to see her second best friend. She needed to play videogames. She needed to just…to stop worrying. It had happened and now it was done…and now she wanted to be with someone who wouldn't try and talk to her about it. Someone like Serizawa…someone who would never be mad at her or make her feel bad.
That was very important in friendship.