Sho wasn't good at comforting people.

"Come on, it'll be ok. She's just been kind of weird since we got back, that's all. I mean she was wearing pants and you don't know her but that's super weird for her." said Sho as he hugged Ritsu. Hugs always made him feel better. Big Sis had always been the one to do the hugging. She had always been the one to know just what to say, too, when he'd felt bad. She would have been so much better at this than he was.

But she was the one who'd done this to Ritsu in the first place.

"And she was mean, too, when she came and stole some pants from my dresser, too, so I really don't think it's you. Sometimes girls just get weird." Said Sho. He didn't think that this was helping. Big Sis would have known what to do…but she needed hugs, too, probably. She hadn't ever done that before, just ran away in the middle of a conversation, not unless it was something embarrassing. She was being weird and…well, at least she had Minegishi to go to. Without Big Sis who did he have?

And Fukuda didn't count, not now, not since he'd turned into a dickhole's dickhole.

"It's this thing that happens to them sometimes, it's kind of gross and not in a cool way so I'll spare you the details, but…yeah. She can't help it. Maybe she'll be nicer next week. I mean she will be, yeah, definitely. You'll see. You'll see how she usually is." Said Sho. Ritsu wasn't crying as hard as he'd been before so…good? He was going to take that as a good sign. Now he just needed another good sign.

He looked around the room. The ceiling light flickered and the vent clanked. He didn't think those were very good signs at all.

"When she's back to normal she'll be more than nice to you, actually. She'll probably treat you like a baby. She'll probably pick out your clothes and try to make you eat your vegetables even though they're gross and she'll try and comb your hair and run you a bath and stuff like that. Sister stuff. It's like Mom stuff but she can't leave like Mom's do so, uh, it's not like you're missing anything. I mean it's nothing you're not used to, since you have a mom, I don't have a mom…but this isn't about me!" said Sho. Ritsu stopped crying completely. Maybe that was a good sign. Maybe he could be happy again. If he was happy then maybe Sho could be happy too. Maybe they could be happy together like they were supposed to be.

Like you were supposed to be when all your dreams came true.

"I don't want another mom, I want a sister. I want my sister." Said Ritsu. He would have been embarrassed if he hadn't been so upset. The only other person who had seen him like this was Reigen and Ritsu had sworn him to secrecy. He could see his reflection in the mirrored wardrobe. His face was red, his eyes were puffy, and there was snot on his shirt…he looked like a little kid.

And he felt worse. Even as a little kid he hadn't ever cried like this.

"And you'll get her. She'll be back and…and I can't think of anything else to say." Said Sho

"Then stop thinking up things to say." Said Ritsu. Sho was being just like Reigen, saying all kinds of things to try and make Ritsu feel better. He didn't know why people did that. Maybe talking and talking and talking nonstop only made it worse, like picking at a scab, maybe it was better just to wait it out…not that Ritsu knew how he'd get better from this.

How did a person get better from having all of their dreams smashed in one day?

"What do you mean?" asked Sho

"You could try telling the truth." Said Ritsu, wiping his eyes.

"I am, I totally am! She really has been acting weird and I think it's girl stuff, either that or because she exploded and nearly killed everyone, but I know she'll get back to normal. She always does when big stuff happens to us, you'll see." Said Sho, taking his hands. He didn't care that they were wet with tears and snot. These were his boyfriend's tears and snot so that made them the best, non gross, tears and snot in the world.

"You don't get it…and let go, my hands are all gross." Said Ritsu. Sho didn't let go, if anything he just held on tighter.

"I don't care, if it's your gross then I like it…and it's not gross." Said Sho

"And you still don't get it." Said Ritsu as he pulled his hands away. Sho, thankfully, let go that time.

"What's there to get. I love you and because I love you I don't think that you're gross even if you do gross stuff, which you haven't by the way." Said Sho

"There's a lot to get! I think it's gross so it is and…and…and I don't want you to just tell me over and over again that she was just being weird and that she's usually nice. She doesn't want anything to do with me and…and you don't know what it's like, ok!" said Ritsu

"To have Big Sis be like that? I mean, yeah, I don't but that doesn't mean that it's…I don't even know what you're getting at. Like it's something that happens every day or whatever. I know her and I'm telling you, this is just her being weird, really out of character and stuff." Said Sho

"No…I mean you don't get it. You don't get what it's like…how I feel. Because it's not happen to you. You're…you're weirdly happy about all of this and I've never been so miserable in my entire life." said Ritsu

"I can't help it if I'm happy. All of my dreams kind of came true and…and it's not like I'm bragging or anything." Said Sho. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. He didn't want to stop being happy. He had spent so much of his life unhappy, pretty much his whole life, that he wasn't going to be giving this up anytime soon…but Ritsu was feeling bad…when the person you loved felt bad did that mean that you had to feel bad alongside them…like when you were with them and stuff?

Mom had felt pretty bad towards the end, hadn't she?

A terrifying thought gripped his mind. He reached out and took Ritsu's hand in his, holding on as tightly as he could. Mom had left. She had felt bad, so bad that she'd gotten sick, and then one day she'd left. People could leave. Dad hadn't been able to feel bad with Mom, he didn't know what feelings were, and…and maybe that was why she'd left. Maybe she had expected him and Big Sis to feel bad alongside her…

If Ritsu wanted him to be miserable then…then he could go back to being miserable.

"Well mine didn't, ok? All of your dreams came true and all of mine fell apart." Said Ritsu as he let Sho hold his hand. He didn't think that he could stop him even if he wanted to. Sho was stronger than him. He'd never noticed it before but Sho…he'd had his powers for longer so of course he was going to be stronger.

"That's ok, because I can be miserable too. If you want me to be miserable then I can be miserable…I can be the most miserable person in this whole Division!" said Sho. That didn't seem to be the thing Ritsu wanted to hear. He stopped trying to pull his hand away, which was good, but now he was looking at Sho like he was crazy, which wasn't very good at all.

"….what…?" asked Ritsu

"Isn't that what you want?" asked Sho

"No, of course not. That's just weird." Said Ritsu

"…then I'm lost." Said Sho

"I don't want you to be miserable I just want…I just want something to go right, ok? I can't ever go home again and…and all the years I spent wishing that Shigeko was still alive were wasted because she's been alive the whole time btu she wants nothing to do with me and…and I spent so many years trying to stop Claw. I found other espers and made plans on top of plans on top of plans and I ever pretended to date Teru and…and it was all for nothing." Said Ritsu

"I'm not sure why you had to pretend to date Teru." Said Sho quietly. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, fake dating wasn't real cheating after all, and he wasn't even sure if it was right for him to be thinking about this right now while Ritsu was pouring his guts out to him…well, thinking about it was making him feel pretty miserable…but Ritsu had said that he didn't want that for some reason.

"Because it would have been suspicious otherwise, why we were spending so much time together, I couldn't let my parents find out about Claw or my powers…I thought that they wouldn't understand. But they would…and…and they lied to me. They lied to me and I wasted my time and Shigeko doesn't even like me." said Ritsu

"Hey, no. Don't talk like that about Big Sis. She does too like you. I've only known her to dislike one person and that's Fukuda and even then only because he turned into an asshole because my Dad drove him crazy, ok? She ran away for some weird reason but she likes you and…and um…about the time wasting…" said Sho. There was an old saying about accentuating the positive or whatever. He could do that! He just had to find some way to accentuate the positive about Ritsu wasting years of his life trying to stop Claw…Sho hadn't even been able to find the positive in that when it came to him and Fukuda…though it had been nice when he'd been little, working with Fukuda and his two friends…hey!

"And you may not have taken down Claw but you did have good times with all of your friends and you can't put a price on good times!" said Sho. There, that seemed to help…Ritsu wasn't crying anymore, at least.

"Yeah, I guess…if you could call those guys my friends." Shrugged Ritsu

"So you pretend dated a guy for years and you guys weren't even friends?" asked Sho. Now he really didn't know how to feel. He didn't think that he could have been the kind of person to fake date someone and not even call them a friend…and he wasn't sure what kind of person Ritsu was, either, if he was capable of that…and when he thought about it he wasn't sure if he knew Ritsu that well at all. Most of their relationship had been kissing and holding hands and trying not to get caught…

He loved Ritsu. That was all he needed, like the song had said.

"No, no, Teru's definitely a friend…and annoying friend but a friend. I meant those other guys. We never really hung out. I mostly just kind of gathered them for firepower and also research." Said Ritsu

"Wait, you knew guys with firepower and you didn't bring them?" asked Sho. Ritsu wiped his eyes and pulled out his phone. He didn't seem sad anymore so that was a plus. Yeah! Sho had this and if it meant listening to him talk about other guys, even the guy he'd fake dated, then Sho would sit there and listen.

There was nothing he wouldn't do for Ritsu.

"Here, see? It's really only these five guys and a little kid…and they can't do much." Said Ritsu as he started scrolling through his pictures. Sho was leaning in close now, and he looked happy, so…so this was alright. Even as miserable as he was he didn't want company. Sho, at least, deserved to be happy and if going over all of his ultimately useless work was what made Sho happy then this was what was going to happen.

There was nothing, nothing in the world, that he wouldn't do for Sho.

"The twins are only telepathic with each other, that's Rei and she can see the future but only twenty five percent of the time, that's Takeshi-" said Ritsu

"I'm sure he's cool too!" said Sho, just to make sure that Ritsu knew that he wasn't jealous at all. Nope. Ritsu could hang out with whatever guys he wanted to hang out with.

"Not really. He's telekinetic but he can only bend spoons…and even then not well. The other guy is Go and he can-" said Ritsu

"I'm sure he's really amazing and a good friend." Said Sho

"Again, not really. If he really focuses he can make enough fire to light a birthday candle, it's not really useful. Honestly the little kid is the most useful…I mean she would be if she could use her powers on anyone other than herself." Said Ritsu flipping away from the group shot. This one was much less staged, mainly because Teru had been at soccer that day, it was Hirai Madoka holding her baby sister. She'd fallen and gotten a bruise that day but by the time he'd taken the picture it had been practically gone…he wished that there had been a way to record that without looking like a weirdo.

"Huh. Looks like Fukuda." Said Sho. She had the same hair as he did, or he would have if he let it grow out, brown curls. Her eyes were familiar though, shaped like his, but then again lots of people's eyes were shaped that way. She was Mukai's age, maybe that was weirding him out, maybe because of Dad he was never going to be able to look at another esper kid again without wondering if they were related.

And now he was thinking about Dad again. Great.

"Hey! Let's go and do something!" said Sho as he got to his feet. The last thing he wanted to do was sit in this room and think about Dad and watch Ritsu be miserable. He was the President of Claw now, Dad was gone, and Big Sis had said that she was going to stop babying him. He could do whatever the hell he wanted to do!

Whatever the hell Ritsu wanted to do, he reminded himself, because Ritsu was his boyfriend and it was important to take him into account too.

"Do what?" asked Ritsu as he put his phone back.

"Anything we want." Said Sho as he pulled Ritsu to his feet. Ritsu looked at him, and then the door, and then at him again.

"I guess I am kind of hungry." Said Ritsu after a moment. Sho clearly didn't want to be in this room anymore and Ritsu didn't know what he wanted so, really, it was easier to just do what Sho wanted. It wasn't like there was anything to do anyway. Claw was gone. What was he supposed to do with his free time now?

"Come on then, we'll go to the cafeteria. There's jello." Said Sho as he practically dragged Ritsu out of the room. He liked jello and Ritsu did, too, he had to. Everyone but Dad liked Jello and right now Dad was gone so they could eat as much of it as they wanted to without anyone sitting there making weird faces and being all 'eww, it's gross' and 'how can you eat that' and 'I'll never understand you and I made you' and other Dad stuff. Yeah! This was going to be great!

Maybe even enough to keep Ritsu from being miserable.

He just had to bide his time until Big Sis got back to normal. Then they could all be together and be happy and then at least some of Ritsu's dreams could come true. The only thing that would have made it better was if Mom had never left and Fukuda had never turned into a jerk…well there was nothing that he could do about that. Mom was gone forever and Fukuda was still being weird even with Dad gone…

But maybe he just hadn't given Fukuda enough time.

Maybe…maybe things could go back to the way, nearly the way, that they had been before. Fukuda had it in him to be nice and he'd always been able to make Sho feel better when he'd felt bad…and Sho knew that he wasn't that good at comforting people. He felt Fukuda before he saw him and it only took one second for him to make his decision. Fukuda wasn't always a jerk and…and maybe he could help.

And also, maybe, Sho wasn't done letting Fukuda into his life…the important things in his life.

"Fukuda! Hey!" called Sho as Fukuda rounded the corner. He was covered in dirt for some reason. Sho would have thought that he'd taken a shower by now considering how he was always telling Sho when he needed to take a bath, but that didn't matter. Fukuda's whole thing was making people feel better, maybe he could help Ritsu.

"Sho? Oh, thank God! Listen, we need to-" said Fukuda as he picked up the pace. He needed to get to Sho, get him away from that kid, and get them both the hell out of here. For his own good. It was all over and they could start fresh, start a new life together, do things right this time.

He could and would keep his promise to Masami.

"I should introduce you to Ritsu and stuff. For real, I mean, since he's going to be living her forever now." said Sho

"He's going to be doing what where now?" asked Fukuda, doing a double take. That boy…he had a family. He had a family and they must have been looking for him and…and Sho had taken him from…no, no, he wasn't his Father. The kid had come willingly and Fukuda needed to stop those thoughts before they grew into something unhealthy.

"I live here now. Hi. I'm Ritsu…again." Said Ritsu with an unenthusiastic wave. He didn't really like being stared at like that, or gaped at, but he didn't say anything. Sho had mentioned Fukuda more times than Ritsu could count. Obviously he meant a lot to Sho

"Fukuda Tadashi, nice to formally meet you. Now if you'll excuse me I need to borrow Sho for a moment." Said Fukuda

"No you don't." said Sho

"Yes, I do." Said Fukuda

"No you don't, Ritsu and I are busy. We're going to get lunch and…and you can come, if you want, and if you're nice." said Sho

"I'm always nice to you, Sho, when have I not been?" asked Fukuda

"You're mean to Big Sis and Ritsu's related to Big Sis so…so don't be mean to him. Be nice, like you were before, ok?" asked Sho

"Sho…things are different now. Your sister…you and your sister aren't kids-toddlers, you aren't toddlers anymore and…and there are things that exist between your sister and I that…that are our business, alright? Now I need you to come over here, alright? I have a lot of things to discuss with you. important things about our future." Said Fukuda as he tried to steer Sho away. Sho, of course, wouldn't budge.

"I'll run Claw better tomorrow, you can be in charge until then. Ritsu needs me so whatever needs doing you do it-oh! And make sure that nobody's out finishing Dad's work or whatever. So no kidnappings or murders or Awakenings, especially not these kids." Said Sho as he reached into Ritsu's pocket and took his phone out.

"Yeah, sure, just take things from my pockets." Said Ritsu sarcastically.

"Sorry, sorry, I should have asked. It was just kind of important, that's all. I'll ask next time." Said Sho as he handed the phone back to Ritsu. Ritsu just rolled his eyes and opened his camera app.

"You'd better not." Said Ritsu as he scrolled past dumb pictures of homework and notes, and the one time they drew on Reigen after he fell asleep, until he found the pictures he was looking for. He handed his phone to Fukuda, wincing as he saw some dirt rub off on the case.

"You know it would be really helpful if I got some names for…these…faces…" said Fukuda as he scrolled through the pictures. Child espers were rare. Suzuki would have been kicking himself with both feet, as he deserved, if he could have seen what he'd let slip through his fingers. Five kids Sho's age, very interesting, and then one small child…

Of great interest.

"Names. Names and addresses, so I know who to protect." Said Fukuda quickly. He kicked his mind into overdrive. Those curls. Those eyes. That face. He knew…he knew what it felt like he was looking at. Some relation of his or…there. There, on the table beside the picture of the girl. The girl holding the baby. The girl with the brown curls. The girl with his eyes. The girl with…with a face he'd been seeing in his dreams for nearly a decade now. There was what looked like a family portrait on the table next to her. Two kids, one baby, one man, and one woman.

One woman…one blue eyed woman.

"Put your number in my phone and I'll send them to you." said Ritsu as he made eye contact with Sho. This guy was Claw…but then again so was Sho. If Sho said that he could trust him then…then he was going to believe him. He needed at least one person left in this world who he could trust.

"Thank you…and I'm afraid that I wont be able to join you two. I have a lot to do around here. Things are…things are in flux." Said Fukuda before he took his leave. He had names and addresses. He had…he had everything that he'd ever wanted in his hand right now.

And the only thing left was to go and take it. To go and, finally, make everything right.

"Bye, I guess…anyway, come on! What do we need him for?" asked Sho as he got back to dragging Ritsu along. He didn't need Fukuda to make Ritsu feel better, he could do that on his own. He had to do it on his own. He wasn't a kid anymore, he could do this!

Sure he might not have been good at comforting people but he could learn. Ritsu did live here now after all, he had all the time in the world to learn.