Suzuki Touichirou could run all of Claw from his bedroom.

Which was what he would be doing for the foreseeable future. He had no other choice. He wasn't running away, no, he was just making a strategic retreat. He just had to regroup and re-plan. He had to figure out where he was supposed to go from here…how he was supposed to deal with what he had done….how he was supposed to deal with his latest loss of control.

And he didn't just mean the earthquake.

"Will you just choose a program already." Said Suzuki. He was proud of himself, a bit, for holding onto control. Hatori had been changing the channels on the television for the past ten minutes. He'd been switching between channels and different ways of watching shows, apparently there was more than Netflix out there, and for a time it had been fascinating. Watching him blink, watching the television turn from one program to another, it was…there were things he could do with his powers and things he could not. Controlling electrical systems wasn't on his list of talents.

No, he'd tried that before and it hadn't worked out at all.

He'd always been able to cause power surges, never on purpose of course, but he had never been able to refine the skill. Not like he had done with his telekinesis. He could do very fine movements with telekinesis but when it came to anything else…well he wasn't exactly a steady hand. There had never been any point to it. As a child, when he'd been feeling lazy, he'd just hit the buttons on the television with his powers. Anything else would have been far too lazy. Even Tadashi thought so. Back when they'd been young and stupid. Back when they'd invented the stupidest goals for themselves. Their ultimate goal, of course, had always been to rule the world but on the way there they'd come up with other goals…such as getting the first and second top scores on every single game in the arcade.

There were some things that he couldn't use his powers for.

He had not been above trying to cheat, especially at games that Fukuda liked and he hated, but trying….well that was the operative word. Seeing screens in his mind's eye was difficult, it was so much easier to see things with a physical presence, so of course he'd tried his best to control the games right at the source…and blown the power to the entire arcade….on more than one occasion. At the time it had been embarrassing, Fukuda seeing him failing, but in time Suzuki had learned that he may have been the most powerful being on earth but even he had his flaws…even he had things which were far beyond even his capabilities…and that was fine. He was still practically the best at everything and the things that he couldn't do…well he had long ago mastered the art of delegating work….

If only he could figure out how to delegate controlling his powers to someone else...his powers and his emotions.

"I'm looking. I can't figure out what I want to watch. There's just-" said Hatori

"Too many choices?" asked Suzuki

"Yeah, and I can't figure anything out….you sure you don't want me to get Mob? I can. She's right next door and-" said Hatori. Suzuki shook his head. No, that would not be happening.

"No. Leave my daughter to her many social obligations." Said Suzuki. He didn't want to see Shigeko. He didn't want to speak to Shigeko. He didn't want to be anywhere near Shigeko. He missed her more than anything else in the world. He wanted to take her in his arms and never let her go. He wanted to spend his life with her at his side…but that wasn't going to happen…and not just because she'd grown up before he'd even had a chance to savor her youth….

He couldn't let his daughter see him like this. She deserved so much better.

"Are you sure? It's just movie night and I'm pretty sure that it's one of Minegishi's picks." Said Hatori

"They don't have good taste?" asked Suzuki. That didn't make much sense. He'd always had this idea of them as sort of…refined? That was the word. Not childish….adult? They were more adult in their mannerisms than the others. Aside from the fact that their clothing suggested someone much younger. Shigeko had chosen well when she chose their company…

He wished that their company had been the only company Shigeko chose.

"They pick the same two movies every single time. It's either Totoro or Clockwork Orange." Said Hatori

"Neither of those seem that terrible." Said Suzuki. He knew terrible movies. Fukuda's favorite movie, when they had been children, had been this thing where a mother and daughter switched bodies…and the subtitles hadn't matched the words spoken….after sitting through that for years he could sit through anything…not that he wanted to sit through anything with anyone….well anyone aside from Hatori.

"You want to go next door and-" said Hatori

"No! Absolutely not!" said Suzuki. He wouldn't have gone next door even if he had been feeling normal…well nothing at all. That was normal for him. He felt nothing at all…well he tried to feel nothing at all. Actually he felt a great many things…and there was nothing that he could do about it. Even now his aura…he could feel it seeking out…he knew that he was seeking Fukuda out….

He couldn't help it.

He didn't want to be around anyone…anyone but him…well anyone but him in the way that he felt about…which he wasn't even sure of! And which he should not have been thinking about. He was here, in his bedroom, attempting to distract himself with good company, some kind of television if Hatori could ever find it within himself to choose a channel, and a slice of that gigantic sandwich Shigeko had decided to serve for dinner the other night. He needed….he needed to be around people and he needed to be on his own and…and…

And the last thing he needed to do was be around a group of the adult children Shigeko called her friends…especially not the one who…who was….whatever Shimazaki was to her.

"Ok…." Said Hatori. His aura was pulled in close to his body. Suzuki could hardly see it without focusing. Really it as easier to see it in the walls…the television, the electrical patterns around them. It took effort, though, and Suzuki was not in the mood to put any effort into anything.

"If you want to hide and do it somewhere out of sight. I don't want to see you out of the corner of my eye. It's unpleasant, especially with how unassuming your aura is." Said Suzuki

"I'm fine." Said Hatori quickly. Suzuki nodded. His aura was still in the walls and the television…and his phone. It was charging on the nightstand beside him. There was a text there, he'd gotten a message from Shiori. This was the night when they watched Love on a Bus together…well over the phone. She was probably looking for him…and he missed her so dearly…

He missed her more than anything.

The smell of her. The way her head felt in his lap. The way her skin felt under his hand as he rubbed her back. The way she always had an opinion on anything they watched. It was nice when she voiced her opinion, he didn't have to try and decipher her feelings. She was never shy with telling him just what she wanted and felt and needed…he loved her so much…she was so easy to understand most of the time.

Most of the time.

There were things that he didn't understand. A contingency of their marriage was him getting his feelings for Fukuda out of his system. The only problem was that he had no idea what those feelings were. He'd just realized that he even had feelings for Fukuda…and he'd acted on them. He hadn't been able to stop himself. It had been like something out of the fantasies he had started allowing himself to have. Fukuda coming to him….apologizing…kissing him….taking him right there on his desk. That last part…he'd come to his senses by the end…he'd realized what he'd been doing and who he'd been about to do all of that with….

He was so sick of his emotions…he didn't have any space left to deal with whatever Hatori was feeling.

"You'd better be." Said Suzuki. He didn't want to deal with Hatori and one of his moods. He had his own moods to deal with…he wished that he hadn't but he did. He didn't know why he had all of…this…inside of him. This…pain? There was pain there…and longing…and shame. He'd lost control…and in more than one way. The earthquake was something that he could forgive himself for…kissing Tadashi…trying to take him…to get Tadashi to take him…

He had no idea what was wrong with him sometimes…but at least he wasn't Hatori.

"I am. I'm fine." Said Hatori. Suzuki could feel his aura darting around at the same frantic pace his eyes were. He didn't want to know what any of that was about.

"Good." Said Suzuki. He knew that Hatori wasn't fine, he knew that something was wrong, but he knew Hatori. He overreacted to everything much in the same way that Suzuki did when he lost control…or when he tried his best not to lose control. Emotions. He'd been controlling his emotions for the entirety of his life, nearly half a century, but now…now he was starting to crack. He could see the cracks along his person….his sense of control…his sense of self. It felt like everything was slipping through his fingers…like it had been for quite some time now….

"So uh…what about you?" asked Hatori

"What about me? There's nothing about me." Said Suzuki quickly. There were a lot of things about him…but he wasn't about to go and discuss anything with Hatori. If he spoke about it then it would become real…well it was real…so then it made sense to speak about these things with Hatori…but he just…these were not the things to share!

"You've only threatened me twice and you barely touched your big sandwich." Said Hatori. Suzuki looked over at the slice of sandwich on his plate. He didn't really want it. This was just the only prepared food in the house. Shigeko had decided that the only food available was going to be sandwiches and she wasn't home to cook anything for him. He was her father. He could have summoned her home at any time and ordered her to cook him a proper meal…but he wasn't going to do that.

She had her social obligations to attend to. Her very important social obligations.

"I'm not hungry. You can have it." Said Suzuki. He hadn't had much of an appetite since the earthquake. He had no idea when he would be hungry again. Shigeko was becoming concerned. She wanted him to eat, she pleaded with him to eat, and he…well he did his best. She cared so much for him…and what had he done for her? He'd destabilized her family structure once again.

"You want something else? Shimazaki got us a big sandwich too but ours is-" said Hatori

"If you value your life then you will not mention that man." Said Suzuki. Shimazaki Ryou was lucky that Suzuki cared for Shigeko as much as he did. He loved her enough that he was ready to let her have that…he didn't even have words to escribe that man. Non-crass ones. Shigeko could have done so much better…what had ever happened to her feelings for Hatori? Hatori was heterosexual now. Well he had said that he was still figuring his sexuality out and Suzuki knew, form firsthand experience that such undertakings could last a lifetime.

Which was good because there was a nine year age gap between Hatori and Shigeko.

Nine years was a hell of an age gap but it was nowhere near the twenty years that separated Shimazaki and Shigeko. Clearly she preferred older men…that did seem a big extreme but there was nothing that he could do about the traits his daughter preferred in a romantic partner. If she had been born a hundred years ago she would have been very intelligent. A ma twenty years her senior would have been able to provide for her in a time when women did not have their own independent employment and ability to dictate the terms of their own lives. If she had been born a hundred years ago then her main gal in life would have been selecting a proper husband…well he would have been the one to choose that husband for her.

He was her father and that would have been his right.

He never would have chosen Shimazaki Ryou as a husband for her. He didn't know how to be faithful. He and Minegishi were in a relationship in which neither of them had promised monogamy. Suzuki didn't understand it but then again he didn't even understand his own romantic and sexual proclivities. Shimazaki wasn't good enough for her. He was too old for her, too old for Suzuki's comfort, and he had nothing at all to offer her. He couldn't even give her monogamy. He had no idea what she saw in him….well beyond his looks.

He really was an attractive man.

Suzuki hadn't been able to see it before because he hadn't allowed himself to see it. Shimazaki was a very attractive man. He was a powerful esper and, Suzuki hated admitting it, a very useful member of Claw. He was also incredibly good looking. He was tall dark and handsome…Suzuki finally knew what that meant. He was muscular and his hair was always perfect and he smelled amazing and his tattoos, which Suzuki would have normally found off putting, made his body look like a work of art-

He DID NOT need to be thinking of his daughter's suitors in this way.

That was what Shimazaki was…a suitor. A wanted suitor. Shigeko was more than strong enough to destroy any and all unwanted suitors…now that she was old enough that she had suitors. She was more than capable of telling a man that she was not interested and if he had a problem with the word 'no' then she was more than capable of teaching it to him. She also had a father and brother who would kill for her. She therefore must have wanted Shimazaki….and Suzuki….well he always gave his daughters whatever they wanted…

But that didn't mean that he had to leap for joy at the prospect of Shimazaki Ryou winding up as his future son in law.

"But-" said Hatori

"I said no. I don't want to speak of that man or think of him or…or anything. I have enough weighing on my mind as it is and I don't have space to worry about something that is none of my business." Said Suzuki

"Mob's only twelve though….isn't she kind of your business?" asked Hatori

"She's her own woman and she can make her own choices. If Shigeko didn't want Shimazaki as her…whatever he is to her…then she could deal with him. You've come to me with your concerns before and I told you already that Shigeko can run her own life. She isn't a child anymore and she…she doesn't want me sticking myself into her relationships." Said Suzuki

"I…guess. I mean I get it, Mob's really powerful, but she's just a kid and…and I don't even know if he's into her but he kind of makes me nervous. The way he's always with her." said Hatori

"You think that I don't share your concerns? I know what age she is, I'm her father, and of course I fear her choosing the wrong man…but hopefully he's just a passing fancy and she comes to her senses and finds a man like you." Said Suzuki. Hatori dropped his sandwich. It fell onto his plate…and some of the toppings wound up on the bed. Suzuki sighed and used his powers to clean it up. This would need to be washed. He'd have Shigeko do it when she got home from her social obligation…and if Sho wasn't still playing with the washing machine.

There. At least he could sort out one of the problems which plagued his life.

"Like me?!" asked Hatori. His voice broke there. He was still young enough that his voice broke…he was nearly decade older than Shigeko…but better one decade than two. He was also sort of…soft? Suzuki was reminded, when he looked at Hatori, of a kitchen sponge. Soft, very soft, without a single hard edge to him. Someone who would listen to Shigeko and always put her needs first. Someone who wouldn't dare to even put the idea of…certain things…in her mind. Hatori was an attractive man in his own right, there was something soft to him, soft and….adorable? Yes, soft and adorable…good traits for Shigeko.

"Yes. Like you. I so wish that she still had feelings for you. You're a very attractive man when you get to know you. Your skin has cleared up nicely, you bathe regularly, your fingers aren't as orange as they used to be, your hair is a very nice shade of brown, there's a softness to you that would be good for her, and I know that even if you were fully heterosexual you wouldn't even think of touching her-" said Suzuki

"So what happened with Fukuda!?" asked Hatori. His sandwich flew off of his plate and hit the wall. The room smelled like lunch meat. He didn't care. How…how could Hatori have just come out and asked him…what was the MATTER with that man!?

"That is none of your business." Said Suzuki lowly. He did NOT want to talk about this. He had no idea what Hatori even needed that information for. There had been an earthquake. That was pretty self-explanatory, wasn't it?

"I-I know it's not, I was just wondering. I mean it probably didn't go so well since you're pulling a Serizawa-" said Hatori

"I'm doing what now?" asked Suzuki

"You've been hiding in your room since the earthquake." Said Hatori. Suzuki knew that he wasn't hiding…but he could see how a person might have been confused. Hatori would live to see another day.

"I've been making a strategic retreat. I need to regroup and plan my next move…but that's not information that you need." Said Suzuki

"I know that I don't need to know but I want to know." Said Hatori

"In that case you're a very nosy person, Hatori. I don't ask you about your romantic life so you shouldn't act like mine is any of your business." Said Suzuki

"You just told me that you wanted me to marry Mob." Said Hatori

"So?" said Suzuki

"Well that's kind of getting into my love life, isn't it?" asked Hatori

"I…suppose that it is…but that doesn't matter. What happened is between myself and Tadashi…and Fukuda. Fukuda." Said Suzuki. He wasn't even sure if he knew what had happened one minute Fukuda had been apologizing and the next thing he knew they'd been kissing…and it had felt amazing. More amazing than anything…almost anything….that he'd ever felt. Well that had been in his top four romantic experiences…if it could even been called romantic. Maybe it had just been lust….desire….but then again….

He had Shiori.

He didn't need Fukuda as a romantic partner, he had Shiori, and she had only given him permission to sleep with Fukuda so that he could get it out of his system. She was worried about him being faithful to her. The way he dealt with Mukai's birth had shaken her faith in his ability to be faithful and provide for Maetel and Tetsuro. Once he did as she asked then she would marry him and he'd have his new children…so he really needed to get on with it…and he had tried…

And then he'd almost sank Tokyo into the sea.

"Huh." Said Hatori

"What?" asked Suzuki. He hated it when he said 'huh'. Suzuki was then expected to ask what dawned upon him. Wouldn't it have made more sense for him to just come out and say what it was that had come to him? Well people seldom did what made the most sense. That was just how it worked. They always took the most difficult path…or at least it looked like that to Suzuki. He didn't know, he had never been the most social person.

"Nothing. He just calls you Touichirou sometimes." Said Hatori. Suzuki nodded. He kept his powers under control. He was proud of himself for doing that. Even half a decade ago he would have been ashamed of himself for being close to losing control over something as stupid as Tadashi…as Fukuda calling him by his given name.

"I have no problem with that." Said Suzuki. There. The truth.

"Well that's good, right? Are you guys going to-" said Hatori

"What passed between Tadashi and I is none of your business, Hatori, why do you have to be so nosy?" asked Suzuki

"Mob's worried about you-and I didn't tell her anything! I didn't say a word. I just know that she's really worried about you and I hate it when she worries. She's my friend, just my friend, and I worry about her." said Hatori

"I…understand….I suppose that my behavior would be confusing for her…I'll have to apologize to her later….I'll have to find a way to apologize to her without telling her anything. She can never know. Do you understand me?" asked Suzuki

"Of course I'm not going to tell Mob anything. She doesn't need anything else to worry about." Said Hatori

"It's not a question of worrying. It's a question of the fact that if she knew about this aspect of my life it would deal a great amount of psychological damage to her and the last thing that she needs is psychological damage. Fukuda can't cure that." Said Suzuki

"Well, yes, I figured it would mess with her head too. Don't worry, I won't tell any of the kids. I won't tell Shiori either." Said Hatori

"She knows. She's the one who told me to-why am I telling you this? I am not talking about this with you. Hatori just…just find something to watch or go home and include yourself in whatever the social obligation is." Said Suzuki. Hatori nodded and then got back to blinking. The channels went back to racing across the screen.

"I'll be good! Shimazaki…sorry…he's been kind of an asshole lately…more than normal. I'll just…uh….find something. Right now." Said Hatori. Suzuki nodded and sat back. He didn't want company…but he didn't want to be alone either. He heard his phone vibrating. He didn't even glance at it. He knew who it was…and he didn't want to talk to Shiori…he did and he didn't. He hadn't done as she asked and…and he didn't know if he could…and he didn't know what he would do afterwards. After he was done with…everything that he wanted to do….everything that he had been wanting to do for so long…

Things which weren't going to happen…or maybe they were…Suzuki wasn't sure yet.

Hence the strategic retreat. He didn't know what he was going to do about anything. It felt almost like his house was burning down around him and there was nothing that he could do. Feelings, emotions, were so illogical. If his house was on fire then he could have fixed it easily. He almost wished his house had caught fire. He knew what to do about this. These emotional problems…his feelings…his personal life…he had no clue what he was supposed to do…so he did nothing…and he would do nothing until his strategic retreat had run it's course.

He could run Claw from his bedroom…so he would do that.