Mob didn't get a lot of time to herself these days.
She got up, she went to work, and she came home. In between she settled fights, held meetings, moved money around, talked to backers, and sometimes hung out with her friends. She never got time to be totally alone…not at work and not at home, either. Even with Dad, Sho, and Mukai gone she still didn't get to be alone…but that didn't matter. Serizawa needed her and she was going to be a good friend to him, she was going to take good care of him, even if she did kind of want to just be on her own and relax…
What she wanted didn't matter.
"What color do you want?" asked Mob as she blew on her nails. She used her powers to cap her nail polish, Elsa blue. It was her best colors even if it made her look even paler than normal, and even if it made her fingers look stubby. At least that was what Minori had said. She knew a lot about colors, though mostly pinks and purples…well, before, anyway. Now she mostly posted about black and red, just whole screens of black and red…she didn't know why. It was kind of worrying, sometimes, especially because Minori had said a bunch of times before that she didn't like goth looks…but they weren't friends anymore. Mob didn't get to worry about her, at least not to her face, or on her timeline.
She had enough friends to worry about as it was.
"Whatever you think is best, Miss Suzuki." Said Serizawa. He held his hands out for her to work on. Serizawa didn't really want to get his nails painted, he was a boy after all, but she wanted to paint his nails and if Miss Suzuki thought that it was a good idea then it was…even if there was a worry, in the back of his mind, that everyone else would make fun of him. That was how it had been when he was a kid. Boys just didn't do things like this, and they didn't hang out with girls either, but he wasn't a kid anymore…it was hard to remember that sometimes…and anyway Miss Suzuki thought that it was a good idea and she always knew best.
He let her look through her nail colors.
She had a big, clear, box of them. mostly pinks and blues, but some greens and purples. He liked purple a lot, maybe because his aura was purple, but he wasn't going to say anything. Maybe he didn't look good in purple, maybe she didn't want to share her purple nail polish with him, or maybe she had her own ideas that he was just going to mess up if she opened her mouth. He hoped that she didn't pick pink…he was fine with everything but pink, he decided, but if she picked pink then…well then he wasn't going to complain.
He loved her, after all, she was his best friend.
"I think…hmm…your skin is darker than mine so that means that you need to wear bright colors, or at least my friend Minori said so. That's why you're supposed to wear colorful clothes when you're on vacation, because you tan….so how about electric blue?" asked Mob as she pulled out the bluest blue that she had. It was even bluer than Elsa's ice blue, which wasn't a color that made sense when she really thought about it. How could ice be blue, it was clear, like water…and also electricity was white when it came down as lightning…colors were complicated. Sho knew a lot about colors, and art, he might have known what all of that was about. She could see her phone on the bed…she could have called him…but he was busy having fun with his boyfriend and she couldn't interrupt that.
Sho wasn't a little kid anymore, he had his own life to live, and she wasn't the only person in his life anymore…and that was ok.
"If you think that's a good idea, Miss Suzuki." Said Serizawa. Blue was…it was ok. He kept offering her his hands. As long as it wasn't pink, he had decided, and it wasn't pink. So he should have been happy…but he could see the purple in the box. He could see that there was plenty of purple and she could have…he didn't get a say in this. She wanted to paint his nails blue so that was what was going to happen…he could live with blue…
Though he wasn't sure how he felt about glitter.
"Do you want a glittery topcoat too?" asked Mob as she went through her nail polish box. A bottom coat was important, but so was a topcoat. Minegishi had said so and they knew a lot about nail polish. She could have asked them if the glittery kind was good…she kept on watching her phone…she could have called them. She hadn't heard from them in so long, not since the last time she needed to know one of Minori's weird words, but that was just texting. She hadn't heard from them in so long…but they were busy too. They had a boyfriend, like Sho did, and Mob wasn't going to ruin this for them. Not like she had ruined their last relationship…
She looked away from her phone.
"If you…if you think that's best, Miss Suzuki." Said Serizawa. He could live with glitter. It was pretty…pretty cool…and it wasn't like anyone would make fun of him. Adults didn't make fun of other adults and that was what he was now, an adult…even if he felt like he was her age…or maybe that she was the older one out of the two of them.
"I think that would be nice, it would make your nails pop more, but only if you want it. I don't know how boys like their nails to be painted. Sho always hated getting his nails painted, he mostly just did it for me." said Mob as she started on his bottom coat. A white bottom coat was best, she had found, even though it took a lot longer to dry. Colors looked best on a white base, like how it was easiest to paint on white paper. Sho had taught her that…Sho knew a lot about art. He had always been the better artist between them, he probably would have been good at painting nails if he had liked it….or if he had been her sister.
Girls tended to like things like this…not boys.
They were too old to play the Shoko game, though, they were teenagers now. They were too old to play anything but videogames. If she had been a kid then she would have been playing dolls right now, but now she was too old, and she didn't really like dolls anymore. Not to play with. She didn't really want to pretend that Sho was her sister Shoko, either. She already had a sister…and she could have had a Shoko if she had wanted to…if she could have. She didn't have a boyfriend, though, or a boy she did things like that with…and she didn't really want a boyfriend or anything like that. She had enough to worry about as it was.
Like what she was doing right now.
"What color did you do for him?" asked Serizawa quickly. Her eyes were getting that far off look, nothing good ever came of that. She got so sad sometimes and he had no idea why, he didn't know what went on in her head, but he didn't have to know what went on in her head to know that she was sad. He was her friend, he was supposed to be there for her, like now…like right now. He could distract her from the bad feelings, like she distracted him…he eyes went to his umbrella all the way on the other side of the bed…
That wouldn't help her.
"Green, usually, because he was always Anna and I was always Elsa…and also green is his best color. I used to paint his nails pink when I was really little but that was just because I didn't know any better." said Mob
"Because he doesn't like pink?" asked Serizawa
"No, well yes, but no. He has red hair, pink makes him look washed out. But also, yes, he doesn't like pink…or at least he didn't the last time I saw him. His favorite color should still be green. I mean it's always been green, for as long as we've had favorite colors, anyway." Said Mob
"I didn't know that his favorite color is green." Said Serizawa
"It is. When we were little he used to hide all the green crayons so I couldn't use them. Mom used to want his favorite color to be blue, and mine to be pink, that's why she used to only dress him in blue and me in pink. That was when we were too little to complain and stuff. Mom stopped caring what we wore when we got older…and she got sick…" said Mob. Some nail polish dripped down onto the bed. White against blue…it didn't matter. It wasn't like Dad was going to come home and complain about it…it wasn't like he was ever going to come home over again. Mom was gone and so was Dad…was this how orphans felt?
"Oh…I-I'm so sorry!" said Serizawa, pulling his hand away. He had messed up…he'd completely messed up and now she felt worse than ever!
"You don't have to be, it's not your fault. Sometimes people just get sick, that's just what happens…sometimes. To people. Even moms." Said Mob
"I still didn't mean to make you mad, or sad, or…or just…not the way you were feeling before. I don't want you to feel that way…." Said Serizawa
"What way am I feeling?" asked Mob quietly. It would have been great if she'd had a word for this feeling. Sometimes she felt like crying, sometimes she felt tired, sometimes she didn't feel anything at all, and sometimes she felt everything at once…maybe Serizawa knew what she was feeling. He seemed to know, he acted like he did, anyway.
"I don't know, not normal, I guess." said Serizawa
"I do feel normal, I mean this is how I always feel. Just kind of…it's like whenever I think about my mom I just kind of get this sort of far away and sad feeling…but it doesn't make any sense. She doesn't want to be my mom. I shouldn't feel sad about someone who doesn't want to be my mom…like how Dad said that he doesn't care about Mom anymore because he doesn't want to waste time worrying about someone and caring about them when they don't want to be with him…" said Mob
"I think…I don't know if it's that simple. I mean it just doesn't seem that way. I mean my mom doesn't want me around, she never said so but I can tell, and…and I still miss her…maybe it's because I know her. I don't know. I never knew my Dad, not since I was a baby, and I don't really care that he's gone. I mean I don't blame him for leaving…I was a pretty bad kid…baby. I was born with my powers, I mean." Said Serizawa
"That's not fair, though, Serizawa. I mean I was born with my powers, too, and my parents never got rid of me." said Mob. She had no idea how orphans felt, she decided, because even if they weren't around she did have parents. Part of her wondered if it would have been easier if her parents had died…those weren't good thoughts to be having. They might have come true…she didn't know what was wrong with her brain, her thoughts, her feelings, sometimes.
"But weren't your parents like us? I mean your dad, I mean the President, I mean." Said Serizawa
"That's true, I guess it was less scary for my parents because my Dad knew what he was getting into…my mom never really understood my powers…but still, your Dad shouldn't have treated you like that. Your Dad was a jerk…sorry, but that's just the way I feel. From what I know, I mean, about him. I don't know him as a person." Said Mob
"I don't know him either." Said Serizawa
"You could if you wanted to. I mean I could probably find him. Hatori can find anyone no matter where they are in the world just as long as they're near a security camera." Said Mob
"I…I don't know if I want that." Said Serizawa. It wasn't like he hadn't thought about it before, meeting his Dad, and it wasn't like he hadn't wanted it before either. When he had been little, before going into his room, he used to imagine what his Dad must have been like. Was he nice? Did he like videogames? Did he have a curse on him, too? Now he knew that his curse was just his out of control powers…he wondered if his Dad had out of control powers too…maybe that was why he had left, to keep his family safe, not because he didn't want Serizawa…that wasn't a good way to be thinking, getting his hopes up like that. Obviously his Dad hadn't wanted to be near him, like how Mom was happier without him…everyone was better off without him…
He was so lucky to have someone like Miss Suzuki in his life.
"I don't know if I'd want that either…maybe, if I were you. I mean my Mom left and I want to see her again…or at least I used to, I don't know if I ever want to see her again after…after what happened. I mean at least Dad told me when he wanted to leave." Said Mob
"I-I think that…I mean I know that…I mean I think that I know that-" said Serizawa, stumbling over his words. That happened a lot when he tried to talk before he was sure of what he was going to say. He was going to tell her that whatever she wanted was fine by him…but he didn't know if it was going to be fine by him. This was a bigger thing than blue nails instead of purple. This was his Dad…or maybe her mom, since she was talking about her mom now…and he didn't know if he wanted to meet his dad…and he got the feeling that she really wanted to see her mom again. She just didn't want to admit it…but what if he was wrong? What if he was just seeing things that weren't there? He wished that he knew what it was that she wanted. If he had known what it was that she wanted then…then he could have just agreed with her…it was always easier to agree with her.
That was what you did when you loved someone, you agreed with whatever they said.
If she had just told him what she wanted to do then he would have told her that it was a good idea, but she didn't, and she didn't even get the chance to. He was saved, too, from having to say something by the vibrating of her phone. He didn't know if he should have reached for it or not…it said that the President was calling, well the screen said 'Dad' with a picture of the President with ketchup on his face, and it might have been important…but she was just staring at the phone. She didn't make any move at all to pick it up.
Even when it nearly vibrated off of their bed.
"I've got it." Said Mob as she caught her phone with her powers. If Serizawa tried to catch it with his then he probably would have broken it on accident, and she didn't want to have to get a new phone on top of everything else she had to deal with. Her phone stopped ringing and went to voicemail. That might have been important, or maybe Dad had just called her on accident or something.
A text. It hadn't been on accident.
"Miss Suzuki, is everything alright?" asked Serizawa. He mostly just wanted to know what was wrong, he could clearly tell that not everything was alright with her. She was scrolling through her phone and frowning. With each track of her finger her frown got worse and worse…he hated it when she frowned.
It hurt, a little, to see her frowning.
"No, it's…I don't know. My Dad says that I have to get everyone I can spare out looking for his girlfriend…I guess she ran away too." Said Mob softly. That was just how it went, right? Moms ran away, even when they weren't your Mom…Sho cared more about this lady than she did. He was going to be so sad…had Shiori even thought about that!? About how Sho was going to feel when she left!? Couldn't she think of anyone other than herself?! Wasn't she capable of-
There was a hand over hers.
"I-I'm sure that they're going to find her, Miss Suzuki, and I'm sure that she's going to be fine!" said Serizawa, smudging his nails…he had undone all of her work….and she looked like she was going to cry. Her aura had been so…so wild, there, and kind of…of scary. He had no idea that she cared so much about the President's girlfriend, she'd never had anything nice to say about her before.
"It's not that. It's just that…Dad wants me to put everyone on this, everyone I can spare, but then he's just going to get mad at me when his plans start to get behind and…and I can't do both! I can't find this lady and help take over the world and…and why does he even want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with him? Why does he keep on being with people who run away? Why does he keep on doing things that make people want to run away? Why does…why does he have to be like this?" asked Mob as she laced her fingers in Serizawa's. Her nails were smudged…and so were his. She had smudged them. She would have to fix their nails…
She would fix his nails first.
"I-I'm sure that…that you'll figure out what to do, Miss Suzuki. You always know what to do." Said Serizawa. That seemed like the safest thing to say right now. Whatever she wanted to do then he would agree with her. He wasn't a part of this, he didn't get to say anything, and he didn't even have anything to say. He just wanted her to be happy…what else could he have possibly wanted?
To be safe and calm and alone and…and her happiness. That was all that he wanted.
"I know…I know what to do. I'm going to fix your nails and then mine and then….and then we can do something else…and then when I'm done doing what I need to do then…then I can figure out what I'm going to do about this thing with Dad." Said Mob. She didn't want him to be mad at her when his plans fell behind schedule, and she didn't want to have to separate people from their friends to go and find someone who didn't want to be found, and if she wanted to send everyone in the HQ out to find someone then she was going to look for Mom or…or where Mukai had left her Mickey ears…or even what she had done with her favorite pen...not Shiori…but Dad missed her and…and she just…she had to figure out what to do.
Later, though, when she was done with this…she had so little free time.