Dinnertime was usually at six.
Sometimes it came a little earlier and sometimes it came a little later. It all depends on Big Sis. How busy she had been, what she was planning on making, if Sho was even home. Sure it had been really late before but…but at least then she'd either had dinner cooking or had the decency to warn him that dinner would be late.
Sho checked his phone.
The only message on it was from Fukuda. It was a picture of his cat, it had climbed into one of his shoes to take a nap. Of course that was really cute, Sho wasn't a monster, but he just didn't have the…the strength to text anything back. Yeah, that was it. He just didn't have the strength to do anything because he was hungry. He was weak with hunger! Wasting away! Turning to skin and bones!
That was why he was stuck on his bed.
He didn't even have the strength to pull the covers up over himself, not with his arms or with his powers. He was just laying on top of his covers listening to the hamsters running around and doing hamster things. He wondered if they ever felt like this, so weak with hunger that they couldn't even move…
Of course they didn't.
Sho was always there to feed him and, on the rare times that he wasn't, he had someone else feed them. He loved those hamsters and always gave them plenty of warning if he was going somewhere. He always warned them when he would be gone and when someone else would be coming over to take care of them….fuck! He always made sure that someone was there to take care of them!
He never left them alone.
He never left them in a dark house. He never left them to sit in the cold. He never just…disappeared. He never made them think that he was never coming back. He never let them wake up to find him gone, not even a note or a clue as to where he had gone. He had never even thought about fucking them over like that.
You didn't fuck over the people you loved.
He checked his phone again. At this rate he was going to starve. Big Sis hadn't said anything…and he knew that her phone was on her. It was always on her, who didn't keep their phone on them? Even Mukai had a phone…well Tsuchiya kept on taking it away and shit like that…but still, if she'd been allowed to keep it then she would have kept it on her all the time. She wouldn't have just vanished…
He checked his messages again. Nothing, just the one from Fukuda. He'd answer it later.
He needed to eat. His stomach was gnawing a hole in his body. He had no idea if he was starving or just hungry, what was causing this crushing feeling in his chest, but he wasn't going to stick around and find out. Alright, so Big Sis was gone…out. Away. Doing some Big Sis thing. Like maybe a mission or something…but Dad didn't send her on missions…but she was in charge right now, not Dad, and she could do whatever she wanted.
And so could he.
He didn't have to have dinner at the same time he always did, and in the same place he always had it. Why did Big Sis get to be the boss of them both? He could be the boss of himself. Hell, when Claw fell he would always be the boss of himself! Not that he knew for sure how that would be…he didn't even have a definitive plan yet…and even if he did he couldn't plan for what was going to happen afterwards…
He could only plan for what was happening right here, right now, and right here and now he needed to plan on how to get dinner.
It wasn't exactly a complex plan. It wasn't nearly as complex as his plan to take down Dad. So far he had three guys, that decent. He was still working on Big Sis. Even if she wanted to stay and run Claw it would have been an improvement over Dad. Fukuda said that Claw had to die even if Big Sis was the one in charge, she wasn't anywhere near as bad as Dad even if she slept with people she knew her only brother was in love with and also could be super bossy but only because she had to be, but Sho disagreed.
Which was kind of why their whole 'stop dad' plan was kind of stalling.
But Sho's stomach wasn't. It growled, which meant 'get off your fucking ass and fill me with food' in stomach language. He had three options. Sit alone in the dark and eat poptarts until his stomach rotted, not really a bad plan now that he thought harder about it, but one that still left him alone. There was also option two which involved eating dinner with Fukuda…
Pass.
He wasn't a little kid anymore. He didn't need to be with Fukuda all the time to feel better. He could heal on his own now. He didn't need Fukuda fussing over him like he was a baby hamster or something. He was thirteen, more than old enough to take care of himself. He just wanted company, not another Dad, or even the one he had. What he wanted was a sister or…or a friend.
Which brought him to option three.
Which really should have been option one since it was, by far, the best option. Of course it made the most sense to go off and eat something with his friends. That was what people did, right? They had dinner with their friends. Also it wasn't like he hadn't crashed dinner over there before, and it wasn't like Shibata didn't love having him around. He loved kids.
Sho didn't mind that Shibata thought that he was still a kid.
He was thirteen, though, and so not a kid anymore. He was old enough to take care of himself. He didn't need to stay here and wait for his sister so he didn't. He got up, said goodnight to his hamsters, and left. If Big Sis came home and found him all alone, just herself in this big and empty house, then it wasn't like it bothered him. She was almost older than him, her birthday was coming up, and she could take care of herself too.
He wasn't going to be sad if she never came…
If she came home late. She was just coming home later than usual, that was all, that was what he told himself as he made the walk home that was somehow both long and short at the same time. She was just…not coming home soon and…and he was being such a little kid right now. He pulled his coat close around himself until he made it to the door. He was just cold and hungry and weak, that was all.
Weak with hunger, not the other kind of weak, the kind that made him too…too himself to stop Dad from taking over the world.
Not that he was worried about that right now. Not that the thought of stopping Dad wasn't always there in the back of his mind all the time, like a scab on the top of his hand that he just couldn't help but pick at. He knew that every day he spent dicking around was another day that dad had to gather more people and make more plans…and a day that Sho lost…and with every passing day the thought of…the fear of losing got bigger and bigger and the odds of dad winning got higher and higher…
He was dizzy, that was all, but just with hunger.
Luckily it smelled like something was cooking. He kicked his shoes off in the genkan, making sure to face them the right way since Big Sis liked that kind of thing. He made sure, too, that everyone else's shoes faced the right way too. It wasn't like it took a long time, powers made everything easier, and it was the nice thing to do anyway.
Big Sis liked it when he did the nice thing. The right thing.
Sho did the nice thing, too, and didn't make a big deal about coming over. He could hear Mukai splashing in the tub. Her shoes had been covered in mud. She probably needed the bath and if he was all 'I'm here' or whatever then she would come running out and her bath would be ruined and then the house would be all wet, too.
It would have been kind of a dick move on his part, really.
So he silently crept through the house and followed the good cooking smells to the kitchen. It really did smell good, so good that it cut through the smoking smell that had pretty much taken over the house. Meat and potatoes and…and something else, he didn't care what. He needed to eat something, anything, anything to get rid of the clawing feeling in his chest and the rumbling in his stomach.
Not that he was all desperate or whatever, no. He was just going to walk into the kitchen like all of this was normal.
"What's for dinner?" asked Sho as he silently followed the smells of cooking through the kitchen doorway. He had expected to see Shibata there, in front of the stove, or maybe even Tsuchiya. But no, it was Shimazaki. He was even wearing Shibata's apron even though it was about a million sizes too big.
"Ask Shimazaki." Said Shibata as he clicked his knitting needles together. He was making something blue…oh, right, it was almost Big Sis's birthday. The part of the year where they were the same age was almost over…it had felt like just yesterday it had been his birthday. Maybe that was where she was, off celebrating her birthday or something.
She could have brought him along, it wasn't like he had anything else to do tonight.
"Ask Shibata." Said Shimazaki, pointing with his spatula. Some grease went flying, nearly hitting the whatever it was that Shibata was knitting. Sho put a barrier around him just in case.
"Well then if it's up to me then we're eating sweaters for dinner." Said Shibata. Sho stuck his tongue out at the thought of having yarn in his mouth. All fuzzy and gross, like trying to eat a caterpillar.
"Wait, so you're just going to let us all starve?" asked Shimazaki
"Can't we just have some of whatever that is?" asked Sho pointing towards the stove. Shimazaki turned around and stood in front of it like he was guarding it from food thieves, like he wasn't the biggest food thief of them all.
"That's for his dog, now move." Said Minegishi. Sho nearly jumped. He hadn't even sensed them! Did they have to be so quiet all the time? It was like they sleepwalked everywhere. They were certainly dressed for it…or at least they would have been if they had been wearing their own pajamas and not Shimazaki's sleep shorts and one of his shirts…not that Sho cared if they were together or not. He had a boyfriend, he didn't like Shimazaki like that anymore.
He just didn't like Minegishi that much, that was all.
"That's dog food?" Asked Sho, making sure that Minegishi knew that he had every right to be in the kitchen. It was kind of his house, anyway, since he was Dad's son and all. Finally something good came of being a Suzuki.
"Do you want to be dog food?" asked Minegishi as they pushed past Sho. Sho decided to sit down, not because he cared if he was in the way or not but because he didn't really want Minegishi to have anywhere to sit. He practically threw himself into the only seat that didn't have Shibata in or, or knitting supplies.
Minegishi had to stand. It served them right.
"Hey! I would never feed him people, Toshi, you know that. Then he'd develop an unquenchable bloodlust and then who would be my emotional support dog?" asked Shimazaki
"So you're feeding him…what even is that? Steak?" asked Minegishi
"The fancy kind, at least I assume it's the fancy kind. Someone was too busy to be my seeing eye person." Said Shimazaki. Sho could feel Shimazaki's aura on his again.
"What? I have like a million hamsters and they all need me." said Sho
"Fair enough, fair enough, and seeing as how my other seeing eye kid is forbidden from speaking to me for the rest of eternity-" said Shimazaki
"She can't read anyway." Said Minegishi as they opened the fridge and stuck their head in. The whole room seemed to get colder, but Sho knew that it had nothing to do with Minegishi leaving the fridge opened and letting the cold in. No, it was Shibata. Sho had never seen his aura this bright before…and had never seen him this pissed off before.
He was trying to control his powers.
Sho could see his muscles straining against his sweater. He could even see the stiches coming apart in places. Minegishi could see it too, their whole aura and body were tense. Even the spider plant hanging from the wall was tense. It was like they were hiding in the fridge or something…Sho knew that Big Sis would have hated it, the way he was smiling, but it was kind of funny.
Minegishi being scared, not Shibata being mad at Shimazaki. That wasn't funny at all.
"Don't talk about Mukai, you know I don't want you to talk about Mukai." Said Shibata. He was looking at Sho now. He figured that if it had just been Shibata and Shimazaki that they would have fought. Shibata really didn't like Shimazaki, which made sense sometimes he could be a jerk even if it was really funny, though he had no idea what Shibata had against him and Mukai being friends. It was something to do with how Shimazaki used to be in love with Big Sis.
People were still so weird about that and he still had no idea why.
"No, you said I couldn't hang out with her. I can talk about whatever the hell I want to talk about." Said Shimazaki
"Why you-" said Shibata. The table jumped as he got up. As soon as it started scraping the floor Minegishi slammed the fridge shut. They had been hiding in there for too long, way too long to get a can of beer.
"Care to talk about why you've taken over the entire kitchen so you can make the dog…wagyu? Why the fuck…" muttered Minegishi as they picked up a box with their spare hand. Sho had no idea why they even cared. Shimazaki could feed his dog whatever he wanted. Animals deserved good food, too, sometimes even more so than people did.
Animals, after all, never left you for no reason without even leaving you a note so you knew if, when, if they were coming back.
"Hey! I did get the good kind, and anyway if anyone deserves the good shit it's-" said Shimazaki
"Me, for putting up with you." said Minegishi
"Toshi, you know I'd get you whatever you wanted. You know, because of the bottomless well of love I have for you in my heart…and also because Shibata decided that knitting is a better used of his time than cooking and has, apparently, abandoned the art of dinner making." Said Shimazaki
"Well considering the fact that you've been hogging the kitchen all night I guess we have no choice." Said Shibata as he sat down. The chair made that straining noise that metal did, sometimes, when it was about to break. Sho reached out with his powers and reinforced the chair so at least he was doing something that would have made Big Sis proud.
"Speak for yourself." Said Minegishi as they reached out towards a spider plant. They held out their hand and a branch grew outwards from a leafy vine. It managed to quickly produce one yellow apple before it overbalanced and hit the floor.
"You people just love making more work for me, don't you?" muttered Shibata. Sho wondered if he should have cleaned that up…no way, this wasn't his mess…but then again Big Sis did like it when things were neat and clean. Maybe if he was good then she'd come back…sooner.
Sooner. Not all…all together. She was coming back. She had to.
"I don't care who does the work so long as I don't have to. I do enough around here as it is." Said Minegishi before they bit into their apple.
"Such as?" asked Shibata, picking his knitting needles back up. He didn't start knitting, though, he was staring at Shimazaki kind of…kind of like how Dad looked at people he didn't like.
"Don't talk to Toshi like that, they do a lot around here." Said Shimazaki, holding the pan like he wanted to hit Shibata upside the head with it. That would have been kind of cool, since neither of them could get hurt, but Big Sis…she didn't like fighting.
So he didn't like fighting…he didn't feel like seeing any fighting right now…even though it wasn't even him that had started the fight in the first place. It was Minegishi.
"They mostly just sleep and complain…sorry." Said Sho as he could feel Shimazaki's aura practically staring his down. He didn't mean that 'sorry', not one bit. Minegishi didn't do much but sleep and complain. Shimazaki just couldn't see that because he was in love with them. Love made you stupid like that.
Sho knew that from personal experience.
"What are we complaining about?" asked Tsuchiya as slid past Minegishi, her wet shirt leaving an imprint on Minegishi. Served them right for being in the way and wearing clothes that weren't theirs. They deserved it, but not Tsuchiya. She was really nice and stuff even if she was kind of bossy sometimes.
She was a mom, that was what moms did.
"Wait-" said Sho. He didn't have time to warn her about the dirt on the floor, or the shards of pottery. He felt like kind of a jerk, actually. Big Sis would have cleaned that up or even stopped it from falling in the first place…
But he was no big sis.
"And why is there dirt on the floor?" asked Tsuchiya as she scraped her foot against the wall. Big Sis would have hated if Sho had done that at home. She might have even been mad if Tsuchiya had done it at their house…or even here. Not that Sho was going to tell on Tsuchiya or anything. He wasn't that desperate for his sister to come home.
"Why are you soaking wet?" asked Minegishi
"Because I just got through giving Mukai a bath…and I really don't want to have to give her another one. Why is there dirt in the house? And when's dinner going to be ready? Mukai's getting antsy." Said Tsuchiya. Minegishi rolled their eyes and motioned towards Shimazaki.
"We're fending for ourselves. Apparently the dog comes before us." Said Minegishi
"Just them, Toshi, not you…or the little people who shall not be named because, otherwise, Shibata's going to have to try and kick my ass and then I'll have to kick his and then you'll lose any and all attraction for him. Then he'll die alone like Hatori." Said Shimazaki. Tsuchiya's aura glowed for a second, and her muscles started to strain against her shirt, but she at least didn't start acting like she wanted to start trying to kick Shimazaki's ass.
It wouldn't have been a fair fight, anyway, since you weren't supposed to fight girls.
"Then can I have that and the dog eats, you know, dog food?" asked Minegishi. Shimazaki shook his head and got a plate from the cabinet next to him. Sho didn't know if he took Hatori's favorite plate on purpose or not.
"No, this is for the kids. Sho's starving, I can tell." Said Shimazaki. Sho looked away even though that didn't take any of Shimazaki's attention off of him.
"I'm not starving, I'm just hungry." Muttered Sho. He was starving but he didn't want Shimazaki to know…which made no sense. His stupid self was still being all stupid about him. He had a boyfriend, what did he even care about Shimazaki anymore for? Even though Shimazaki was his oldest friend next to Fukuda and Big Sis…and he was really fun to hang out with…and he was pretty much the only person not to treat Sho like a little kid…
Sho thought about him being with Big Sis and…yeah. That killed whatever it was that he had been feeling. Gross.
"I can sense the difference." Said Shimazaki. Minegishi rolled their eyes.
"If he's so hungry then he can go and have dinner with Mob." Said Minegishi as they took the plate from Shimazaki, right as it had been about to be handed to Sho. Why did they have to be such an asshole all the time? Sho wasn't the one who had stolen their boyfriend from them. Big Sis was the one who…who did things Sho didn't want to think about. So he wasn't going to think about that. He was going to think about how hungry he was.
Because Big Sis had just left him all alone.
"I can't, she's not home." Said Sho. Everyone was instantly looking at him. Their eyes had all just snapped right to him. It had been a little freaky, honestly, and…and annoying. Of course everyone paid attention to him when Big Sis came up. Even when she wasn't there everyone paid attention to her…but that was because she was really nice and stuff.
He loved Big Sis and when you loved someone you weren't an asshole to them. Sho wasn't a little kid anymore, he didn't get to act like an asshole.
"She's what now?" asked Minegishi, putting the plate down with a loud clatter, the kind that made Shimazaki wince. They needed to worry more about themselves and less about Big Sis, in his opinion.
"She's gone and I don't know where." Said Sho. He thought about Minegishi and how truly annoying they were. The way that they were always so pissed off for no reason, the way that Big Sis and Shimazaki seemed to think that they were interesting even though they weren't, how dumb they looked in clothes that weren't theirs…
It helped. A little. At least he was thinking less about Big Sis being missing…gone…not home.
"At this hour?" asked Tsuchiya. It was like she had read his mind and picked out the very last thing he wanted to talk about. Sho knew it was late, he knew when her day as President ended, and he knew what their family usually did after work. He knew that this was weird and…and he thought about how Tsuchiya was always acting like a mom. She wasn't his mom and she didn't need to be all concerned and shit about him. She needed to worry about Mukai. He could hear the volume on the TV going way up. That was more of a problem than Big Sis being gone!
A lot easier to solve, though.
"She has a phone, she knows what time it is." Said Sho, crossing his arms. He needed to eat something…but everyone was still staring at him. Shibata had even stopped knitting again. He needed to get that thing done for Big Sis's birthday that he knew she was totally going to be here for. She was. He was just…he thought about how Shibata never knew what size to make things and…and…
And he couldn't get mad at Shibata. It just wasn't possible.
"She really shouldn't go out alone." Said Shibata
"Big Sis is as strong as Dad is. If someone tries to fuck with her then she could turn them inside out without even trying. Probably rip their bones out through their skin or rip their skin off of their bones or…other skin things…I guess." said Sho. He knew that she could do all of that but he also knew her as a person, the kind of person she was, and she was not the kind of person who hurt people even when they hurt her…
He was her brother. He was supposed to keep her safe.
"I mean in theory she could but…." Said Tsuchiya
"That's not her way. She's so small and alone and…and she really shouldn't be out there." Said Shibata
"She's not alone, Serizawa's with her…when isn't he with her?" said Shimazaki, crossing his arms. Minegishi looked at him like they were ready to kill him. They better not have tried anything or Sho would have had to fight them and then Big Sis would end up being all pissed off if she came home.
When. When she came home.
"Ryou…alright, you know what? I'm going to deal with Mob now and you…feed your dog." Said Minegishi as they got up from the table. Sho looked at everyone, the food on his plate, and then at everyone again. He didn't want to eat alone. He wanted Big Sis…he was such a baby…but he did want her. He wanted her to come back. He needed…he needed her around. She was his Big Sis…and…
And also she could help him when he took down Dad! And even if she didn't he still wanted to know that she was ok.
"Hatori!" shouted Minegishi as they left the kitchen. Sho got up and followed them. He didn't care what everyone else did. He had a mission, and this was one that he could actually accomplish. No secret plans with Fukuda, no worrying about getting caught or not, no thinking about what was going to happen if he failed. He was going to find his Big Sis, it was easy, so easy that it was impossible to fail.
So easy that he really had no excuse not to fail.
"Hatori! I know you're home!" shouted Minegishi as they stomped around the house. He followed them. They obviously had a plan and sometimes it was best to listen to someone else's plan when you didn't have one of your own. That was called delegating or…or he wasn't sure what word Dad had used. He didn't want to think about Dad right now. Hell! He barely even wanted to think about Minegishi right now…but right now they were his only hope.
They knew Big Sis best, after all.
"Hatori! Hatori! Wake up, Hatori!" shouted Mukai. He could hear her running around. She…she was way too little for whatever this mission was. He heard her shout and then Tsuchiya saying something that he couldn't make out. She was safest here with her mom, and Shibata too now that he thought about it. Sho had no idea what he was walking into. If she had been captured or…well, no, there was no way to capture her but…
But Shiori had gotten captured, too.
Guys were supposed to protect girls. Dad had said so and crazy people could be right at least once. Fukuda backed him up so he might have been right. Big Sis may have been powerful but she was still a girl. Most of them didn't like fighting, hurting people, even if they had to and there were so many guys out there who could hurt girls…and she was the President of Claw, too, until Dad came back…
He couldn't believe that he had just wasted precious time laying in bed.
"Hato-" shouted Minegishi as they started waking up the stairs. Sho followed closely behind, so closely that they kicked him in the chest with their foot…hopefully on accident. Sho wasn't going to work with a jerk. That was an important part of team building, making sure you built your team with a good foundation. Fukuda had said that. That was why they had chosen who they had chosen for their rebellion team.
That was why, too, he chose Minegishi. It may have hurt him to admit it but they were powerful and they knew Big Sis the best. If anyone was going to find Big Sis it was them.
"What the fuck is everyone yelling about!?" shouted Hatori. His voice was nearly drowned out by the sound of what Sho assumed was a door hitting a wall. The pictures taped to the wall, Mukai's very best works of art, started to fall down. He put them back up with his powers before kicking himself.
What if he'd needed that power?! What if he got too tired before they found Big Sis?! What if-
"Mob. Who else?" Said Minegishi as they got to the top of the stairs. The plants hanging from the ceiling began to vibrate in their pots. Sho almost felt like shrinking back…almost. He wasn't afraid of plants or the asshole who could control them.
"I have nothing to do with whatever the hell is going on with her, alright?" said Hatori
"You have a pathological need to spy on people. Where is she?" asked Minegishi
"Whatever she did and wherever she is this time I had no idea. Just because I can watch you guys twenty four hours a day doesn't mean that I like to…and also I talked to Mob about watching what she posted online and-" said Hatori before Minegishi grabbed him by the front of the shirt and pulled him close.
"I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I think that I'm on my way to a massive stroke. I don't need anymore stress in my life so I'm going to ask you once and only once. I need you to find Mob for me. Right now." said Minegishi before they let Hatori go. They reached into their pocket, really Shimazaki's, and pulled out their phone. This was no time for-oh!
Sometimes assholes could have good ideas.
Big Sis always had her phone. If anyone was going to be able to find her it was going to be the guy who's whole thing was spying on people through technology. Hatori was useful…even though he was best friends with Dad…and even though he was trying to replace Sho…he'd be mad at Hatori later. Right now he had to find Big Sis. He wished that everyone hadn't started freaking out. Now he was freaking the fuck out!
But not nearly as much as Hatori.
"Wait a minute…I can't find it. Either it's dead or she took her SIM card out and-" said Hatori
"Why in the hell would she do that?" asked Minegishi through gritted teeth.
"I don't know, maybe she just doesn't want to be found? You know her better than I do." Said Hatori
"Sometimes it feels like I don't know her at all…just…keep looking! Trying Serizawa's phone." Said Minegishi. Hatori's eyes widened and his eyebrows disappeared up into his hair.
"You don't seriously think that she would-" said Hatori. He looked like he wanted to run away. Sho finished climbing the steps and stood between him and the rest of the hallway. Once he found a place to hide he'd be completely useless. Sho had no idea why Dad kept such a coward around.
"I know that she would." Said Minegishi. They looked like they wanted to kill Hatori. Sho had no idea what any of this was about. He got the feeling that there was something that he was missing…but there shouldn't have been anything that he was missing! This was his big sister they were talking about!
"What? That Big Sis would do what? Will you guys please stop talking in code and just tell me?" asked Sho
"Nothing you need to know about! I don't even like knowing about it! I mean Mob's just a kid and-" said Hatori. Sho made sure Hatori couldn't run away. He was trying to turn around now, and his eyes kept landing on the bathroom door. Minegishi, again, had the same idea that Sho had. The grabbed him by the wrist and held him in place. A wall of leaves grew beside them.
"And Serizawa worships her just about as much as you worship Suzuki. We know. Now can you please take a break from your very busy 'Suzuki worshipping' schedule and help me already?" Said Minegishi
"I don't 'worship' him, I just really like hanging out with him and…and he's actually kind of cool when you get to know him-" said Hatori
"Find Mob now, wax poetic about Suzuki later." Said Minegishi
"Wait, am I finding Mob or Serizawa?" asked Hatori. Minegishi slapped themselves over the head and groaned. Sho was right there with them. Why did Dad like this moron? Probably because Dad was a moron. Morons loved company.
"For the love of-" said Minegishi
"You're finding Big Sis! Stop being a moron!" said Sho, shoving him maybe a little bit too hard. It wasn't his fault that Hatori was so weak and tiny. He was ten years older than Sho but barely even taller than him. Sho had no idea why Dad wanted someone so weak by his side…probably to make himself feel stronger. Nothing was ever enough for Dad after all. He wasn't happy being the strongest esper ever, no, he needed someone next to him to remind him how strong he was. That was why he had gotten rid of Big Sis, she scared him too much…and that was why they had to find Big Sis right fucking now!
And also the whole 'he loved her' thing. That too.
"And you, stop following me. Go draw or bother Ryou or something. I have enough to worry about as it is." Said Minegishi
"She's my sister and she's missing and it's my fault so I'm going to help you find her…wait, no! You're going to help me find her." said Sho. Minegishi turned around so fast Sho was amazed that they hadn't given themselves motion sickness. They were glaring at him, now…and he wasn't afraid. He was stronger than them, he just had to remember that.
"You know something about this?" asked Minegishi
"No." said Sho
"Then why did you say that it was your fault?" asked Minegishi. Sho wasn't afraid of them or their plants…their rapidly growing plants…
"Because I thought that I didn't need her to make me dinner…" said Sho. Well now that he said it out loud, yeah, he was kind of a moron sometimes. It made sense in his head though! This was just…not his head…and now Minegishi and Hatori were both looking at him like he was the biggest moron ever to live.
"And anyway you're her best friend. Best friends are supposed to take care of their friends so, yeah, where were you?" asked Sho. The leaves around them started to retreat. Minegishi shoved him to the side. He was going to take his victory even though it felt kind of…sad, on the inside. Maybe because they looked so sad on the outside…
Why the fuck did he care how Minegishi felt?
"Hatori. Find them. They're probably together so…yeah. Just do it." Said Minegishi. Hatori made that weird sound he did when something freaked him out and then dove into the phone in his hand. It was kind of like watching someone have an out of body experience. Some espers could do that, astral project, though even Dad said that it was stupid to leave yourself so vulnerable. Hatori, though, was stll in his body but also…not. His powers were dumb that way.
Sho had no idea why Dad kept someone around with such dumb powers.
"Mob's off the grid but Serizawa, well his DS at least, is around…sort of. I don't know what's with the internet where he is. It's cutting out and…oh." Said Hatori
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" asked Minegishi as they leaned over and stared at Hatori's phone. There wasn't enough room for him. He stood on his toes and tried to see over Minegishi's shoulder…he felt like a little kid.
He could have pushed them out of the way but he didn't really feel like pissing Shimazaki off right now.
"They're far, really far. Deep into the country. Not even Tokyo anymore, and Tokyo is huge! I mean not the city but-" said Hatori. Minegishi made a fist. The plants beside them shuddered.
"I don't need a geography lesson. Where are they?" asked Minegishi, sounding like they were choking on their words. Sho managed to sneak in and see what was going on…wow, that was far….
It was far, and he had no idea what Big Sis was even doing out there, but at least he knew where she was. She hadn't run away.
"Let me check this address…some kind of house…a manor house? I didn't even know we had those. It's called the…oh fuck!" shouted Hatori. He practically threw the phone down the stairs. Sho caught it and held it in the air with his powers. Minegishi just snatched it right from him…jerk…but he'd forgive them so long as they helped find Big Sis…
Later. He'd forgive them later, when he wasn't so freaked out.
"What the fuck are you freaking the fuck out about you fucking-" said Sho. He always got pissed off when he freaked out. That was just how he was. He knew that Big Sis wouldn't have liked that at all but she was the one who had vanished in the first place and-and there wasn't enough time to be polite!
"Well this doesn't exactly inspire confidence." Said Minegishi, shaking their head. The held the phone close to their face and stared at it. They poked at the screen a couple of times but that just made them look more confused. What, were they too old or whatever to figure out how phones worked?
"What exactly am I looking at here?" asked Minegishi as they passed the phone back to Hatori.
"An address." Said Hatori as he looked everywhere but Minegishi. Sho didn't have to be able to read minds to know that he was hiding something. But what? It wasn't like Big Sis would have ran away from home. She wasn't mo-she wasn't some people, people that he didn't want to think about right now. She was…she was fine…
Or not. Probably not. Otherwise Hatori wouldn't have been this freaked out.
"And address to where? And don't try and hide things or I'll tell Dad that you let something happen to Big Sis and then he won't lo-like you anymore and then you'll see what it's like when he doesn't care about you." said Sho
"Ok, ok, I'll talk! Just…let me find a nice way to say it…"said Hatori
"Yeah, not feeling very confident here. Either you start talking or I get you to talk." Said Minegishi
"Fine! Just….yeah. It's bad. Uh…you remember the thing with the spirit? The one that keeps on fucking people up? Well there's this guy who used to be a big backer, Mob's friend's dad? Yeah, well he kind of put out a bounty on the spirit and invited pretty much every unaffiliated psychic…and…." asked Hatori. Sho wanted to shake the answer out of him but he couldn't reach. He knew that spirit, everyone knew that spirit. Not a lot happened around here so when there was a spirit out there that could kill people, actual psychics not the Awakened, then yeah. It was bad…it was even strong enough that it had fucked with Shimazaki of all people…
Fuck!
"I'm not going to like where this is going, am I?" asked Minegishi
"Uh…no. You're going to freak out. I mean I'm freaking out here!" said Hatori
"You freak out when you put your feet in your shoes. Now tell me where the hell my sister is." Said Sho. Right. You had to be able to stay in control if you were going to be any kind of leader….fucking Dad…but he had a point. Sho had to be the leader here, someone had to keep this mission under control, and this was an important one. This was an actual rescue mission.
One that he wasn't going to fail at.
"That was one time and there was a spider…anyway Mob's kind of…she's at this place and probably trying to fight that spirit and I guess she took Serizawa with her and…and Suzuki's going to kill me! God, I suck at this big brothering thing-" said Hatori
"Well yeah, you're not our real brother so of course you suck at it. Now send me the address so I can go do some little brothering and save MY sister before she ends up dead or eaten or whatever that spirit's going to do to her." said Sho
"No." said Minegishi
"What the fuck do you mean, no!? That's my sister and I'm going to save her life whether you like it or not." Said Sho
"You're staying here. You'll just get in my way. I'm going to save Mob, you just stay out of my way." Said Minegishi. They tried to turn away from him like….like they were going to do this on their own. Like they even could do this on their own! They controlled plants. That was it. They didn't even know how to exorcise spirits. What in the hell did they think that they were going to be able to do that actually powerful people, including Shimazaki, couldn't?!
Sho wasn't going to let them go.
He actually grabbed them. Well, their arm, which was a part of them, but not like anything serious…they still felt pissed. Sho, thankfully, put a barrier up as soon as he felt the first thorny vine poke through his coat. Minegishi was fast but he was faster, and stronger, and a lot smarter too. At least he knew better than to go and try to fight a killer spirit with nothing but sharp thorns and houseplants!
Really sharp thorns.
"You know that I myself am inside your barrier, right?" asked Minegishi as they tried to pull their arm away. Sho held them tighter.
"Yeah, no shit. That's how barriers work. You're on the inside but your plants are on the outside. In here you're not any stronger than-than Hatori." Said Sho
"Hey!" said Hatori. Sho rolled his eyes. He was the weakest guy in the house and he knew it, no point in pretending otherwise. Even now Sho could barely even feel his aura. He didn't have any hope of stopping Sho even if his barrier had gone down. He wasn't as strong as Sho was physically or with his powers.
"No, but I am smarter than him and you, too, for that matter." Said Minegishi as leaves started growing out of their pockets…alright. That was…they had thorns now…whatever! He jumped into pricker bushes for fun! Well, he hadn't in a while since it had been winter and he wasn't a kid anymore but…but still! He wasn't afraid of Minegishi or anything that they could throw at him.
"What, you're going to poke me to death?" asked Sho sarcastically. Minegishi shook their head.
"No. I don't need to." Said Minegishi. The vines got thicker and grew leaves…leaves with flowers on the end. Sho kept the barrier up. This must have been some kind of distraction or whatever.
"I'm not allergic to flowers." Said Sho
"No, but you are allergic to citrus. How do you think oranges start out?" asked Minegishi. Sho felt his barrier flicker. That was…a lot scarier than anything they had thrown at him yet. That was actually pretty fucking likely to hurt him and…and Fukuda was probably watching TV with his cat all the way over in his house now. Sho remembered the last time, back when he had been little, that he'd had citrus…
And Fukuda had been a lot closer back then.
"You wouldn't. If you kill me then-then Dad kills you!" said Sho
"Why would he do a thing like that? Your Dad doesn't care about much of anything when it comes to you." said Minegishi. Sho looked away.
"Minegishi…that's kind of harsh…" said Hatori. Sho shoved him into the wall with his powers. His barrier flickered again…he wasn't going to lose this thing!
"I don't need you to defend me!" shouted Sho. He could hear Mukai shouting now, too, downstairs. He had to be quiet. She'd come up here and see what was going on and…and she didn't need to see this. She needed to still love him, to still care about him, to not be scared of him. He cared about her. He knew what it felt like to…to not have someone who cared about you who…who should have…
It never really stopped hurting.
"And anyway he does too care. He cares if I live. I'm his only son. His only real son." Said Sho
"He can always have more kids, in fact I have it on good authority that he plans to, so your death won't be any great loss." Said Minegishi. They had this look in their eyes like…like they wanted to fight. Like they wanted Sho to hit them and…and he wasn't going to! He just wanted them to listen. He wasn't a little kid anymore even though he felt like it.
Even though they made him feel like it.
"Shut up!" said Sho. He even sounded like a little kid there. Whiney. Like Mukai when you tried to make her take a bath. He was just too…he needed to calm down. Minegishi was just an asshole, that was all. He just had to remind himself that Minegishi was just an asshole and…and he needed to be there for Big Sis and…and…
They were telling the truth, that was how Dad felt, but Dad was going to very soon loose everything that he had devoted his life to building so he didn't much matter anymore.
"So, yes, I'm not afraid to kill you if you don't let me go." Said Minegishi. Sho didn't let them go. He was coming along no matter how much truth they spoke. He wasn't going to let them go in alone and die. Big Sis would have been mad at him if he let them die, first of all, and second of all Big Sis would probably wind up getting really hurt too and that was the last thing that he wanted.
"I said that I was coming along, so you can either shut up and get out of my way or I can make you-" said Sho. Minegishi's aura was bright now, brighter than he had ever seen it before. He could even feel it…
And then it was gone.
It disappeared along with Sho's barrier. Shimazaki was in front of him, between them, and he had pried Sho's hand off of Minegishi's arm. Sho forgot, sometimes, how much stronger than him Shimazaki was. What he hadn't forgotten, though, was how much Shimazaki was in love with Minegishi. He braced himself for whatever was coming next.
Love was thicker than friendship after all.
"Toshi? Fuck, I knew something was wrong…just…come on, let him go. He let you go so, yeah, you should let him go too." Said Shimazaki. Minegishi sighed and the leaves and vines surrounding them withered and died. Shimazaki let go of Sho and pulled Minegishi close. They rested their head on his chest and closed their eyes.
Sho may not have been in love with Shimazaki anymore but that didn't mean that he wanted to be here for this.
"I wasn't actually going to kill him." said Minegishi as Shimazaki put an arm around them.
"I know, but I don't think that he did." Said Shimazaki softly as he rubbed their back and…yeah, no, there wasn't time for Sho to be standing there and watching things that he hadn't wanted to see in the first place!
"I knew you weren't going to kill me!" said Sho. Minegishi opened their eyes and immediately broke apart from Shimazaki.
"No, I wasn't, but not because I'm afraid of your father. I'm not…any more afraid of him than the average person. I know that if I did anything to you then Mob would be devastated. Just as devastated and you'd be if anything happened to her, alright? So get out of my way and never touch me again." Said Minegishi
"I barely even-" said Sho
"He gets it, Toshi, he gets it." Said Shimazaki before he grabbed Sho and teleported him down to the living room. Sho heard running happening upstairs and then a door slamming, followed by normal footsteps but then a door slamming even louder. It wasn't much better downstairs. Mukai was banging pots and pans together while Shibata chased her around. Everything was louder than everything else, it all almost drowned out what Minegishi had said.
Almost.
"Fuck. Sho, come on, you know better. Toshi doesn't like being touched and they certainly don't fucking like being threatened." Said Shimazaki
"I didn't do any of that so they'd like it." Said Sho
"Then what the fuck were you thinking?" asked Shimazaki. Sho didn't even know what the fuck he had been thinking. It was like he had been thinking about everything and nothing at the same time. He wanted to save Big Sis and he was mad at himself for just laying there in bed all mad at her because she hadn't come home and he was extra mad at himself for thinking that she could have been anything like Mom and…and the person he was the most mad at was mom for leaving them in the first place and making him think that his own sister would leave him too! Or maybe he was mad at Dad for making him feel like he was bad at everything and just…wrong. Like everything about him was wrong on every level. Or maybe he was mad at Fukuda for making Sho feel like he was failing at the whole 'taking Dad down' thing. Or maybe he was mad at himself for not being able to be anything that he was supposed to be!
He was mad at everything and nothing, himself and no one….but also everyone and everything!
"They want to save Big Sis but…but I can do it. I can do things, I'm not…she doesn't have to leave because of me and…and she didn't leave and…and I can do things too, ok?!" said Sho. Shimazaki sighed and poked him on the forehead.
"I never once doubted your ability to get things done. Who the fuck's been filling your head with that shit?" asked Shimazaki as Sho swatted his hand away. His head wasn't filled with anything and…and anyway he hadn't said anything that Dad hadn't said before! He may have been an asshole and a moron but maybe in some ways…maybe in some ways he was sort of right, maybe….
"My Dad." Said Sho
"Well then your Dad is a motherfucking, cock sucking, motherfucker." said Shimazaki. Sho shrugged. Yeah, he wasn't going to argue with that.
"Yeah, Dad's totally-" said Sho, getting ready to start a cursing match. He just needed to get all of this out of his system so he could think and plan and stuff like that. He didn't get the chance, though, before a ladle flew right over his head.
"Motherfucker! Mother-" said Mukai as she ran by waving a frying pan above her head. The pot which she had been wearing as a hat fell off. Shibata, who had been following her, stopped to pick it up.
"Reason number two why you aren't allowed to talk to her." said Shibata as he picked up the pot and held it out. Mukai took it from him and made another lap around the house. It shook as Tsuchiya chased after her…or maybe that had just been the collective force of Shibata and Shimazaki's auras hitting one another.
"Hey, I was not talking TO her I was talking NEAR her. Sho needs the peptalk, years of Suzuki being a motherfucking cocksucker have worn him down to the point where picking a fight with Toshi looked like a good idea for him." said Shimazaki
"Minegishi shouldn't be fighting with him in the first place." Said Shibata, crossing his arms. Finally, he said something that made sense.
"Yeah, well, Toshi's in crisis mode. Apparently Mob did something dumb or whatever, and without my help too! We're still friends, we can hang out. I mean, why would someone say that they were still friends with you and not invite you to whatever stupid shit was happening? Mob, that's who." Said Shimazaki. Sho agreed with Shibata, it was weird that he was in love with Big Sis, though Sho would never have gotten mad at him about it. At least not mad like Shibata was. If Shibata had been Dad then the whole house would have exploded and everyone in it would have been dead.
"Sometimes I feel like you enjoy upsetting people." Said Shibata as his sleeves began to rip and tear around his arms. Sho didn't think that Shimazaki was doing anything that was weird for him, but then again Shibata had never liked him much to begin with.
"Yeah, obviously I do. You've known me for years, Shibata, this is just now dawning on you?" asked Shimazaki
"It should have dawned on me sooner that you'd try and-" said Shibata. Sho had to put a stop to this. They didn't have time to be fighting with one another, not when there was a greater enemy out there to fight!
For Big Sis.
"Try and what? Do the thing that I said I was going to do years ago? And then step off when I got dumped-" said Shimazaki
"Stop it! Stop fighting. We have to work together so save Big Sis before something bad happens to her. She's going to fight that spirit that almost beat you and-" said Sho before Shimazaki teleported away. Fuck him! Now he was down to…he didn't even know how many guys. Fukuda wasn't going to want to come, he didn't like Big Sis anymore. Hatori wasn't a fighter. Tsuchiya couldn't come because she had to watch Mukai, Hatori couldn't take care of himself let alone another person, and Serizawa wasn't much of a fighter but if he had gone with Big Sis then he was probably beaten already. It was just him, Minegishi, and Shibata now.
Why was finding allies always so hard?!
"She did what!?" shouted Shimazaki before he teleported away. He was back less than a second later with one of the people Sho least wanted to see. Minegishi knew what was happening but they had taken the time to change clothes!? Now they wore their own clothes!? Seriously?!
"I take it that everyone's up to speed now?" asked Minegishi. They stepped to the side and let Mukai pass. Now she had a spaghetti strainer on her head. Tsuchiya had been chasing after her but gave up and stopped, letting Mukai get back to running around the house and laughing.
Sometimes Sho wished that he could have gone back to being that little. Things had been so much simpler back then.
"Do I want to know what we're all supposed to be up to speed on?" asked Tsuchiya
"Mob decided to go on a solo mission to take on that thing that Matsuo was hunting." Said Minegishi
"Wait…the spirit? That thing that Suzuki couldn't even beat?" asked Tsuchiya
"Suzuki never tried, he's supposedly got too much on his plate. Either that or he's afraid of ghosts." Said Shimazaki
"My Dad's not afraid of ghosts, just jello. And anyway Big Sis shouldn't have to get hurt just because Dad's too lazy to do his own dirty work." Said Sho
"I mean he does have a lot going on…" said Shibata
"Anyone who wants to have an deep and heartfelt conversation about Suzuki can do it in the car with Hatori. Now, if we're all ready to go then I'd suggest we leave before Mob either dies, does something stupid, or loses control and does something terrifying." Said Minegishi
"Don't make fun of my sister." Said Sho
"I wasn't making fun of her, I was stating facts. Three things can happen to Mob and none of them are good. Now if you're done Ryou can get Hatori and we can be on our way." Said Minegishi. With that Shimazaki disappeared and then reappeared with a very freaked out Hatori.
"Ok, yeah, bad news. So Mob lower, and I mean really lowered, the minimal rank you could be to order a car and apparently a lot of scars have active social lives-" said Hatori
"Some of us do." Said Tsuchiya
"Right. Well with all of that plus Mob letting people have unlimited time off even if they're out of vacation days or don't even get vacation days, and the leave she gives people if their pets get sick, and the leave she gives people to get pets, plus all the back birthday leave-" said Hatori
"Get to the point." Said Minegishi
"Right. Well the point is that there are no cars, the guys who fly the helicopters all took a trip together and took the helicopters with them, there's no landing strip anywhere close to where Mob is and anyway a lot of the pilots are on leave-" said Hatori
"Toshi said to get to the point." Said Shimazaki
"Unless one of you has a secret car stashed away somewhere we're fucked." Said Hatori
"Who knows how to fly?" asked Sho
"I can but not for any length of time." Said Shimazaki
"How far can you teleport?" asked Tsuchiya
"Five kilometers, but I have to see or know where I'm going otherwise I could wind up inside of someone. You ever teleport inside of someone? They explode and, yeah, it's kind of cool but it also smells really bad and it's hard to get blood and viscera out of your hair. God help you if you have your mouth opened." Said Shimazaki
"Well, Mob's kind of in the middle of nowhere and if she's been as gone for as long I think she has then everyone around her is probably dead. I mean
"Trains. How about we take the train before we have Ryou teleport us across the universe?" asked Minegishi
"But then we're stuck at the station." Said Hatori
"Well then how the fuck did Mob get there?" asked Minegishi
"Not through Claw. It's like she didn't want anyone knowing where she was going or something." said Hatori
"Maybe she just ran off. I mean she's got a lot to deal with. The pressure of the job, being Suzuki's daughter and his weird emotional mind games, pretty much being Sho's mother, she's been drinking less and smoking less so that's been hard for her, Suzuki essentially planning on starting a new family's got her down, plus she's been giving real thought to having kids of her own and it's a lot for her. Mob runs away when shit gets hard, so does Suzuki and so does Sho, so maybe she's just pretending to be on a mission so she can get the hell away from all that shit. I mean it wouldn't be the first time someone we knew faked being on a mission." Said Shimazaki
"That doesn't sound like Mob." Said Shibata
"The only person who knows her better than me is Toshi, and maybe Sho." said Shimazaki
"Big Sis didn't run away. She's not our mom. She's probably hurt and she needs us so let's just get on the train and then when it gets there we can…um…I don't know! We'll figure it out when we get there!" said Sho
"You know what? This pains me to say but he's got as good a plan as we're going to come up with. So come on, let's go already." Said Minegishi. Shimazaki grabbed Hatori and teleported away. It was a good call since pretty much the only thing Hatori had in common with their family was how he ran away sometimes. Minegishi could be trusted, even though they were an asshole. Sho of course could be trusted since this was partially his plan.
Tsuchiya and Shibata looked at each other for a while, though, and made no move to at least put their shoes and coats on.
"I…I have to stay here. It isn't safe to bring Mukai into battle like this and I don't think that Fukuda's up to watching her." said Tsuchiya. Sho nodded.
"Yeah, that makes sense. You should stay here with Mukai, and the dog, and also can you make my hamsters their midnight snack and read them a story if they get lonely? Fukuda always half asses it." Said Sho. Tsuchiya gave Shibata a look. He gave one back to her…seriously? He knew what was coming next. They were going to waste precious time now and get on him about the way he talked. Adults had the most backwards priorities sometimes.
"Sure…sure thing." Said Tsuchiya, giving Shibata another look. Sho watched their auras. It looked like they were fighting. Disagreeing fighting, not trying to kill each other…but that made sense for them, too. They had been fighting nearly nonstop since the thing with Big Sis and Shimazaki. Sho didn't know what they were fighting about, they were both clearly made for each other. They both liked to get all mixed up in things that had nothing to do with them.
"And don't forget to tell them each where I'm going. Sometimes they don't all listen at once." Said Sho. They might not have had their priorities in order but he sure did…though he made sure not to curse that time. They were still being all weird. The last thing he wanted to do was to get them both all ganged up on him about the things he said.
"I won't. You can go, Sho, it's alright. You can trust…trust me." said Tsuchiya. Shibata made a weird sort of sound, like a cross between a gasp and a cry. Like he was worried….oh! Of course.
"And if Fukuda asks where I am tell him I'm saving Big Sis. Sometimes he wants to hang out at night and watch Zootopia. He says that he wants to keep me company but I think it's the other way around." said Sho
"I'll do that." Said Tsuchiya. Mukai ran by. She didn't even stop to say goodbye. She was off in her own world, she probably didn't even know that he was leaving. That was fine. If she knew that he was going somewhere then she was going to try and come too and then the whole thing would have been a big mess. This wasn't the mission to bring a little kid on.
Besides, he'd see her again when he came back.
"You don't have to." Said Shibata. Sho shrugged.
"Well yeah, you don't HAVE to hang out with him, you can just tell him to fuck off and watch Zootopia by himself but he's been super lonely since Dad replaced him with Hatori." Said Sho. The door swung shut. Everyone was outside now. He had to get going so, yeah, hopefully Tsuchiya remembered all of that.
"Anyway we have to go so, bye I guess. Tell Mukai I said bye if she ever notices we're all gone." Said Sho
"She got into one of Shimazaki's candy stashes. She's going to be like this the rest of the night." Said Tsuchiya
"I'm really going to miss her." said Shibata quietly.
"You don't have to go." Said Tsuchiya
"And you don't have to go…to stay. You don't have to stay behind." Said Shibata. Sho narrowed his eyes. Was everyone going to question his leadership tonight?
"I'm the one in charge, I decide who stays and who goes. Anyway someone has to watch Mukai. If you think that you're going to miss her now just think of how much you'll miss her if she dies on this mission!" said Sho
"Hiroshi, I think that I do. I have to go….I mean to stay. I know that I have to stay." Said Tsuchiya. There. At least someone got it.
"But where will you…what will you do?" asked Shibata. Sho wondered if he was alright, he was right there, he had clearly heard Sho tell her everything that she needed to do.
"What I have to do…but I wouldn't mind help." Said Tsuchiya. She was looking at Shibata all weird again. Maybe it had something to do with being in love…well now Sho didn't want to break up whatever this was. He knew what it was like to have to leave someone you loved. It hurt like hell…of course they'd be coming back to one another but it still must have hurt.
"I'm needed…" said Shibata
"Right here." Said Tsuchiya, taking his hand. Sho wondered if maybe adults just felt love really strongly. Even he didn't get this emotional when he had to leave Ritsu. At least not this emotional to Ritsu's face.
"Sho? I think that I'll stay here and help Tsuchiya and…and protect them, too, in case your dad's enemies decide that this is the time to…to strike. You know he's got a lot of enemies." Said Shibata
"Yeah, fine, whatever." Said Sho as he turned to leave. Yeah, Shibata made a good point, but he knew what this was really about. Shibata just didn't want to leave Tsuchiya. Well Sho didn't have time to tell him that they'd make it back home. No matter how dangerous this spirit was Sho was going to make sure that they all came back home…and with Big Sis, too.
Then, and only then, could they finally all have dinner together.