Shigeko really needed to learn to mind her own business.

"What did you just say to me?" asked Suzuki. He did his best to keep himself under control. He could not lose control, not in front of her. She looked to him as her father for guidance and he had to deliver. She had exploded catastrophically already, twice, and Claw wasn't fully recovered from either event. The last thing he needed to do was normalize such things for her.

He had to be a good father.

"I asked how your Christmas was." Said Shigeko. That didn't help him at all. He knew what she had said…and he had reacted. He had almost reacted. He had to keep calm. She was just being nosy…why was she being so nosy!?

"Why are you asking me that. Explain yourself." Said Suzuki. He kept his voice and his aura level. Shigeko would have done well to follow his example. She was swaying in place, her body and her aura. Her powers as well. Her hair was swaying under the force of her powers. He had to look away. He had forgotten she had destroyed her hair like that.

"Uh…I wanted to know how your Christmas was because you're my dad and I love you." Said Shigeko. She smiled at him. He didn't smile back, not only because he couldn't but also because he wouldn't. That was no kind of explanation.

"That's not a good reason. Think up another one." said Suzuki. That told him nothing, Why had she asked him something like that? How he had spent his time? A part of him was filled with cold terror. She could have known…he couldn't think of anything worse than one of his children knowing just how far he was willing to go in service of his goals. That was all that it had been, between him and Tadashi, him reaching certainty. It was over now and…and there wasn't any feeling of wistfulness when he remembered Tadashi as he slept after-

His children were right there. Now was not the time.

"What?" asked Shigeko. He had no idea what he was supposed to say to that. What. It was a word which meant a demand of explanation. She did not get to demand explanations of him, he demanded them of her. She had forgotten her place. She may have been a woman but she was still his daughter and she did not have the right to speak to him like that.

None of his children did.

"Stop being an asshole!" shouted Sho. A shoe went flying towards his head. He caught it and threw it back. He had no idea if he had it Sho or not. Part of him wanted to have hit Sho. The other part of him knew that it wouldn't have been worth it. Shigeko would have gotten upset with him and the last thing he needed was a conflict with her…more so than they were having right now. He so hated conflict with the children. Maybe things would be different with Mukai, or the children he would have with Shiori. Hopefully his next batch of children would know how to behave.

Especially Tetsuro.

He didn't know what he would have done if he'd wound up with another Sho. He'd made so many mistakes with Sho. He hadn't spent enough time with him, that was the main problem. If he'd spent time with his Son then he could have molded him into the man that he should have been. That had been Masami's fault. She had been a normal person and in being a normal person he couldn't have shared his entire life with her. Shiori was an esper. There was nothing about his life, his work, that he needed to hide from her. This time he would have his wife and his son by his side. Yes, that would probably fix most of what had gone wrong with Sho.

Most things…but not everything.

"Sho!" said Shigeko. She grabbed him with her powers. Another missed opportunity. He wanted to…he needed to correct Sho. It had nothing to do with wanting or not wanting to hit him or shove him or…or any of the things which would have made Shigeko angry with him.

"Do not speak to me like that." Said Suzuki in lieu of actually punishing his Son. Sho hadn't been punished enough, and it was Shigeko's doing. She was a very kind, softhearted, person. He feared for the future of her children. She had made her own mistakes with Sho and he prayed that she learned from them as he had when it came time to start her own family. Later of course, not now, not…well he didn't have an exact date for when she would have been allowed to have her own family but it couldn't be soon. She was still so young….but she was making her own choices now.

He hated her hair.

At some point he had lost control of his own children. He hated it, her hair. How she had chosen to destroy it. He may not have made her but she was still his child. She was a woman though…the whole thing gave him a headache. That was what they were, children, headaches. She was a headache but Sho was a migraine. That child…he would be able to wash his hands of him soon. When Tetsuro was born. Tetsuro would be everything he wanted in a son, everything that was good about him, but none of what he hated about himself. None of his indecisiveness, none of his issues with control, and none of the bisexuality either. He needed grandchildren. He didn't need Tetsuro insisting that he was a homosexual just to be contrary. He didn't need Tetsuro to spend most of his life not knowing a basic truth about himself….

He would have to be much stricter with Tetsuro than he ever had been with Sho.

"You're the one being an asshole to big sis." Said Sho. He raised his hand, it was a reflex, but Shigeko grabbed him with her powers. Her telekinetic hold was strong but his was stronger. He pulled himself free and said nothing to her. He didn't know whether he was supposed to praise her or chastise her…or if he even could chastise her…

Things would be different with the next one.

"Sho, go somewhere else. Please." Said Shigeko. He watched the path her aura took. She was putting up a barrier between him and Sho. Not that it would have done anything. He could have broken through it with little effort. Sho, on the other hand, was effectively trapped. How his own Son could have been so weak he would never understand. Tetsuro would be better. Tetsuro would have had two esper parents. That child had better have been more powerful than Sho had turned out. Suzuki had done a lot to bring him into the world…more than anyone could ever know.

"What are you-" said Sho

"You. Out. Now." Said Suzuki. He broke through Shigeko's barrier, with more effort than he had been planning on using, and shoved Sho down onto his back. Shigeko put her barrier back up and strengthened it. She was strong….but of course he was stronger. He would always be stronger. He was Suzuki Touichirou, he had no equal.

"Fuck you!" said Sho as he picked himself up. Shigeko took a step towards him but he pushed her away and ran. Suzuki didn't know where he was planning on going and he didn't really care. It wasn't like it mattered.

"Dad…now Sho's upset." Said Shigeko with a sigh.

"Yes, I am aware of that. It serves him right for acting like that." Said Suzuki

"You were mean first." Said Shigeko

"What are you talking about? I'm being normal. If I had wanted to be mean I would have told him that the last thing I wanted to hear after a week of blissful silence was his voice when he said-" said Suzuki

"Dad! That's mean!" said Shigeko

"Well you did ask for an example so I gave you one." said Suzuki with a shrug. She needed to make up her mind. Women were so confusing and now Shigeko was one of them. He couldn't believe that there had ever been a time when he had been able to understand her and she had been able to understand him. It had been so long ago, it seemed, but also it felt like it had just been yesterday.

"You're being really weird, dad." Said Shigeko. This now? He had been dealing with this disrespect from Sho for years now. He did not need it from her. It had been disrespectful enough that she had ruined her hair. He could not deal with this again, not from her.

"Don't speak to me like that. I'm being normal. Everything about me is completely normal right now. You're the one being odd." Said Suzuki

"I'm being normal." Said Shigeko

"No, you are not. You're being nosy. Since you walked through that door you've been incredibly nosy, and I don't like this development at all." said Suzuki. He didn't like any of her developments. This was, however, becoming one of the worst.

"All I did was ask you how your Christmas was. That's not being nosy, dad, that's a normal question." Said Shigeko. What was her fixation with Christmas? Why did she need to know? Why did she have to be like this? He was…he was calm. He could speak to her, she wasn't Sho, when he spoke she actually listened to him. he just had to stay calm.

"Don't argue with me and never ask me about Christmas or any other holiday or any other part of my personal life. I am your father and what I do is none of your business just like what you do is none of my business. You didn't consult me when you destroyed your hair, did you? So why should I share any part of my personal life with you?" asked Suzuki. There. Now she would understand. Even through the simmering anger he had managed to stick to pure logic without once ever diving into emotional hyperbole.

"It's my hair and I can do whatever I want with it." Said Shigeko, grabbing one of her braids.

"Yes, including destroying it. You had beautiful hair but you've taken it and turned it into that mess. It's difficult to look at you, honestly, with your hair looking like that. If you had consulted me I would have forbade you from doing that but you did not consult me and, as you've stated many times before, your hair is your property and as your father I have no right to tell you what to do with it. You're also a woman and I know that women do not enjoy having their appearance criticized." Said Suzuki

"That was mean, dad, really mean…." Said Shigeko. She was holding onto the other, now, and her aura…she was being defensive. She had no reason to be defensive. He was not being mean. He was being logical. Sometimes logic could be painful but that was life.

"I did not mean to make you feel bad, I was simply stating facts. You don't get to dictate my life and I do not get to dictate yours." Said Suzuki. There, more logic, something which she should have understood. She had wanted this, right? Her independence? Well he was giving it to her. He had been terrified of it, before, when he had allowed himself to be. Her independence had been this thing which had only existed on the horizon, something that he had to be careful not to damage, but now…now it was here…and maybe he should have done more to damage it. He needed to be better with the next one. The next one….she wouldn't leave his side. Yes, that was a good plan.

"But I wasn't bossing you around at all or being nosy. You just started being all mean and weird…really mean and really weird…and I kind of don't want to spend Sunday with you." Said Shigeko. Oh, was it Sunday? He hadn't noticed. He used to love his Sundays with her…back when she had been a child. Back when he'd been able to understand her. She was incomprehensible now, as most women were, but that was fine. This was nature's way. There was a certain sort of melancholia to it, their relationship as it was, and as it had been….but it was what it was. He had another daughter now and there were more to come. He loved her, of course, but she was a woman now and she had made herself loud and clear. She was not a child anymore and she no longer needed him.

"I hadn't realized that it's Sunday." Said Suzuki

"Oh…well it is and…and I think that I'm going to spend time with my friends now….since they're nice to me." Said Shigeko. He…did not mind. She had her own life and he had his. New Year's Eve was coming and Shiori had expressed a longing for his company…he had places to be and so did she…though for different reasons…at least they better have been different reasons.

She was resting a hand on her stomach.

"Which friends?" asked Suzuki. She had let go of her braids, now, and one of her hands was on her stomach. He was reminded, disturbingly enough, of Masami. They way in which she had cradled Sho when he had been nothing more than a cluster of cells. Even before she had started to show she had done that…Shigeko had been out of his sight for so long…and her friends were overwhelmingly male….

"All of them….well not Minori, not today, but Minegishi might need help waking their plants up and Serizawa is probably lonely or maybe Shibata needs help-" said Shigeko

"What about Shimazaki?" asked Suzuki. No. Not him. If she was pregnant…if she was with child…then it would have been fine just so long as that child didn't share a drop of blood with Shimazaki Ryou.

"Why are you asking about him?!" asked Shigeko. Her hands went back to her braids. Her barrier reappeared for a moment before shuddering out of existence. Her aura was still visible, though, and it was defensive. Not a good sign. Why did she keep on coming back to that man?! He was good looking, and a powerful esper, but neither of those traits made up for his terrible personality. Shigeko was too good for him, too powerful for him, and too…he was not worthy of her. No man would ever be worthy of her, of course, but Shimazaki Ryou was the least worthy man in the entire world!

"Because I wanted to know if you were planning on spending any time with him." said Suzuki. That was a good way of putting it. He was her father, he didn't want definitive proof that she was sleeping with him, just like she of course didn't want to know about his own affairs. She had been asking…but she had no idea what she had been asking about. She had just decided to be nosy today, that was all.

"Y-You're the one being nosy now, dad, and…and I want to go now…so that's what I'm going to do." Said Shigeko

"Go then. I have places to be as well." Said Suzuki with a wave of his hand. He didn't want to know, definitely, if she was sleeping with him…so he would turn a blind eye to it. The defensiveness. The fact that she spent so much time with him. Even the times when she would come home late at night smelling of a combination of his cologne and various types of smoke. He…did not need to know about that part of her life…he didn't need to know about every single facet of her life.

And she didn't need to know about his.

"Where?" asked Shigeko. He could have told her…but he could have done a lot of things. He could have told her about Shiori and he could have killed her and them himself, or set the world on fire, or pulled the moon from the sky. Just because he could do something didn't mean that it was a good idea.

"I have business in Osaka…no, you do not get to question me about my life…just…go. You said that you were going to leave so just leave already. Stop being uncertain." Said Suzuki. She would know about Shiori…eventually. Not now. He didn't need to deal with the fallout. Suzuki knew that he didn't know much about women, or social interactions in general, but he did know that she was not going to take his well. Him having another family, starting another one. It had been the two of them for so long…but nothing ever lasted forever. Not love, not family, nothing….nearly nothing. Claw would last forever…at least it would once he got the line of succession sorted out. That was the most important thing, a proper heir, securing one….Claw came first. What he wanted didn't matter….no. His personal needs and Claw's needs were one in the same. Claw was him and he was Claw…and right now he needed a son and Claw needed an heir…he needed to go.

"Why are you being so mean!?" said Shigeko before she turned on her heel and left. He heard her struggling with her boots in the genkan. He didn't help her. She didn't need his help anymore. She didn't need him anymore. That was to be expected, she was a woman now, and she thought that she was beyond his command. That didn't matter. He had Mukai and whatever children he and Shiori were going to have…oh. By this time next year he could have had another child. Another daughter, maybe. Another person…

Hopefully his next Daughter wasn't as defiant and nosy as Shigeko had grown up to be.