All good things must come to an end.

"Wow, this week just flew by, didn't it?" asked Shiori from her spot on her bed. She laid on her side, in a way that she had assumed would be inviting. Touichirou was stuffing his suitcase and glancing, occasionally, at her alarm clock. Well someone was anxious to leave…or anxious about leaving. She couldn't tell with him. She hoped to hell, though, that her boyfriend wanted to stay with her.

Her fiancée.

She spun the ring on her finger. It was a good fit. Like Touichirou himself it had taken some time to get used to but now that she had, well, she couldn't imagine life without it. Well…well she could have, actually, she had lived for the past forty one minutes without a ring on her finger or Touichirou in her home….but both the ring and Touichirou were nice to have.

She knew how to carry on without him, of course, but she would have rather carried on with him.

"Time passed as usual but it did feel as thought it passed faster in your presence." Said Suzuki as he stuffed the last of his shirts into his suitcase. This was…not going as well as he'd imagined. Leaving should have been easy. He should have had his fill of her. He had never had trouble leaving before, not Masami or Tadashi or anyone. But she was different…perhaps because he had no real assurance that she would be here when he came back.

Well it was her home…but homes could be sold.

Homes could be sold and women could leave. He had thought that their domestic experiment had gone well but he didn't entirely trust his own judgement on this matter. He had thought that things between him and Masami had been going well but then he had woken up one day and she had been gone, disappeared from the face of the Earth. She had been a normal person, too. Shiori was much more powerful, more resourceful, and more….Shiori. She was looking up at him, now, through her eyelashes in an expression that he couldn't read. Was it good or bad? He didn't know. He had no idea what she was thinking or feeling or…or if this had even gone well.

But he could always ask her…in fact she preferred it when he inquired about her thoughts and mood.

"You always know just what to say, you know that?" asked Shiori

"I...actually don't, most of the time." Said Suzuki

"Well you always know just what to say to me, Touichi." Said Shiori. Touichi always got him. Two years ago she never would have thought that she'd be in his presence, unless it was on the battlefield, but here he was in her room red as a tomato.

"I…thank you. I didn't mean to but…thank you." Said Suzuki

"I don't know what I'm going to do without you. I'll probably end up just talking to the cat again…though he's not as articulate as you are." Said Shiori

"I would have been very surprised if he was." Said Suzuki. He hadn't meant to make Shiori smile but she was. She was smiling so brightly and her aura was so….so warm…he didn't know how he would ever be able to leave her…but he had to. He had work to do. There was always work to be done but judging by how much his phone had been ringing there was an absolute mountain of it waiting for him when he got back….deals could so easily fall through, especially when you took an entire week off….if that building Beijing fell through then someone was going to suffer. Someone in the world…not Hatori, he'd suffered enough on his own this week…but someone in the world, in Claw would suffer.

His phone rang again.

Shiori closed the door with her powers. The kitchen charging block was far enough away that he couldn't hear it anymore. They'd had to make that rule, no phones in the bedroom, because Shiori had a tendency to scroll through it in the middle of the night when she couldn't sleep. A concession had been made and, at the time, it had seemed like so much….but it really wasn't. He had said something, she had listened, and now…and now they were both happy….

Why couldn't all relationships have been this easy?

He zipped his suitcase up and put it on the floor. Shiori watched him the whole time. She laid down on her bed, reclined, her eyes never leaving his. Her aura never leaving his. He half expected her to plead with him to stay. Masami had done that…but she hadn't understood what he had been building. Why he'd had to leave her. Not like Shiori. She was, in some ways, like him. She knew the value of building something, of putting her all into something great, of knowing exactly what she wanted out of life. She was an esper, too. She knew him, she knew everything about him, and she could share in everything about him…

She was his and he was hers….but for how long?

"What's that face?" asked Shiori. Touichirou was making his deep in thought face. That could either have been good or bad in equal measures. That man…she loved him but he could be ridiculous sometimes. If something was on his mind then he just needed to say it. Life was short, too short for this.

"What face?" asked Suzuki

"The one that you're making. Come on, I know that face. Either you're worried about something or your just ruminating. Which is it?" asked Shiori

"I….am not ruminating. I suppose that I'm worried…about you." Said Suzuki

"If this is about whatever the hell those morons have been calling uncontrollably about I can deal with it on my own." said Shiori

"It's not about that but if you need my help-" said Suzuki

"I can handle things on my own, now what else are you worried about?" asked Shiori

"I just…you'll be here the next time I have time to visit….correct?" asked Suzuki. Shiori looked like she was about to cry. Her face got red and her eyes teared up…her chest began to rise and fall…but her aura felt just as warm and inviting as ever….

"Touichirou….I love you." Said Shiori with a laugh.

"That doesn't answer my question. In fact you've actually raised several more. Why are you laughing? This is…well I don't find it amusing. The thought of you being gone…the thought of coming to your home and finding it empty. The thought of waking up expecting to see your face but instead finding nothing…so much nothing…." Said Suzuki softly. He didn't like this at all. This feeling…this tightness in his chest…the ringing in his ears. He felt…he didn't know what he felt. He didn't want to know what he felt. He just wanted to stop feeling like this.

She patted the bed beside her.

"Touichirou, come here." Said Shiori as she patted the bed beside her. She knew that face, that aura. Vulnerable. Touichirou…President Suzuki…the leader of Claw, was vulnerable in front of her. Wow. There were probably a thousand and one women that would have killed to have been in her place…or so they must have imagined. There was something to seeing Touichirou vulnerable. Something endearing…something oddly poignant…beautiful even. Maybe it was his aura. The way the red and the yellow danced together. Or maybe it was his face, the thousand and one tiny expressions that passed over it. Or maybe it was all of the above….she didn't know.

She just knew that she wanted him near her. Right now.

He moved slowly. He sat on the very edge of the bed, first. She didn't know what he was so nervous about. He sat right there on the edge of the bed like he was worried it was going to collapse or something. She rolled her eyes and pulled him forward with her powers. After some rolling he found his way beside her. Her head found it's way onto his chest. His arm found it's way around her body. His aura found hers. Her aura found his. His hand found hers.

They found each other.

"Please be here when I come back. Please…" said Suzuki softly. Maybe if he had told Masami, begged her not to leave, then she would have stayed…or maybe he hadn't wanted her to stay. If she had stayed then he never would have met Shiori. He opened his eyes. He could see the top of her head, black hair where he had been expecting brown. He didn't mind the black hair…he actually liked it better…he liked her better….he loved her more…and in a way he was glad that Masami had left. The pain of it had never truly left him, never truly passed, but it had been a sort of productive pain. If he had never worked through it then he never would have met her.

He never would have met the love of his life…the real love of his life. Sakata Shiori.

"Don't be ridiculous, Touichirou, this is my house. Where would I even go?" Murmured Shiori as she buried her face in his chest. She could feel his heartbeat under her head, she could hear his pulse in her ears. He was there…all around her….

"I don't know…the ends of the Earth." Said Suzuki softly, his voice matching hers. He felt her press a kiss to her sternum. Her trading a kiss. One to his sternum, one to her head.

"Seems like a long trip." Said Shiori. She could feel his hand in her hair. She reached over and traced patterns onto his stomach, her fingers dancing over his buttons.

"It is. I've done it, before." Said Suzuki as her hair slipped through his fingers like the finest strands of silk.

"Did see anything worth it?" asked Shiori as she undid the button over his navel. His stomach rose and feel under her hand. Another button joined it's companion. She couldn't see much from this vantage point but she didn't need to. She traced his stomach, she followed the trail of red fuzz up and down. His hand, similarly, traced it's path up and down her spine. It didn't linger, not like hers. Just up and down, up and down.

"Worth what?" asked Suzuki as Shiori's fingers wandered lower and lower…as she undid another button.

"Did you see anything that would have been worth leaving me for?" asked Shiori as her hand found the top button of his pants. He gasped and went still. She let her hand linger there. She lingered until he moved. His hand had stopped right in the middle of her back, right above her spine, right above the clasp of her bra. His fingers danced over it through her blouse. He moved. She moved.

"No, there is nothing in this would that could ever take me away from you." Said Suzuki as he played with the clasp of her bra. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest against his body, the softness of her hair as it cascaded across his face, the pad of her finger lingering right at the top of his waistband….

"Then why would you think I was going anywhere?" asked Shiori as she undid his top button. She let her finger trace the path of his zipper. His hand, in turn, undid each hook of her bra. The first. The second. The third.

"I don't know….I was worried, I guess." Said Suzuki as he felt the spandex of her bra give way. He smoothed out the lines of her back, the indentations the band had made in her flesh. He could feel them through her shirt…the impossibly thin material of her shirt.

"Well don't worry. I'm not her, Touichirou, I'm me…and I'm not going anywhere." Said Shiori as she undid his zipper. He arched into her with a sound that she doubted anyone had ever heard before, especially not the last Missus Suzuki.

"I know." Said Suzuki as his hand found it's way down her back and then up her shirt. He traced the path of her spine upwards. She pressed her face into his stomach and kissed him. Traded a kiss with him. She kissed his stomach. He raised his head and kissed the back of her neck. His back cried out in protest. He didn't care.

"Then why would you doubt me?" asked Shiori as she found the front of his boxers. He arched into her again, though he made a different sound this time. Something low and…primal. She wanted to hear it again.

"I don't know…because I love you, maybe." Said Suzuki, his hand traveling up her spine and then down again. He stopped at the middle of her back and worked his hand around. He traced the path of moles as if it were a trail. In some ways it was. He followed the trail to the very side of her breast and lingered. She had two moles there of equal size and distance…like two suns orbiting each other…two celestial bodies etched into her celestial body….

"Maybe?" asked Shiori as she worked her way past the front of his boxers. She worked her hand downwards. His hand worked it's way around. For every centimeter she moved, he moved. She worked her way downwards through his forest. She didn't get lost…she couldn't get lost…and neither could he. He followed the unbroken line of moles that ran across her back, his fingers dancing over each of them, until he stopped just short of what he had been looking for. So had she.

"Certainly." Said Suzuki. He swallowed. She was so near to him…he was so near to her. She kissed his stomach again. Lower, this time, and then lower again. They weren't trading kisses, not anymore. It would have been impossible. He would have broken his back in two…he felt as though he was about to break in two…..

"Really?" asked Shiori as her hand found what it was looking for. Another new sound, this one a cross between a prayer and an expletive. Her hand left his forest, there was no point in lingering now that she had found the tower. No point in doing anything other than climbing it.

"Y-Yes…" hissed Suzuki. His hand had found the impossible softness of her breast. Her hand had found….oh….yes…..

"Really-really?" asked Shiori as her hand made the not so arduous journey to the top of his tower. His hand was making it's own explorations. The path from her back had been traced. Now he forged a new one, an unmarked one….one which he marked. The pads of his fingers…the tips of his nails….

"Yes…oh God, yes…" gasped Suzuki. He closed his eyes and just felt. Her skin under his fingers. The rise and fall of her chest. The vast expanse of softness, the way it suddenly ended in hardness. The softness of her hand again his…oh dear God…..

"Then show me." Said Shiori. She let go of him. There was a whine, a high pitched and needy thing, before she felt herself being flipped through the air in a seldom seen display of strength. She found herself on her back with no other choice, no other want, than to look at him…to be with him…to touch him…to be touched by him. Her fingers found his buttons and quickly made short work of them. His hands found the hem of her shirt and, before, she knew it, her stomach had gone to gooseflesh. Her stomach, her breasts, her arms, any other flesh that he could bare…any other flesh that he could find….

He bared her. She let him.

She bared him. He let her.

Soon the world shrank to encompass only the two of them, there, in that room. She could hear the ringing of her phone, then his phone, distant in her ears….drowned out by the sound of his breathing. A deep inhale and a shaky exhaled punctuated only by the sound of her name. Shiori. Shi. Ori. Shi. Inhale. Ori. Exhale. He repeated himself. He kept tempo with the sound of her name. Shi. In. Ori. Out. She matched him. inhale for inhale. Exhale for exhale. Toui. Inhale. Chi. Exhale. Toui. Inhale. Chi. Exhale.

Rou came later.

Rou came as her legs gripped him in their vice. Ryou came as her fingers scrambled for purchase in the flesh of his back. Rou came as her mouth crashed over his. Rou came as her aura expanded so far outwards in a desperate attempt to meet his that she scarcely could tell where she ended and he began. Rou came as her body lost all integrity. As her bones turned to jelly. As her blood turned to soup. As her flesh turned to pudding. Rou came as her eyes burst opened. As the world came back into view. As it expanded above her. First his head, sunlight bouncing off of the coppery redness. Next came the ceiling. Some sort of off white, some sort of cream color, coming into view. Next came the bed around her as her arms slackened and her hands left his back. The warmth of the sheets plied against her limp fingertips. Their work was done. There was nothing to do but watch the world come into view. To feel it. To hear it.

Shi. Ori.

Shiori.

Nothing to do but hear it. The gasps. The groans. The uncategorizable sounds that made up her world. It was a world of the sense, now. The feel of him against her, somehow slick and sticky at the same time. The smell of him, of her, of them together lingering as their work concluded. The taste of salt on her tongue, of sweat…both his and hers. The glow of coppery red that existed right at the periphery of her vision. The sound of their breathing, no longer synchronous, but melodious nonetheless. Another touch, his aura to hers. Her slowly extricating herself from him. The coldness and…heaviness….a new sort of heaviness had taken over her world…a new sight….

Pink. Blue.

Red and yellow had been replaced by….she sat up. She could feel it. That was…she at up too fast. Dizzy. She was dizzy. She held her head in her hands. That was…like nothing she had ever felt before. She was vaguely away of the feeling of flesh against hers, of his hand against hers. Words…he was saying words…but she couldn't focus. She couldn't hear him or…or anything. Anything other than the voice in her head screaming that she run away, now, while she still had the chance.

Sakata Shiori did not run.

"Shiori? Shiori? Are you alright? Shiori?" asked Suzuki as he shook her. She was elsewhere. Her aura had practically jumped from her body…she might as well have been projecting…but why? She was…she was acting…her aura was acting as though she sensed a threat. But he sensed nothing. Nothing at all out of the ordinary. No new auras, no murderous intent, nothing at all that would have warranted this reaction.

This terrifying reaction.

"Shiori!" said Suzuki, giving her one very hard shake. She immediately rolled off of the bed and put up a barrier, the strongest that he had ever seen her put up. She held her hands in front of herself defensively. Her eyes darted across the room, from corner to corner. His eyes followed the path hers took. Nothing, nothing at all out of the ordinary…..

Something he couldn't sense…no, no, there was nothing that he couldn't sense…but then again how would he have known if he could sense it or not?

"Touichirou! Can't you feel it?" asked Shiori. There…coming closer. That was…it was like nothing she had ever felt before….close to nothing. An aura that could encompass so much…Touichirou had encompassed her but…but it had been nothing like this. This was…she was reminded of the butterflies she'd catch as a child. The net she caught them in. The jars she transferred them to. The cotton balls soaked in rubbing alcohol that she had dropped into the jars. The needles she had pierced them with…

The frames they had been preserved and mounted inside of.

"What do you mean? I can't feel anything." Said Suzuki

"You can't….you don't feel that aura!?" asked Shiori

"What aura?" asked Suzuki. He expanded his range and…nothing. Nothing at all new or even new-ish to him. Just his aura, hers, and Shigeko's. No assassins, no robbers, not even Hatori taking it upon himself to see Suzuki out…he must have been so late by now…but it didn't matter. He was the President of Claw, it was his plane, and it would leave when he told it to leave. Right now Shiori needed him. He couldn't sense whatever it was that she did…but he would find it. He would hunt it to the ends of the Earth and destroy every last trace of it.

Nothing frightened his wife. Nothing.

"That one! The pink and blue one that's surrounding us right now!" said Shiori. She waved her hand through the air for emphasis. It hit her barrier…she didn't care. She had to stop…to defend herself against whatever that was…even if she was completely naked. It didn't matter. Nobody came after her, nobody picked a fight with her, especially not in her own house!

"That? That's nothing, just my…my daughter…." Said Suzuki. Well of course he hadn't recognized her as a threat, or even out of the ordinary…even though she so clearly was….she really…what was she DOING here?! What business…naked. He was naked. His daughter was near and-and he needed to get dressed. He grabbed the first pair of pants he found. They wouldn't go over his hips…he wasn't trying hard enough…

He'd tried too hard.

"Touichirou! What….why!?" asked Shiori as she pulled her pants away from Touichirou. He hopped on one foot as they slid down his leg…the fabric tore once more…these had been expensive! These had been her favorite slacks and…and why in the hell was she worried about her slacks!? Touichirou's daughter…that nosy little brat…she was HERE?! She had…that girl was either really brave or really stupid…or just really entitled….who in the hell did she think she was!? And what the ever loving fuck…what was she DOING here?!

"I apologize, I thought that they were my pants." Said Suzuki quickly. He looked around the floor…he needed pants…he didn't have time to go through his suitcase. He didn't have time to dig around for pants and a shirt and…why….what was the MATTER with Shigeko?! What business could she possibly have had….he looked for his pants…one problem at a time. He couldn't properly chastise his daughter if he didn't have pants on…if he did then he would have damaged her psychologically….she was already damaged psychologically! That was the only explanation for-for-for THIS!

"Your…just….your daughter is here. What is she…what in the hell does she think she's doing here?!" asked Shiori as she found her underwear. Let Touichirou find his own clothes. She didn't have time for this. The absolute terror was gone, now replaced with the white hot rage of a thousand suns, a million stolen parking spaces, a billion dropped Chinese takeout boxes! That girl…who in the hell did she think she was?!

"I don't know, I can't speak for her mental state." Said Suzuki as he found his shirt. Shiori jumped past him and made her way to her closet. Normally he would have enjoyed the view but now…he could feel Shigeko. She was close…not close enough for him to calculate the exact distance between them but…but close enough that he…that….the he couldn't even focus…

Why did his shirts have so many buttons!?

"Well you'd better speak TO her then! Now!" said Shiori as she pulled the first dress she could grab over her head. She didn't have time to put together an outfit or whatever. She needed to put a stop to this. Who did that girl think she was? And more importantly did she have any idea who Shiori was? That this was her house? That coming here like this was in now way appropriate. Not between them as…as whatever they were. Stepmother and stepdaughter…and not between them as espers. If she had been anyone else, if instead of being Princess Shigeko she was just another esper, then Shiori could have taken this as an act of aggression….

The little princess wanted aggression? Well then, yeah, she was going to get aggression!

"I-I'm not dressed! She can't see me like this! She's my daughter!" said Suzuki as he did the buttons to his shirt…and missed a hole….why did all of his daytime shirts have buttons?! Who invented these things!? Even with telekinesis he just…why were they so small and slippery?!

"Yes, she's your daughter! You need to lay down the law with her! You've been needing to lay down the law with her! Touichirou…this is not ok!" shouted Shiori

"I know that! I just…I can't think! I can't focus!" said Suzuki

"Well you'd better get focused because I can't deal with-" said Shiori. She picked up his boxers and tossed them but she missed. Right towards the end her barrier had gone back up. His boxers hadn't made it more than a few centimeters in front of her before they fell to the floor…she couldn't help it. Her doorbell rang…

She knew exactly who it was.

"If you could just stall her, make up some excuse-" said Suzuki as he got the last of his buttons down. He could see his underwear, there, inside of her barrier. His pants were still nowhere to be seen and…and he needed them. The last thing he wanted to do was to feel any more violated than he had now. Shigeko had no right to be here. She'd had no right to follow him. She'd had no right to intrude like this!

"No! I'm not making any…you want me to deal with her, Touichirou? Then fine! I'm going to deal with her!" said Shiori before she pushed past him. She slammed her bedroom door shut behind her. Somewhere her cat yowled in protest….fine! Whatever! One more sound to add to the orchestra. Princess Shigeko had decided to branch out from the bells, now it seemed that percussion was her forte. Pound, pound, pound…her little fist against the door…Shiori's door….who did this girl think she was…

Who in the hell did she think Shiori was?!

She was Sakata Shiori. She had defected from Jodo and taken a quarter of his followers with her. She had taken Osaka nearly on her own. She had held it, too, for nearly two years. She had conquered this city and, depending on how someone looked at it, the world. Touichirou…he held the world in the palm of his hands and she held him. The world…this city…this house…they were all hers…

And if Princess Shigeko had a problem with that then tough!

Shiori was practically seething as she got to her front door. The house was shaking. The lights and TV were turning on and off. The world was pink, the world was blue, but she was going to turn it indigo. She took a deep breath. Control. Obviously the little brat was after a reaction. She had come here to what…intimidate Shiori? Lay down the law with her? Tell her under no uncertain terms that she was to stay away from Touichirou? Or maybe she was here for Touichirou…to demand that he come back. To demand that he wait on her hand and foot, to demand that he give her everything her bratty little desired, to demand…well who in the hell was this girl to be making demands! She was a child and Shiori would not be intimidated by some bratty little girl!

Hell no!

"Get away from my door." Said Shiori as she opened the door. The girl…Princess Shigeko, had been mid-knock. So this was her, Touichirou's first born…she didn't see it. She didn't see it at all. The shape of her face, her eyes, her mouth…all of it was all wrong. Touichirou was mixed, very mixed. This girl looked like she was the posterchild for that crazy Japan for the Japanese group. Aside from her hair, of course. In some attempt to blend in with her family she seemed to have dyed it the most garish shade of red she could find…and it had probably been worse when it had been new. It was a washed out red, now, like someone had left an uncapped marker out in the sun. A mess, too, in two uneven braids…she looked like a child….

Like a child mixed what a child's understanding of what a woman looked like.

Her jacket was opened. Her shirt was too tight. She needed a bra, a good one, or at least a better undershirt considering how cold it was outside and the fact that she was wearing a white shirt. Her skirt was too short, too, some short tutu thing. Thank God she was wearing leggings…though pants would have suited her better, or something that would have left more of her to the imagination. For a girl who seemed desperate to hide under layers of makeup…foundation that didn't match her skin, bright blue eyeshadow, glittery pink lipstick, enough bright pink rouge that her face could have been mistaken for a pig's….she seemed hellbent on hiding her face when the rest of her was on display like she was university student enjoying Golden Week….

But she wasn't a university student. She wasn't even a teenager yet.

"Did you hear me? Lower your hand and get away from my door." Said Shiori in a voice that could get even the most obstinate idiot to listen to her. Princess Shigeko seemed to know when to pick her battles. She lowered her hand, slowly, the whole time keeping eye contact with Shiori. She attempted to make aural contact, too, but Shiori shoved her aura back every time she got close. Indigo fought with pink and blue. A two on one match. Indigo won.

"Is-is my Dad here? I want to talk to him. Can I?" asked Mob as soon as she could find her voice. So this was the lady from Dad's phone. So this was Shiori. She was…a lady. Old, like mom had been, or maybe even older. Her face was all wrinkly. She needed some foundation and stuff. Her eyes had black all around them like she was a raccoon. She had lipstick across her mouth and on her teeth. Her dress wasn't nice, either, it was all plain and black like someone had died or something…or like she was a witch. Most stepmothers were witches or at least wicked…not that this lady, this rude old lady, was going to be her stepmother. She wasn't going to be Mob's anything…or Dad's anything, either. She didn't know what Dad had seen in this lady….why he had let her trick him…

But everything was going to be ok, now. Mob was here.

"Excuse me?" asked Shiori. That was it? The little princess was just going to open up with her list of demands? Fine then, if she wanted to act like she had been raised by wolves then that was her own problem…and Touichirou's…but not hers. It wasn't her job to give the little Empress her desperately needed etiquette lesson.

"Can I talk to my Dad? I know that he's in there, and that you tricked him into moving not your house by pretending to be his girlfriend and…and I'm going to save him. So can I please go inside?" asked Mob. She wanted to just push this lady to the side and march right in there to where Dad was….but that would have been mean. Minegishi would have done it…but they were Minegishi. Mob wasn't mean like that…and also this lady looked like she was really old, much older than Mom had been, and if Mob pushed her then her bones would have broken or something.

Mob wanted this lady gone but not hurt or suffering or anything.

"That I tricked him? You think…and no, you cannot go inside of my house! Do you have any idea who I am?!" asked Shiori. She had never heard anything so ridiculous in her life…tricking Touichirou? What…what was this girl on? And she must have been on something. Touichirou had said that she was a budding drug addict and lush…she could smell the liquor on the girl from here….

"I know you know who I am." Said Mob simply. Everyone, every esper anyway, knew who she was. She was Dad's daughter…she was his family. She was the person Dad was supposed to…to…who in the f-word did this lady think she was?! Coming into Mob's family, making Dad leave them, probably trying to give her another brother or sister to take care of….that b-word!

"You little….you think you can get smart with me?" asked Shiori. Her aura flared. Princess Shigeko just kept on staring her down. She was simultaneously staring Shiori down and looking her nose down at her, too…in addition to being a smart mouthed little s.o.b. to end all smart mouthed little s.o.b.'s.

"Smart?" asked Mob. She….had no idea what this lady was even talking about…or why she was so mad. It wasn't like Mob had tried to break her family up or anything…what was his lady's problem!

"Yeah, smart! You think that I'm just going to stand here and let you be a little smart aleck? Really?" asked Shiori. This little girl needed to see a doctor because she had some set of balls on her. That little…she was stronger than Shiori. Shiori wasn't an idiot. In a contest of brute force she knew shed lose…but in a contest of strategy, ok Touichirou had won this one, she would win. This girl was raw power, pure raw power, and more likely to hurt herself than anyone else….

"What's a smart aleck?" asked Mob. More words she didn't know…but she hadn't come here to play twenty questions, she could play that with Serizawa when she got home, she had come here to see Dad and drag him back home….she heard a door opening…she could see his aura….

"You…you cheeky little-" said Shiori

"What's cheeky mean?" asked Mob

"You…are really trying my patience here, princess." Said Shiori

"Oh, no, I'm not a princess at all and I didn't mean to try your patience. I just…I'm trying really hard to stay calm right now. I just want to talk to my Dad, that's all…well not all. I'm going to bring him back to Beijing with me, too, and I'm going to make him say sorry to our little sister. She's sad because he missed Children's Day to be with you….instead of his children." Said Mob, her voice getting low like Minegishi's did when something really upset them. She heard another door open…Dad was in there…and this lady was keeping him away from his family, from his kids, she was trying to make him leave! Mob knew what her plan was. She was trying to make Dad run away in the middle of the night and…and then she and Sho and Mukai would wake up and he would be gone and they would be orphans…well not Mukai….but Mob didn't want Tsuchiya for a mom! She didn't want anyone for a mom! Not Tsuchiya, not this lady, and not…not even her own mom!

"I…do you have a death wish? Because you're talking like you have a death wish you entitled little brat." Said Shiori just as lowly and just as dangerously as that little…she didn't even have words…

"Of course I don't…..do you? Because right now I feel like you're trying to pick a fight with me…and sometimes I can't control my powers. Bad things happen when I lose control of my powers." Said Mob. The other lady was starting to lose control…but Mob…she had to hold onto control. She had to hold onto control because as much as she disliked this woman she didn't want to hurt her. Not even to throw water on her to see if she would melt like a real witch.

"Is that a threat?" asked Shiori. So that was how she was going to play it. She was…she thought that she could come to Shiori's house, knock on her door, and then stand there on her doorstep and threaten her? Fine. If she wanted a fight then she was going to get one.

"No, a warning." Said Mob. She put up her hands like she was surrendering. She could read auras and right now this lady was madder than Sho on bath night. She had to…to make this right…even though this witch had tried to break her family even more apart than it already was she didn't want her dead or anything…or even hurt or bleeding or…or anything.

As much as she deserved it Mob just couldn't bring herself to hurt anyone.

"Why you little-" said Shiori as she pulled her arm back. She knew just where to hit to knock the wind out of someone, to knock them off balance, to knock them out, to stop their heart…not that she would be stopping Princess Brat's heart-

Not that she even had the chance.

She suddenly felt weak. The world became hazy. It felt as though something had come and just….bitten her. Bitten her and started to suck…like what she imagined it must have been like to have a lamprey attached to you. She grabbed the doorframe for support. The indigo that had surrounded her suddenly went out…went dark….

Yes. It hadn't been a threat. It had been a warning after all….

"Shigeko. Explain. Now." Said Suzuki as he put a stop to whatever had been about to happen. Shiori had been about to strike Shigeko, possibly lethally, obviously enough to injure her…he couldn't let that happen. This was his child and he was perfectly capable or disciplining his own child….but she was a woman, now, and…and he had never struck a woman unless she had struck him first…and he knew that Shigeko would never have struck him first or even at all….

But she had been about to attack Shiori…possibly…probably….

"Touichirou. Explain. Now." Said Mob. She crossed her arms. No. Dad didn't get to talk to her like she was a little kid anymore. She wasn't Mukai. She was old enough that-that she was the one who deserved an explanation! Who did he think he was? Did he think that he got to just-just make people and then leave them!? Well that wasn't how it worked! He didn't get to just-just come back to Japan and play house with some old witchy looking b-word…bitch! That was what she was, a bitch! He did not get to run off to Japan to play house with some bitch who-who thought that she could just come in and-and ruin everything! Hadn't she been through enough? Hadn't Sho? And why…why did Mukai have to go through it too!?

She didn't. She wouldn't. Not while Mob was around.

"You're really going to let her talk to you like that, Touichirou?" asked Shiori as her head stopped swimming. No. There was no way in hell….if he didn't put Queen Brat in her place then…then it was over. Shiori loved him but she was not going to marry a man, or even sleep with a man, who let a twelve year old girl rule his life. She couldn't think of anything more unattractive…and from every single angle, too. A nearly fifty year old man cowed by a child…a grown man letting a little girl walk all over him….and he wanted to have MORE children with her? When he couldn't even control the ones he had!? She…she couldn't believe that she had actually let him…without a…that she had risked having his….

Abortion. If he didn't lay down the law with his daughter then, if by some roll of the dice she'd gotten pregnant, she was going to be having his abortion. There was no other option.

"I…I…." said Suzuki. She was out of line, way out of line, so far out of line that she wasn't in the same hemisphere as the line…but there was nothing that he could do…not without hitting her…

"You're not explaining anything! Why are you here?! Why did you leave us?! Who's she!? And why is your shirt inside out!?" asked Mob

"I…I…" said Suzuki

"Touichirou! I swear to God if you don't lay down the law with this child right now then we are through!" said Shiori

"I…." said Suzuki

"What do you mean, through? Dad, what did she mean? Why is she…she says a lot of weird stuff and…and I heard that she was your girlfriend! But don't ask me from who!" said Mob

"I…." said Suzuki

"Yes, Princess, your father has a life outside of you and you need to accept it. Despite what your father has taught you the world does not revolve around you! People have lives, little girl, ones that you can't just waltz in and disrupt! You do not get to come here, to MY HOUSE, and start flinging around all kinds of demands and accusations. You are a child! Touichirou, back me up here!" said Shiori

"You…" said Suzuki

"Dad, you're just going to let her yell at me? Why? She….she isn't your girlfriend…you can't have a girlfriend! You…you can't! You already have me and Sho and Mukai and…and we don't need any more people in our family…or any less people….so please, don't go…don't let this lady trick you!" said Mob

"You…" said Suzuki

"Touichirou! I swear to fucking God if you do not put your daughter in her place then…then that's it! We're not getting married, we're certainly not having kids, and…and I don't know if I'll ever even want to see you again! You're Suzuki fucking Touichirou, you're going to rule the world…but how in the hell is that going to happen if some spoilt little girl is ruling over you?!" asked Shiori

"You…I…" said Suzuki

"Kids? What…is she having a baby? Are you…are you having another baby? No…no! You….you're not allowed to have another baby! Mukai is the baby! We already have-have-have her and you love her and…and you don't need another baby! I won't let you have one!" shouted Mob

"You…you…." Said Suzuki

"For the love of…you know what? If you don't do something then I'm done with you and if by-by some miracle…if by some curse I'm pregnant with another one of your spoilt brats then…then I won't be having your baby. I'll be having your abortion." Said Shiori. Her strength was back now, and then some. Touichirou seemed to be back to. He was looking right at her, now, his eyes…was he crying a little?

"You're…what?" asked Suzuki. He had caught maybe every third word. It had been so…so hard to follow. Shigeko and Shiori…neither of them had given him space to THINK! What was…what was he supposed to do….what could he even do!? He had been about to lose control…he had been a hair away from the edge…he was still teetering close to it. Abortion…a medical procedure he was not well acquainted with….one that Masami had wanted to have….one that he'd talked her out of….one that…that he didn't know if he could…Tetsuro….

"Dad…why did she say abortion? Is she going to have one? is she pregnant right now? Does she need a ride to the doctor? Does she need money? I have some, a lot of it if she needs it. There's a car too and-" said Mob. Minegishi had said that it was everyone with girl part's right to have one, to be able to not be pregnant if they didn't want to be, and if this lady didn't want to be pregnant then…well she couldn't think of anything better for everyone. No new brother or sister, lots of love for Mukai, she wouldn't end up an orphan…everything would be good…..everything would be normal! Everything would be-

-pain.

Her face hurt. She fell to the ground. Her leggings ripped. She felt her knee scrape. She couldn't breathe through her nose. She tasted blood. Her hair was in her eyes. Dad was looking down at her…he was so tall….and his aura was so bright….it hurt to look at him.

Everything hurt.

"No." said Suzuki. His palm stung. His chest felt tight. She was looking up at him…she hadn't even put up a barrier….she was bleeding….good. She had been asking for it. She was not going to ruin his life. He had done his part, he'd raised her to biological adulthood. She hadn't reached the age of majority but that didn't matter. She was old enough to bear a child. She was old enough to drink. She was old enough to smoke. She was old enough to snort cocaine. She was her own woman and…and he was done with her.

She was an adult now. She didn't need anything more from him…and he didn't need anything more from her.

"Touichirou…." Said Shiori. So he did have it in him after all. He had hit her harder…harder than Shiori would have slapped her…but whatever. That was nearly thirteen years of pent up punishment, of course he'd split her lip and bloodied her nose. She deserved it. She wanted to act like an adult? She wanted to go around threatening people? She wanted to act like she was the mother fucking princess? Well then she should have been prepared to deal with the consequences of her actions.

"Dad….Daddy…." said Mob as she touched her face. Her hand came back bloody…it hurt. Everything hurt so much…

"No. Don't you 'Daddy' me. I told you before, Shigeko, that you are too old for that. You're too old for all of this. You are old enough to know better than to…to come here and stick your nose in my affairs. What I do with my life is none of your business. Who I choose to spend my life with is none of your business." Said Suzuki

"But…but you promised me that you'd spend your life with me…that we'd spend our lives together. That…that we'd take care of my kids and-" said Mob

"You can raise your own children, Shigeko, and live your own life. I'm not stopping you. In fact I am ordering you to. You want to be a woman, fine, then be a woman. You don't need anything more from me besides my continued financial support. You have it. That's all you need from me now." Said Suzuki

"But…but Dad…you promised when I was little-" said Mob

"Well you are not a little girl anymore, now are you? You're a grown woman with your own life and I have never once tried to impede it…even though I hate everything about it." Said Suzuki

"You…you hate me?" asked Mob

"I hate…I don't hate you, I hate the life you've made for yourself. The person you've become. I hate your hair, I hate your clothing, I hate the company you keep. I hate the way you are with men old enough to be your father. I hate the way you drink and smoke. I hate that you even know what cocaine is let alone that you snort it. I hate nearly everything about you and I wish that you would just go back to that person you were before, that nearly perfect person, but obviously that isn't going to happen. I hate so much about you right now…the way you nearly ruined what remains of my life…how could you possibly be so selfish?" asked Suzuki

"I….I'm selfish?" asked Mob

"Yes. You nearly cost your future unborn brother his existence. You nearly cost me the only relationship I have ever had in my life which I have been happy in. You nearly cost me…you nearly cost me the love of my life…you selfish little…" said Suzuki

"Touichirou….I think that's enough." Said Shiori. Normally she was all for kicking someone when they were down but this….she deserved it, of course, but maybe not all at once. She was crying, now, and her aura was all over the place. Shiori almost wanted to hug her…almost. She had brought this on herself. She had thought she could come in here and run the show…because Touichirou had taught her that the sun rose and set for her…he wouldn't be ruining their child like that. She wouldn't let him.

"Dad….I'm….I'm sorry…please don't hate me….please…I don't want to be an orphan…I just want my Dad back…that's all. I just want you back….please come back…please Daddy…please Dad…I'll be better Daddy….please….." Said Mob. This was the worst feeling in the world. This was worse than when she woke up and Mom was gone. This was worse than when Fukuda took Mukai away from her. This was worse than when Minegishi ran away from home. This was worse, even, than when Teru kicked her out after they had sex. She felt like her heart was breaking in half and the halves were trying to come out of her belly button. She felt like…like she was all alone in the world….

The plants around her all died. Even the trees.

"What in the world…" muttered Shiori. There it was, that feeling again, but time directed at her yard…her front garden…possibly her back garden. She didn't know whether to beat some sense into this child or…or hide….because chlorokinesis…she had seen it, making weeds wilt after an hour of focus…this was not…she had never seen chlorokinesis like this before….

"Stop it, Shigeko, I just told you that you were too old for all of this. You're a woman now, you have your own life, now go and live it." Said Suzuki. He felt…so much lighter now. Shigeko had been such a burden to him…she had taken up so much space in his mind…but he hadn't been thinking clearly. He had been treating a woman like a child so of course he had caused himself all sorts of undue torment…well no more. He had done his part, he had raised her to biological adulthood, and now he was done. There was nothing left to do. He had fulfilled his imperative as her father and now he could focus on the next generation. Really it made logical sense. Even a moron could have seen it.

"You…you want me to go? I can do that! I-I can do anything you want me to do! I can go anywhere you want me to go! Just please…please don't go….please…." said Mob through sniffles. Dad…Dad loved her…she just had to make this right. She could do whatever he wanted and…and it didn't matter how she felt. She just…she didn't want to be an orphan!

"I don't care where you go or what you do, Shigeko. You just go and live your life and I'll live mine. We're both adults. Adults do not concern themselves with the whereabouts and business of other adults…now go. Leave." Said Suzuki. Shigeko nodded. He watched as she picked herself up and walked away. There was a feeling of…of pain, there, in his chest…but this was nature's way. The natural order of things. Children grew up and made their own lives. He knew he had…and at least he had lived long enough to see the woman, the disappointment she'd become….

Maybe he'd get a better batch of children on the next try.

"She….had that coming." Said Shiori. Not all at once. She hadn't had it coming all at once but…but that was Touichirou's fault for raising her the way he had. He hadn't had a wife, she hadn't had a mother, and….and Shiori was only going to be one of the two. She took Touichirou by the hand. She was…in many ways proud of him….but in a few afraid. He had been harsh with her but…but there was no way in hell their child would ever need that kind of wakeup call…no way in hell their child would ever get to that point. She wouldn't let it. She would never let…she didn't even know if she was pregnant….

She hoped that she wasn't.

Not now. Not after…she had to process all of that. So did Touichirou. He was shaking, he was white, his aura…the ground was shaking. She had lived through enough earthquakes to know how they started and….one thing at a time. First she would deal with this and then her own feelings and then his and…and then they could deal with the rest of their lives. She clutched his hand tightly in hers and led him, wordlessly, inside of the house. It was over now…all good things, all things, came to an end.

But what was ending if not another beginning?