Minegishi had no desire to climb the corporate ladder.

And yet here they were. Acting Vice President Minegishi Toshiki. Mob had even had a plaque made for them. Wonderful. A plaque on her desk in her office telling the world that Minegishi was now in charge, in a way. They were the acting vice president…which was just a fancy way of saying that they were the new babysitter in charge of this daycare.

Some promotion this turned out to be.

"..and he thinks that he won because the power went out but I think that the power didn't really go out, he just had someone mess with the breakers, and that's cheating so he didn't win at all. Cheating is an instant forfeit, it's called the Hatori rule, and-" said the Awakened in front of them. They hadn't bothered to learn his name, there wasn't any point to it. There were so many of them and they were all pretty much the same in terms of maturity and intelligence. It was like naming weeds. Completely pointless.

Like most of this job.

"And the point of all of this is?" asked Minegishi rubbing their temples. Mob had asked them to fill in for her, and that meant settling the various petty grievances the Awakened came to her with on a daily basis. No wonder Tokyo was so far behind on the insurrection plan, Mob had to deal with this petty bullshit day in and day out. They had been present for plenty of these meetings before, of course, but they couldn't quite remember them being so…tedious.

That was a good word for this. Tedious.

"He-he wants to know who won the tournament." Said Serizawa quietly. He was doing that thing where he stared down at his Gameboy, or whatever that thing was called, and pretended that he was playing it. It was like he was trying to disappear. Minegishi wished that he would have. He had been glued to their side since they'd gotten here, like he was glued to Mob's, though they knew that they were a poor substitute for her.

And yet, for reasons beyond their understanding, he stayed glued right there at their side.

"I think that maybe we should just have a redo of the whole thing because it's causing a big fight but Toki, he's my friend we work in the cafeteria together, said that we don't have time to have another tournament because there's the new Street Fighter and we should have a tournament in that and-" said the Awakened

"You-you're having a tournament without Miss Suzuki?" asked Serizawa, looking up from his Gameboy and genuinely distressed. Minegishi rolled their eyes and patted their front pocket. One box of cigarettes…one empty feeling box of cigarettes. No wonder Mob had taken up chain smoking. Who wouldn't have if they had to deal with this on a daily basis?

"It's nothing against her! I mean we just don't know when she'll be back from her secret mission and also she doesn't like fighting games. We tried to invite her to out Tekken tournament but she didn't want to." Said the Awakened

"Tekken is very hard to learn, though, because of the 3D…but you're right. She doesn't like fighting games. Hatori does, though, so you should wait until he comes back…maybe…if he ever comes back. Sho likes them too but I don't know if Sho's ever coming back." Said Serizawa

"He's not coming back? But he promised us more hamsters! Mine kind of…ran away…" said the Awakened

"That's terrible-" said Serizawa

"Can we get back on task, please?" asked Minegishi, tossing their empty cigarette box onto the desk. It hit the spider plant in front of them. The plant, of course, hadn't liked that but Minegishi didn't give damn what their plants did and did not like right now. They didn't give a damn about the idiot in front of them, either. They didn't give a damn about any of this…

But Mob did and she trusted them to handle this the way she would…even though she knew full well that they were no Mob and never would be.

"We just need you to decide for us. Who won and who lost and is it even a victory if you cheat or did the power go off and if so then does that count as a victory or an act of God-" said the Awakened

"I don't care how you idiots decide, just decide." Said Minegishi, running a hand through their hair. A strand fell out and slowly drifted down onto the table…great. They were losing their hair over this. First their sanity and then their hair…though it would save them some time in the mornings…not that they had anything they were really in a rush to get to.

They sat back up. Losing their hair was the last thing that they needed right now, it was right up there with losing the last lingering thread of their sanity.

"But Vice President Suzuki usually-" said the Awakened

"Just. Decide." Said Minegishi. They reached out to the plants beside them and grew them, just a little, just enough to be intimidating. The ferns beside them grew a few thorny vines, not enough to kill anyone, but enough to cause pain to whoever didn't get the fuck out of their sight right now.

The message was received.

"Yes, Acting Vice President Minegishi! Whatever you say!" said Awakened before practically bolting out of Mob's office. Unlike Suzuki, who's design philosophy could be described as nothing other than spartan, Mob was a fan of chairs throw rugs, light up cat statues, strings of fairy lights, and a truly unnecessary amount of bean bag chairs that looked like various foods. Why she had turned her office into a tripping hazard Minegishi didn't know, probably something to do with being thirteen, or maybe something to do with the fact that she probably hadn't been expecting anyone to actually go running around her office. The Awakened, obviously, tripped over a bean bag that looked for some reason like an ice cream sandwich, got tangled in a string of fairy lights as he got up, and hopped right out of the office.

They would have laughed, maybe, if they hadn't been so exhausted.

"I…I hope he's going to be ok." Said Serizawa as he got up and started to straighten up Mob's various piles of stuff. Minegishi wondered what it would take to get him to leave, too. He'd been their shadow ever since Mob had seen fit to promote them to acting babysitter of Tokyo HQ. This place was a mess, pretty much just a giant adult daycare center at this point, and Minegishi was no babysitter. They were no vice president either.

They were just tired, that was all.

"I honestly don't give a damn. Plenty more where that came from." Said Minegishi, leaning back in their chair and taking a sip of whatever the hell it was the Mob kept in her desk. It was bright blue, in an old milk bottle, and tasted vaguely alcoholic…and they could have sworn there were dissolved sprinkles in there, too. Whatever, it was going to get the job done. They couldn't even fault Mob for this. With the job she'd been given, the life she'd led, and the company she was forced to keep it would have driven anyone to drink.

Though, really, if she was going to commit to the whole 'child alcoholic' thing then she at least could have had better taste than…whatever this was.

"That's…that's not what Miss Suzuki would say…sorry! I just…um…I just…" said Serizawa

"I know that's not what Mob would say but, and this might be a little shocking, I'm not Mob." Said Minegishi

"I know." said Serizawa. They raised the space where an eyebrow should have been. He almost sounded resentful there.

"If you miss Mob so much then just go freeze in Sapporo with her. I really don't care." Said Minegishi. Serizawa stood up and shook his head. The room was nearly back to the way Mob would have wanted it. Good. Now maybe he could go and clean things up for her wherever the hell the 'rescue squad' had stationed themselves. It wasn't like they needed the company. They didn't.

They were just fine on their own.

"I-I could never! I mean I would just get in the way and…and Miss Suzuki has enough to do as it is, and she asked me to keep you company anyway and I won't let her down! I mean she's counting on me and…and when someone puts faith in you like that then you can't mess it up or they'll never put faith in you ever again…they won't like you anymore…and I don't know what I would do if I didn't have Miss Suzuki." Said Serizawa

"Die, probably." Said Minegishi

"Yeah….I would probably die without her." said Serizawa. They hadn't been entirely serious about that but the more they thought about it…yeah. There was no way in hell that this guy would be able to survive on his own. They weren't drunk enough to believe that he could. They weren't really drunk at all. Whatever was in here was so diluted that they could barely taste it over….blue. That was what this flavor was, blue…

They were going to have to get those decanters refilled.

"So go to her, then, and don't give me that shit about how you can't. She's a train ride away…I think. I don't know, go and bother the transport department about it." Said Minegishi

"I…I couldn't…and you need me, Miss Suzuki said so." Said Serizawa

"I feel like Mob might have been high when she told you that. Just a hunch." Said Minegishi

"She was, I mean I think that she was, I don't really ask her if she is, and even if she was then…then that would be normal for her! I mean it's not like she's ever not normal, I mean abnormal, I mean sometimes she is like when she gets really tired or upset, but it's not abnormal for people to feel that way-" said Serizawa

"Get to the point." Said Minegishi

"I-I-right! Um…my point is…I don't remember what my point is but…but what's your point?" asked Serizawa. Minegishi rolled their eyes and finished off the last of whatever that blue concoction had been. They tossed the bottle across the room. Serizawa caught it with his powers and put it in the garbage can like a civilized human being. The standards in Claw were pretty low.

"My point is that I don't need you, I don't need anybody. I'm not going to wither and die if I don't have someone following me around twenty four seven. I may be sitting in Suzuki's chair, in his old office, but I'm not Suzuki." Said Minegishi. For a guy who went on and on about being a full and complete person all on his own he certainly did like to surround himself with sycophants and flunkies. Mob, too, but to a lesser degree. She surrounded herself with people she considered to be friends, people she was close to, people she liked to take care of…well Minegishi may have been one of those people but they didn't need t be taken care of. They were fine on their own. They didn't miss the chaos that used to surround them. They didn't need someone sitting there at their side looking at them like they were the answer to their hopes and prayers. They certainly didn't need some idiot teleporting in and out of their life with some new nonsense to keep them occupied while the world burnt around them. They were perfectly fine on their own. Human beings were social animals but they were more like a plant…

And plants did just fine in their own pots.

"You're nothing like the President! I mean…not in a bad way. You're just not like him. You're like yourself. You…you're a lot…sometimes you aren't nice but…but that just makes you different…um…and different isn't always bad. Your favorite color is purple and his is red, and that's different, and you like to read different books than he does, too. You like Sailor Moon and he likes Galaxy Express…but manga doesn't count as books and I'm not supposed to tell people that he likes manga anyway…um…you're a lot shorter than he is! And your hair is longer! And you're a lot prettier than he is-" said Serizawa

"Please. Stop. For both of our sakes." Said Minegishi with a shudder. They didn't know which was worse, the fact that Serizawa had seen fit to compare them to President Suzuki or the fact that he might have had feelings for them…or at least thought that they were pretty….

"I-I'm sorry! I just…um…I just wanted you to feel better, that's all. You just seem kind of unhappy, I mean for you. I mean it always seems like you're unhappy but now it seems like you're extra unhappy and Miss Suzuki says that you're probably really sad about having to leave your boyfriend and that seems like it would be sad…I mean I've never had a boyfriend before-" said Serizawa

"Go ask Ryou. God knows that he's been pretty lonely lately." Said Minegishi

"I-I don't like boys like that! I mean there's nothing wrong with that, I just like girls and um…people who used to be girls? I mean they people who used to be girls? I mean people who were born girls but are now-" said Serizawa

"I know what you mean, now stop it before you give yourself a heart attack. And they-people? That's new." Said Minegishi

"I…I wasn't sure what to say…sorry…" said Serizawa

"How about you don't say anything at all? I know that you're attracted to me, you don't have to shout it from the rooftops." Said Minegishi. They needed a drink…another one. They opened Mob's second topmost drawer…a hell of a lot of stickers and various colors of gel pens. Alright then. They knew that they should have been happy now that Mob was, apparently, on the wagon but right now they would have killed everyone in this room for a drink…and a little bit of peace and quiet. Or at least a break from all of the stuttering.

They needed to get Serizawa a speak and say or a chalkboard or someone to teach him sign language because THIS was torture pure and simple.

"I-I-I-" said Serizawa, his face turning an entirely unhealthy shade of red. Minegishi reached out and pulled their desk plant down out of the air. Their other plants, however, were out of reach…they had been away from Serizawa for long enough that they had forgotten about this little problem of his, or maybe they had been hopeful that he had figured out some kind of control at this point…but of course he hadn't. Mob was the one teaching him after all and he wasn't one to go in for her various coping mechanisms…

Which, when they thought about it, may have been for the best.

"Stop freaking out. I know that you're attracted to me, it's not the end of the world. You're a year younger than me, stop acting like you're in middle school. It's annoying." Said Minegishi. Apparently those were the magic words. Their plants once again obeyed the laws of gravity and Serizawa's face turned from an entirely unhealthy shade of red to a mostly unhealthy shade of red. They wondered if they needed to add that to the Serizawa babysitting manual. Will calm down when called annoying.

"I-I never meant to be annoying! It's just…um…it's not that I like you like you it's just that you're pretty and you kissed me but I don't like everyone who kisses me! I mean I don't have to. I mean Shimazaki kissed me once and I don't like him like that…because he's a boy…and also because he can be really mean sometimes and also he liked Miss Suzuki, or maybe he still likes her, I mean likes her likes her and that would be weird and-" said Serizawa

"Yes. You also having a crush on Ryou would be the strange part of that scenario." Said Minegishi rolling their eyes.

"It…it would be…but I don't so you don't have to worry about that!" said Serizawa

"I wasn't. Ryou can do whatever he wants, I don't care. We're broken up, that's kind of the point of being broken up. He's free, I'm free, we're all free. I mean we will be until Suzuki declares himself the unquestioned lord and master of the world." Said Minegishi

"He's just-just going to be the President of the world. President for life." said Serizawa. Minegishi wondered if he listened to the things that came out of his mouth. Probably not, not even Serizawa Katsuya could have said something like that with a straight face.

"Right…well he can have fun with that and you and Ryou can have fun. Ride off into the sunset together or whatever." Said Minegishi

"I-I don't like him like that! I mean I could never do that to you or Miss Suzuki, I mean you both broke up with him but it would have been weird, and also we're not supposed to talk to Shimazaki anymore, that's why he has to stay in the alone zone, but I don't get why and neither does Miss Suzuki and if Miss Suzuki doesn't get it then I won't and…and I'm sorry about how lonely you must be since you broke up with your boyfriend and you have to be away from your other boyfriend and-" said Serizawa

"My relationships are my business, not yours or Mob's, and Mob worries about nothing anyway. I'm thirty, not thirteen, I can survive without being tied to my boyfriend twenty four hours a day. I'm fine, he's fine. Matsuo can handle himself, he has his own shit to do, and so does everyone else. So why don't you find something to do and leave me to my work, yeah? Does that make sense to you?" said Minegishi. The last thing that they wanted to do was to explain to Serizawa why everyone was so upset at Ryou. They were sick to death of it, everyone was, and if he brought that up again so help them God…

They checked Mob's third most drawer. Tiny bottles of champagne that read 'happy new year 2020' and then the Claw insignia drawn in magic marker….good enough for their needs.

"I-I wouldn't know what to do….I mean Miss Suzuki doesn't really give me jobs to do. I mean if she needs help I help her bit I don't have a job like everyone else and…um…I don't know what to do on my own, that's my point…since you like it when I get to the point. Miss Suzuki just usually lets me sit next to her and play videogames and sometimes we play together and-" said Serizawa

"Go downstairs and play videogames with the Awakened. Now." said Minegishi, pointing towards the door. Serizawa stuttered a bit but a well place slap with a vine got him moving. Good. That was the last thing that they needed to deal with…they opened one of Mob's tiny champagne bottles.

Good thing she kept a tiny bottle opener in her desk.

She kept a lot of crap in here, actually. Stickers, phone chargers, pens, pencils, tiny notepads, little creamers from the cafeteria, half empty cigarette boxes that smelled like weed…nothing that they needed. Not that they needed anything. Mob's job was mostly just dealing with grievances at this point. She may have been the vice president but, really, she was just the overseer of this insane asylum.

Or daycare.

Not that Minegishi could really tell the difference between the two. Both housed people who couldn't be trusted to take care of themselves….all though in a daycare people eventually got picked up and went to bother their parents for the remainder of the day. But this was Claw, very few of them had parents that were alive let alone that they were on speaking terms with. Of course they needed someone to take care of them…they were all a bunch of parentless adults, orphans, most of them overgrown children in adult bodies…

This could not end soon enough.

Mob would be done with whatever she was doing soon and then…and then they could…figure out where they were going to go next. Matsuo had offered to bring them with, he was chasing that spirit around again. The spirit to end all spirits. The remains of a very powerful esper, he'd said. Apparently they left very dangerous ghosts….Minegishi had never been afraid of danger, or ghosts, not that they could have been much help to him…but still, he wanted them around…

Wanted. Not needed.

They weren't Mob, they didn't need needy people in their life. Mob loved to be needed, to have someone to take care of, it all came back to her upbringing. Suzuki had done a number on her, as most parents did. Minegishi had their parents to thank for their fierce independent streak. Maybe they could thank them the next time they went to Osaka and visited their trees…thank them with fire, or salt, or something else…Ryou would have had ideas…but they didn't need him for ideas. They didn't need him for anything, they didn't need Matsuo either, and he didn't need them…they didn't need anyone or anything…

They just needed peace, and a break from being Acting Vice President Minegishi.