Shigeko was in his desk.

Normally that wouldn't have been a problem. Normally he would have trusted her. Normally, though they would not have been of one mind in all matters, he would have still been able to trust her judgement. But these were not normal times. These were far, FAR, from normal times.

She had never, ever, performed this badly before.

He didn't know what to make of it, what to make of her, so he simply made nothing of her. He didn't even greet her as he entered his office. He simply slid the chair away with a flick of his wrist, the fact that she was still seated in it was of no consequence to him. He simply slid her away from his desk.

But now he had no chair.

"Dad, I'm sitting here!" said Mob as Dad slid her away from his desk. He had even ignored her 'hello' but…but that shouldn't have bothered her. She remembered the Dad from her dreamworld. He hadn't liked her either, not really. Dad…he didn't like her either.

So she shouldn't have been hurt, then, that he was being mean to her.

"I can see that. Move." Said Suzuki. She showed no signs of moving. If anything she just planted her feet more firmly onto the ground. Suzuki had no idea why she was acting like such a child. She shouldn't have bene acting stubborn, no, she should have been begging for his forgiveness. She should have been on the ground fully kowtowing and begging for even the barest scrap of forgiveness for the mess she had made of everything.

He sent her to the ground.

Or at least he tried to. He tried to tip the chair over, and he did, but she didn't fall to the ground. She slid a bit and then corrected herself. He pushed harder. She held steadfast, her aura locked onto his the entire time. She made eye contact. He didn't break it.

But he did let go.

"You're acting like a child." Said Suzuki as he walked behind his desk. He was perfectly capable of having another chair sent up since she seemed to have some kind of attachment to that one. He wasn't going to get into a battle of wills with her, he didn't have the time. So many people were running around directionless. So many meetings missed. So many logistical nightmares brewing right under his feet. He didn't have time for these childish games.

And really, neither did she.

"You're acting mean." Said Mob as she held herself to the chair. Dad had been about to tip her out of it. He used to do that all the time to Sho when he had been little…when they had both been little. When Dad had been more of a jerk. Well, she wasn't going to let that happen again. Things happened around her, to her, but she had the power to affect things too. She was almost as powerful as Dad was.

She wasn't going to let him push her around anymore.

"No, I'm not. Mean would have been me sending you through the wall. I simply tried to move you…though perhaps I should have sent you through the wall. You know you deserve it." Said Suzuki as he opened his laptop and logged in. She was still sitting there, her arms crossed, her eyes attempting to meet his. Her aura felt hostile. He had no idea why. She was the one who had crossed him, not the other way around. He consulted the calendar on the wall. She did get irrational when it was her time.

No, that wasn't for another week.

"See? That's mean….I don't know why you always have to be so mean." Said Mob. She knew that he didn't like her but did he have to show it all the time? Why couldn't he have quietly disliked, like how she disliked Fukuda? Then maybe she could have avoided…no. She had said that she was going to take Claw from him so that was what she was going to do...even though now that she looked at Dad she remembered how happy he had been when he had told her about his dreams for the future and…

And that didn't change the fact that he was mean, he hurt people, and Claw needed to be a better place and it would be under her leadership.

"I already told you, I'm not being mean. If anything, Shigeko, I'm holding myself back. After what you did you're lucky that I am allowing you to breathe the same oxygen as me." said Suzuki as he demanded another chair be sent in for him. He made it top priority. Standing like this was killing his back.

"That was a mean thing to say…but I don't know why I expected anything else. It's not like you like me…it's not like you love me…" said Mob softly as she crossed her arms.

"Don't conflate the two. I love you, you know that I love you, but I do not like you. You're correct in that assumption." Said Suzuki

"You can't say things like that! You can't just say that you love me but you don't like me! That's not how love works, Dad, it's just…it's not!" said Mob. She felt things more in this world, the real world. The dreamworld had been grey and kind of, well, dreamy. In this world everything was in bright colors, real colors, and it was a lot warmer and just more…there. Real. So of course all the feelings she felt were more real, too.

Her powers were real, too.

The blinds had opened and flown off the windows. The room was bathed in warm sunlight. It felt like she was standing on top of a lamp, or maybe just holding her hand over it, like she and Sho used to do when they had been little. They used to see who could hold their hand over the lamp the longest. The warmth had felt so good, so inviting, but if she got too close she wound up with a finger burn.

That was what it felt like, a finger burn, but on her entire body.

"Control yourself, Shigeko, or leave." Said Suzuki. He checked the calendar again. No, not the time…but then what was wrong with her. She didn't look or smell intoxicated in any way. She seemed perfectly normal…women! Why did they always have to be so confusing?

"….I wish that you wouldn't lie to me…it would just be easier if you told me you hated me…easier for me to…to…" said Mob as she drew her knees up to her chest. She remembered what Fukuda had said, that she was going to have to fight Dad, that she was going to have to kill him…she didn't have it in her. Not her Dad, not anyone, not ever…so she could fight him and beat him and then…and then maybe he would realize that she should have been in charge and then he would step down and…and…

And maybe she hadn't thought it through.

"Just say it…" muttered Mob as she buried her face in her knees. She didn't want to have to fight him, she didn't want to have to hurt him, but she was going to…wasn't she? She didn't want to. She just wanted it all to stop. All the bad things. The way Dad hurt people, the way he awakened them, the way he kidnapped them, the way he…the way he did everything. She knew that if he had been planning to stop then he would have done it already. She knew that she had to be the one to make it stop, to turn Claw into something good, into what it was supposed to be…

It had to be her. She had the power to do it, didn't she? So why not actually use her powers for good?

"You don't command me, I'll say what I want to say when I feel the need to say it." Said Suzuki

"Can you just tell me that you hate me so…so…" said Mob

"Hate you? Shigeko…we've gone over this so many times before. I love you. The people I hate die, Shigeko, and you are still alive. Not only that but I continue to provide for you despite the fact that you are becoming…this person. I don't even know what to call you…the things you do…but this isn't about the things you do, Shigeko, this is about the things you don't do." Said Suzuki

"What are you talking about, Dad, I do everything. I've done everything you've ever asked of me and…and it's just…it's never good enough. It's never going to be good enough because I'm not you. I'm not anything like you." said Mob. That was what Dad wanted, probably, someone who was just like him in every way. Someone who was ok with all the terrible things that he did. Someone who wouldn't tell him when he did messed up things…someone who wouldn't make things better. That was why he had never liked Sho, because he and Sho were so different, and why he used to like her.

Because they had been the same.

"That's what you want, isn't it? Another version of yourself to hang out with and…and that's why you used to like me and now…now you don't." said Mob. It all made sense. Dad used to like her because they used to be alike. Because she had played Minecraft with him, and let him dress her like mom, and like him hang out with her doing whatever he wanted to do. Because she had listening to whatever he said. It was the same reason that Mom hadn't liked her. Mom hadn't liked her because she and Mom had been so different. Mom had been cold and mean and…and Mob hadn't ever been any of those things…she had been her own person.

Parents didn't want you to be your own person, did they?

She wasn't going to be like that. She was going to…to call her kids by their names! Shigeo if she had a boy, Elsa and Anna for girls. Serizawa could pick the other boy's name. They would be good parents. They would call their kids by their names and tell them every day, a hundred times a day, that they loved them and that they were very proud of the people that they were becoming. That they were.

She didn't have any kids, or know when she would, and she had no idea what kind of people they would end up being like but she knew that she would love them no matter what.

"But I'm not like you, Dad, and I don't know if I'm ever going to be like you…or if I want to. I don't want to hurt people, I don't want to be mean, I don't want to-to-to grow up and have kids and not call them by their names! I don't want…I don't want to be you." said Mob. She didn't want to become Dad…but if she took over Claw then wouldn't that be it? Becoming him? Hurting him to remove him and then taking his place…she didn't want to hurt him, she didn't want to hurt anyone. She didn't want to be a thing like him.

She wanted to be like herself. She wanted to be Mob.

"Shigeko…no." said Suzuki as he shoved his laptop away and left his desk. She was clearly working herself up to some kind of hysterics. He wasn't going to have this. Not now, not ever.

"You need to get something through your head, Daughter." Said Suzuki as he approached her. She looked up and planted her feet squarely onto the ground again. Her heels dug into the carpet, her knuckles gripped the armrests, and her aura steeled it's self into a barrier.

"I don't hate you." said Suzuki as he stopped in front of her. She looked up at him with something that, while he knew he wasn't good at reading people, he could have called defiance….but that wasn't her….but then again neither was incompetence.

"I don't lie you but I don't hate you. I dislike the things you do. I dislike the company you keep. I dislike the person who you have become. But what I dislike most of all, Shigeko, beyond the drinking and the smoking and the sleeping around, is the fact that you have failed me." said Suzuki

"I never failed you. I always do exactly what you tell me to do." Said Mob

"If you truly believe that your work in my absence was up to par then why am I here?" asked Suzuki

"To yell at me." said Mob

"No, I mean why has what little free time, time I have set out specifically for myself, been taken up by this? By me cleaning up your messes?" asked Suzuki

"I didn't make a mess." Said Mob

"Did you not? Your inability to tell people 'no' has created a logistical nightmare, Shigeko, one that may put us off schedule. Do you not understand the severity of your actions? While you were here playing everything was falling apart. People need to be in position, especially the key positions, if we are ever going to conquer the world. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" asked Suzuki. She continued to stare up at him. Her aura, her eyes, everything about her felt…challenging. She was challenging him.

She should have been smarter than that.

"Why?" asked Mob. Dad was close to her and his aura felt like he was going to hit her at any second. She kept a half barrier going, ready to stop him if he tried, ready to…to stop him, not fight him. She didn't want to fight. This was her Dad and…and he may have been a jerk and a terrible human being but this was still her Dad and she still…she still…

She still loved him.

"Why 'what'?" asked Suzuki

"Just…why?! Why do we have to do all of this?!" asked Mob

"Why do we have to do all of 'what'?" asked Suzuki as he felt a pounding headache coming on.

"Why do we have to take over the world? Why do we have to do all of this? Why do we have to hurt people? Why do we have to…to kidnap people and punish them and lock them in holes and awaken them? Why can't we be nice?" asked Mob

"Shigeko…Daughter. Are you mentally well right now? You most likely aren't, unless you've been ignoring me all of these years…for your entire life." said Suzuki

"I haven't been ignoring you, Dad, I just don't know what…what the point of all of it is. You said that you started Claw to bring all the espers in the world together, so nobody ever had to think that they were alone like you did, and you said that you had to be in charge because you're the most powerful esper in the world…but why? Why do you have to be mean and be in charge? And why…" said Mob. She wanted to ask him why he had to be in charge at all, why couldn't someone else be in charge? Someone nice? She wanted to ask him flat out why she couldn't be in charge but she knew why.

She was a girl and Dad had made himself clear, girls couldn't inherit anything.

"Shigeko…Daughter…" said Suzuki as he stopped in front of her. He…couldn't stay angry with her. Angry with what she had done, yes, but she…was young. She was young and she hadn't lived for even a quarter century yet. She may have been getting older but mentally she was such a child sometimes.

Just as Shiori had said.

"Shigeko…you are young, life has been kind to you, and you haven't learned yet." Said Suzuki as he got down to her level. He hated this, his back hated this, both upper and lower but he had to do this. She was only thirteen. Maybe Shiori had a point, maybe he did expect too much from Shigeko. She had proven herself already but…but her behavior as of late had been out of control. She was young and she couldn't see the big picture, she hadn't lived enough life to be able to ignore her feminine instincts, the ones that told her to nurture and protect.

She didn't understand the importance of ruling with an iron fist.

"If you want to rule then you have to keep everyone under you in line. They don't respect you, Shigeko, because you're too kind. It's not your fault, women are just like that, it's the way of your gender. You…you're too kind and you're only becoming kinder. I never should have put you in this position, Shigeko, and now I am relieving you of duty." Said Suzuki. He wanted to hit her, to strike her across her face, to knock her to the floor…but he didn't. it was wrong to strike women, Father had been very clear about that, and she was a woman now. She was his child but she was a woman and he needed to acknowledge that fact.

He didn't like it but this was just the way it was.

"Wait….what? Are you firing me?" asked Mob. That was…what? What?! Dad was just getting rid of her…throwing her away? She had trouble even believing what she was hearing. He was looking at her and his mouth was moving and he…he was telling her that she was…

Fired.

"No, the people I fire don't get to live another day. I'm telling you to go home and enjoy the rest of your life. I will handle the logistics, you will handle your brothers and sister, and then that will be that." Said Suzuki as he got up. His back popped and cracked.

He was getting old.

"Fine…alright. I'll just go and…and…do things. With Sho and Mukai and…and that's what I'll do." Said Mob as she got up. She didn't know how she felt. She didn't want Dad to be mad at her, she didn't want him to hate her, but she didn't know why. She should have been alright with this, comfortable with this…him being mad at her…him hating her…

He had said, though, that he didn't hate her…and somehow that was even worse.

"Good." said Suzuki as Shigeko got up and left. As soon as she closed the door behind her he let himself slouch…somehow that made it even worse. He had no idea that it could have been this bad. His back and her behavior…he forced himself to forgive her. That was what Shiori had asked of him and he wasn't going to let her down.

She was his everything.

The sun rose and set with that woman. She was the love of his life and…and as much as it still pained him, partially, to admit it even to himself it was the truth. He wanted to give her a part of his life and he wanted to take a part of hers into himself, to marry their very existences together, and he would. Soon. But not if he didn't listen to her. She liked it when he listened to her, it gave her joy, and he…he wanted nothing more than to bring her joy.

Her joy was his joy.

And her joy kept her with him. Masami had…he had no idea what her emotional state had been but she clearly hadn't been happy if she had left. He had done, attempted to do, everything right for her. The only problem had been Masami herself. She had always been so obtuse when it came to telling him what he needed to do, not like Shiori, she always made herself perfectly clear and he, in response, obeyed her to the best of his ability.

If she wanted him to treat Shigeko like a child then he would…even if he didn't want to.

Because she had proven herself to him before at the age of ten. So much had changed, she had changed, and…and not for the better…but he hadn't fathered her. There was no chance of that, he had looked into her parents, he had never once had any sort of contact with her biological mother let alone sexual contact. That child was not his and therefore any vices that she had developed hadn't been his fault…the thought both dawns on him and lifts his spirits, as well.

Though it did nothing for the pain in his back.

He used his powers to drag his chair back behind his desk where he attempted to lower himself into it. He needed to lay down, preferably on something hard, preferably until the pain stopped…but he didn't have the time. It was a staff of him right now. Shigeko had been relieved of duty, Hatori was clearly unfit for any sort of leadership position, and Tadashi…

He didn't know what to make of Fukuda.

Shiori had said that because of what they'd done he had become incapable of looking at Fukuda objectively. That was…not true. He didn't know if he had ever been capable of looking at Fukuda objectively. Tadashi had been there with him by his side for over thirty years and for the entirety of those thirty years he'd most likely had romantic feelings for Tadashi. He had definitely had sexual feelings towards him, at this point in his life he knew that heterosexual men did not have sexual fantasies about other men even if they, themselves, in these fantasies were female. He had never been able to look at Tadashi objectively so…

So he wasn't going to try and start now.

Though, objectively, his back did hurt and, objectively, Tadashi did have healing powers. Also, objectively, Tadashi had said 'I miss you' which…those exact words in that exact order were enough to send a shiver exactly down the center of his spine…but in a good way. But that good way was also quite bad and…and he was no adulterer.

Though he was in an immense amount of pain.

He pulled his laptop closer and ordered Fukuda to come to his office immediately. Fukuda, specifically. They were not on a given name basis nor could they be. Not after having had gone to bed together. That would have been too much, it would have been too close to the line, a line that Suzuki was never going to cross.

He was, as Shigeko had said, mean….but he wasn't a monster.

As soon as he sent the message he felt Tadashi's aura getting closer…and closer. And then the door opened. Tadashi stepped in through the threshold quickly, a chair in tow. Suzuki blinked. That was…not his job. That was what low level awakened were for, the ones who would never be able to do much more than hold onto what little power he gave them. Essentially his spare batteries. He was going to need all the power he could get when the day came, Shigeko's birthday. The tentative day he made his move.

Though, if his back stayed like this, he wasn't going to be making any moves any time soon.

"Tada-Fukuda. Fukuda, you're here already." Said Suzuki as he tried not to wince. His lower back twitched, the muscles beneath his skin. It was painful, of course, but also in a way it was a good thing. The pain in his back distracted from the mixture of pain and longing that was quickly trying to take over the rest of his body.

"I could…um…I could say the same thing to you. Osaka to Tokyo that fast?" asked Fukuda as he walked across the room and then in front of his desk…and he didn't stop. He wanted to stop, of course he did, but he couldn't.

This was important.

He had passed Shigeko on his way up. Something was clearly bothering her. That meant that Shigeko and Suzuki were on the outs. That meant that he could get back in…hopefully not by getting back in…but if it came to that then that was what he would have to do. If he could get back in good with Suzuki then he could convince him that Shigeko was full of nonsense. That she had made up this whole 'mutiny' thing on her own. If he got in better with Suzuki, if he got Suzuki to trust him again, then he could get back to twisting Suzuki in any direction he wanted to.

He knew what it would come to but…but he was prepared to make that sacrifice.

"Bullet train." Said Suzuki as Tadashi passed his desk and stopped right beside him. He took a deep breath and attempted to calm down. His powers, which normally would have tried to lash out, wanted instead to grab Tadashi and pull him close…down to his lap…or maybe Suzuki just wanted to pull himself to his feet and then over his desk…

He looked away.

"I thought you hated commuter rail." Said Fukuda as he rested against Suzuki's desk. He felt Suzuki's aura on him. His eyes were pointed in the opposite direction. Fukuda made sure to lean back further. He knew he looked shameless right now, the tight pants, lack of trademark sweater, and slightly unbuttoned button down telegraphed his intentions pretty well. He didn't care.

If it worked then…then that was what he wanted.

"I do but…but you know what Shigeko did." Said Suzuki

"Yeah, she does whatever she wants, doesn't she? But what can you do?" asked Fukuda, sliding in closer to Suzuki. Now Suzuki's eyes were on him. He closed his eyes for a moment to collect himself. To prepare himself for what he was sure was going to happen.

"I relieved her of duty." Said Suzuki quickly. Tadashi was close, so close. Close enough to touch…but he knew that he couldn't. He wasn't an adulterer. He'd made his choice and…and he loved Shiori. She was the one he had chosen. She could not only give him children but she had never lied to him, either.

He thought of Shiori, willed her visage into his mind, though the image of her was nothing compared to the sheer physicality of having Tadashi standing right in front of him.

"You did what now?" asked Fukuda, standing up straight. Well that had been…unexpected. He had no idea what had happened in this room but he knew what wasn't going to be happening! He wasn't going to…Suzuki was closer to him, now, and looking at him like he was a present under the Christmas tree.

"I relieved her of duty. She failed me so I relieved her of duty. It's very…very simple." Said Suzuki attempting to collect himself. He didn't want to think of Shigeko right now, mixing his children and this was just…wrong. But the wrongness was good. The wrongness could pull him out of this before he made a mistake he was going to regret for the rest of his life.

"That's…something. I, uh, I-" said Fukuda as Suzuki stood up. This was going exactly where he needed it to go…and exactly where he didn't want it to go. He hadn't washed it off yet, the feeling from the last time, that disgusting feeling that seemed to have steeped below his skin and refused to wash out no matter how many baths he took, how many showers, how many different brands of soaps and shampoos he went through, how many times he washed his clothes…the disgusting, filthy, debasing feeling had never really left him.

And now he had to make it worse. For everyone's own good.

"Tadashi…Fukuda. What are you doing?" asked Suzuki. He had to keep his wits about him. He remembered Shiori, conjured up her visage. The image of her may not have been as powerful as something, someone, that he could reach out and feel but right now that wasn't what he wanted. Right now he wanted…he needed, needed was the right word, his strength. He knew that it was wrong and…

…and he knew better than to lose another partner.

"Nothing, I just wanted to be close to you. We're…we're not as close as we used to be. I miss that. The way we used to be…the way we used to be friends." Said Fukuda

"Yes, we used to be friends, but that time has passed, Tadashi. You lied to me many times. You lied about everything from the whereabouts of my son, which I understand, to you having slept with my ex-wife, which I still can't wrap my mind around." said Suzuki

"Let's not dwell on the past." Said Fukuda quickly.

"No, no, I won't. There's no point in dwelling on the past when there is so much to attend to in the present." Said Suzuki. Tadashi had always been intelligent about these things. He didn't have time to sit there and go over every confusing interaction that they'd ever had. He had things to do. He had to-

Tadashi's hand met his tie. Suzuki forgot what it was that he had been planning on doing.

"Right, the present." Said Fukuda. He had been planning to pull Suzuki down into a kiss, just like Fukuda had been pulled into so many times before, but something inside of him had said 'stop'. Something that pulled that feeling, that disgusting feeling, back to the surface. It reminded him of how Suzuki had felt under him, how it felt when their mouths met, how it felt to be inside of him…his hands raking across his back…his hips pumping back and forth pulling him in deeper and deeper…the explosion of warmth and stickiness across his belly…the way it had festered even though he had wiped it away almost immediately…

He couldn't do this.

"Tadashi…" said Suzuki. He was so close. It would have been such a simple thing. Lean in, kiss him, and then bend over his desk and let Tadashi take him. The world, for a moment, ceased to exist. For a moment it had just been the two of them, there, no Shiori…no Masami. No past, no future, just the present…their present…

But fantasy was not reality. He couldn't do this.

"Let me go." Said Suzuki. Tadashi, to his credit, immediately let go.

"Suzuki…Touichirou, I-" said Fukuda as he wracked his brain trying to find something, anything, that could have platonically explained his behavior.

"Want to have sex, yes, I gathered as much. However, as much as I would also enjoy it, I am going to have to decline your advances….advances that you know that you shouldn't be making." Said Suzuki as he took a step back. His back hated that as much as his chest did, a strange heaviness had settled there, though compared to the state the rest of him was in it was an improvement. He shifted in place. There was no need for Tadashi to know the exact effect he'd had on him.

No, Suzuki needed to end this, not encourage him.

"Why not? I'm single, you're-" said Fukuda, his tongue trying to tie its self in knots with every word. He didn't have to do this. He could walk away…he wanted to walk away…but he knew that if he walked away things would never be good between him and Suzuki again.

"You've met Shiori, you know that she exists, and you know that I am currently attached to her and shall be for the foreseeable future. I have no intention of committing adultery so I will have to decline your advances for." Said Suzuki as he detached himself from the situation…or at least tried to. His emotions weren't having it. He wanted Tadashi, needed him, and not just sexually. He needed…comfort. Like a well worn suit Tadashi had always been there. He found himself missing their close comradery, missing having someone by his side who always understood just what he meant, he even found himself missing all of Tadashi's annoying idiosyncrasies. He missed…he missed Tadashi.

But he loved Shiori.

"She's not here, though, she's in Osaka. She doesn't have to know." said Fukuda. Of course this would be Suzuki's hill to die on. Kidnapping? Totally fine. Torture? Ok. Murder? Sure. Widescale disruption of world governments and financial networks? Why not. Adultery? Hell no!

"I would tell her, you know that I would, just as I know you'd do the same if you had a woman in your life…or a man since you seem to be so inclined." Said Suzuki as he took another step back. He smelled so good. Fukuda smelled like cologne and himself and it was so intoxicating sexual that…that Suzuki needed to get away from him. He should have been beyond this! He wasn't an adolescent anymore, he'd had sex more times than he could count, he knew how quickly it ended and the emotions faded. How quick and cheap it was.

Sex was quick, cheap, and easy. Love…companionship…there was nothing on it's scale, nothing to compare it to, nothing so precious and desirable.

"If you truly want to have sex so badly then visit a pink salon as I know you're apt to do. I'm sure there are some that employ men, there must be, and if there aren't then…I don't know. I'll have Hatori scour the internet and compile a list of known homosexuals and bisexuals for you to browse through at your leisure." Said Suzuki as he took another step back….and now his back was to the wall. He hated this. He needed to be alone. He needed relief…from the pain.

And only the pain.

"But first, before you leave, and you will leave I'm going to need you to repair my back." Said Suzuki. Tadashi was still staring at him. He didn't know why, he was sure that he'd been as concise as possible. He wasn't interested in having sex with Tadashi, not at this time or ever, but he did need his back fixed. What had been confusing about that?

"You're…turning me down. After everyone YOU'RE turning ME down?" asked Fukuda. This was…vaguely insulting but also a relief. A mixed emotion. He had no idea what he was supposed to do now. His plans were dashed but, on the other hand, he didn't have to crawl on top of Suzuki and then inside of him. He didn't have to close his eyes and picture something, someone, he liked until it was over…until Suzuki let him end it. He was, amazingly enough, a pretty generous lover…

Yes. This was a good thing.

"Yes. I am. So unless you plan on forcing yourself on me, which I don't have to tell you will end in your death, fix my back and then get back to work." Said Suzuki, finding his footing. Tadashi sighed and then the pain went away. The pain in his back. There was a tightness in his chest as Tadashi's head fell and his feet pointed towards the door. It hurt but…

But it would pass.

"And close the door on your way out. I don't want to be seen right now, by anyone." Said Suzuki. Tadashi, thankfully, did as he was told. Suzuki soon found himself alone in his office. Alone with his thoughts…with the thoughts that Fukuda had put in his mind. Thoughts of him, his body, his shoulders…the press of his thighs against Suzuki's…the way he stretch to accommodate…

No.

Not even in his mind. He wasn't going to even think about it. He was going to think only of Shiori…but not now. He was forty seven years old, long past this point in his life. He wasn't going to sit there and fantasize sexually all day. He was going to get back to work, he was going to fix everything that Shigeko and the rest of them had broken, he was going to fulfil his life's work…

But first he was going to sit behind his desk, finally, and get to work.