There was a feeling of finality hanging in the atmosphere.

Touichirou had never been the best at reading the atmosphere. It had been one of the few skills that eluded him. He wasn't a mind reader and never wanted to be. Even if reading the atmosphere had always felt like mind reading. Attempting to guess what the people around him were thinking, attempting to puzzle out what they wanted, and what he was supposed to do in accordance with these variables had always been as out of grasp to him as telekinesis had been to the people around him. He had never been able to tell when things were awkward, though Tadashi had always been quick to fill them in, nor if the people around him wanted him to stay or leave or…or anything. The people around him had always been so complex, too complex to understand.

Not like Shiori.

He watched as she shifted in her sleep. He was going to have to leave her again, soon. Things were progressing on schedule and soon…soon he would be the ruler of the world. Soon he would get everything that he had ever wanted. Soon it would all be over…but the ending was just the beginning. He knew that ruling the world would take it's own set of logistics, it's own type of arithmetic, it's own set of challenges. After all, history had shown that taking power was one thing but holding onto power was the true test of skill. Still, though, getting power had been his ultimate goal and now that he was close to it…so close that he could almost taste it…now that he was almost there he felt…excited.

But also…fearful?

He had always thought that the months, the days, the weeks leading up to the day when he took over the world would carry the excitement of at least two birthdays. Of course he had been a child back then with limited funds and an even more limited ability to travel. Now as a man he could have whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it. So maybe now that birthdays meant nearly nothing taking over the world would, also, not carry that same sense of excitement and anticipation…but it had to. This was what he had been working towards for his entire life.

He would not fail.

He turned fully onto his side and watched Shiori. She believed in him, not like Shigeko, Shigeko was the one who had put this doubt in his mind, this fear. She feared that the plan would fail and her fear was infecting him. He knew he would win, he knew he had no choice but to win, and he knew that losing wouldn't just mean not meeting his dreams…it would mean the end of his life. There was no way it wouldn't have all ended for him right then and there if he'd lost. The Japanese government executed people for treason, and that wasn't even mentioning all the other crimes he'd committed in his time, and had committed in his name. He would be forever hunted if he lost…so he couldn't lose. Not only for himself but for the people who depended on him as a provider.

The people he loved.

"I love you." said Suzuki softly as he brushed a lock of Shiori's hair from her face. Her grey lock, the one long one that she had been growing, supposedly, for most of her life. The one that she had said made her look old. As if she ever could have looked elderly. She was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen in his entire life. She was his reason and his life…it was so hard to believe that she was for him. That she was his.

Somehow she was his.

"Touichirou…not now. It's the middle of the night." Muttered Shiori as she opened her eyes. He pulled his hand back quickly.

"I apologize, it was not my intention to wake you up at this hour." Said Suzuki. She yawned and reached out. The lamp on her bedside table clicked to life, temporarily blinding him. She didn't seem bothered, perhaps because it was her lamp, or perhaps because nothing ever really bothered her. She simply yawned, stretched, and sat up.

He joined her.

"You don't have to wake up. it was not my intention to-" said Suzuki

"Wake me at this hour, I know. It doesn't matter, I'm up now." said Shiori

"But…but you don't have to be." Said Suzuki. She needed her sleep. If she didn't sleep enough she would be in a mood and if she was in a mood then what little time they had together before he took on the world would be ruined and if that time was ruined then…then he got the feeling that they would be ruined…and he didn't know if he could handle something like that.

"What are you even doing up, that's the question?" asked Shiori. Suzuki sat up, slowly, his back crying out in protest. She held out her hand again and soon he found himself in a better sitting position. She pulled her hand back. Her face was pale and she had beads of sweat on her brow. She had exerted herself…he had forgotten how much effort it was for her to lift something as heavy as a human being with telekinesis.

He had forgotten how much weaker than him she was.

"I was just thinking about the atmosphere, that's all. Nothing about you." said Suzuki. Shiori rolled her eyes. He had no idea why she had done that but he enjoyed watching her perform it. There was something so…safe, about it. Most likely because safety was bred from familiarity and it had been a very familiar action on her part.

"I had no idea you were so interested in the environment. Planning on running Claw on a newer, greener, platform?" asked Shiori

"No, well yes we have permanently changed the earth's atmosphere and not for the better, I was referring to a feeling that I felt hanging in the atmosphere…I don't know. I was never good at reading the atmosphere." Said Suzuki

"You mean how annoying it is to wake up in the middle of the night to someone playing with your hair?" asked Shiori

"I wouldn't know, nobody's ever done that to me. What I was referring to was this feeling of…of finality I feel. It's almost as though this feeling is hanging in the air between us and…and I can't find it's source." Said Suzuki. Shiori sighed and drew the blanket up to her chest.

"You're probably feeling that way because this is one of the last time we'll ever see each other." Said Shiori softly. Not so softly, though, that he hadn't been able to hear her. To hear what she had come up with. He had no idea how she could have come to that conclusion…that she was going to leave him…it made no sense!

He had done everything right!

He struggled to keep his powers and his emotions under control. He had done everything right. He had done everything that she had asked of him. He was vocalizing his thoughts and emotions like she liked, he had taken time out of his schedule to see her as she had asked, he had done everything she had asked of him since the beginning of this relationship and…and it still wasn't enough! She was still going to leave him?!

At least she was warning him. She at least owed him that much.

"What are you…are you planning on leaving me?" asked Suzuki. He kept his powers under control. He had to think. She was warning him, that meant that she hadn't made up her mind, which meant that she was going to be here when he woke up…though to be safe he was going to have to train his body to function without sleep. That way he could keep an eye on her and make sure that she didn't escape like Masami had.

He was going to have to pause his world domination plans for now, at least until he had this thing settled with her, then he could resume.

"What? No! Utter nonsense, really. You're the one who's going to be leaving me!" said Shiori, shaking her head. He made a mental note to un-pause is world domination plans. This was, seemingly, another one of those instances where he had misread the atmosphere.

Clearly he wasn't putting out the right signals if she thought that he wanted to terminate their relationship.

"To travel to Seasoning City, not to leave you as in to terminate our relationship, I would never do that. Not even for Tadashi would I do that." Said Suzuki. How could she have thought that about him…that he would ever have wanted to leave her? Clearly he hadn't been doing his part for her…clearly he needed to work harder. She was looking at him and had even turned another lamp on. Good, she would tell him what it was that he had done wrong and what she wanted him to do to fix it.

He loved her for that.

"Wait…you can't be telling me that your friend or subordinate or whatever is still coming onto you. I thought you told him to knock it off." said Shiori

"I did but he seems to have feelings for me." said Suzuki

"Going to go out on a limb here and say that you return those feelings." Said Shiori

"I…am trying not to, for you. I chose you and I always will choose you." said Suzuki, taking her hand in his. She pulled hers away.

"That doesn't inspire confidence, you know, you telling me that you choose me but you're also fighting tooth and nail every day to keep your best friend out of you." said Shiori. Suzuki wondered if anyone had ever died from blushing. He hoped that he wouldn't be the first. There was just such a…vulgarity…to what she had just said. A truth, yes, but a vulgar one…they'd had sex! He'd had sex with her, no level of vulgarity between the two of them should have given him this reaction!

"I am not….fighting. I simply will not indulge. You don't have to worry about that and…and you don't have to be so graphic." Said Suzuki. She raised an eyebrow.

"Touichirou, you have no idea how graphic I can be." Said Shiori

"Please don't be, I'd prefer that you, the emotions I feel for you, don't get mixed up in the emotions I feel for him." said Suzuki

"I have a hard time believing that you don't want me and him all mixed up at the same time." Said Shiori

"Is that….is that an option?" asked Suzuki. He struggle to get his powers under control. Shiori and Tadashi together…that would have been…that would have been like a dream. The two people he cared for the most, romantically and sexually, together at the same time…

A pillow hit him over the head.

"No! It's not going to happen! I mean maybe if you found another man, one you've never been in love with…and you both focused on me…yes, then we could talk." Said Shiori. Suzuki nodded. Another man…not something he wanted. It had taken a lot of emotional searching to be able to gather enough courage to have sex with Tadashi for the first time. Another man…and one he had no romantic feelings for…

He didn't know if he could do that.

"What about another woman?" asked Suzuki. He had slept with women he hadn't had feelings for before, he had caught them later of course, but in the moment he hadn't had them. Things would have been different then if he found another woman and…well, he wouldn't have minded Shiori getting intimately acquainted with another woman…

He just got another pillow over his head.

"If I said no to another man then of course I'm going to say no to another woman." Said Shiori

"But if I had no emotions for her-" said Suzuki

"Not going to happen, Touichirou. If you want to have wild sex with groups of people then save it for when you take over the world." Said Shiori. Suzuki shook his head. The atmosphere felt strange, the sort of strange that he wasn't going to be able to stand for long. He felt almost powerless under her gaze…whatever that gaze meant…

That gaze the went on for a couple of seconds…seconds which felt like minutes.

"That's not why I'm going to take over the world so…so you don't have to worry." Said Suzuki

"Who says that I'm worried?" asked Shiori

"You seem worried or…or something. I have no idea how you are feeling right now but…but I would like to. If only to make things more simple for me." said Suzuki. There. Now he was turning it around on her, plainly stating his expectations. Not that he didn't always, of course, but now he was expecting the same thing of her as she had expected from him…and he knew that she was, too, going to live up to those expectations.

Any moment now.

"I…I don't know how I feel right now, alright? This whole thing feels weird for me too. I mean after you leave you'll be…you'll be gone." Said Shiori after many moments had passed. Enough to make him worry. Enough to make him want to ask again and again like a broken record until he got his answer…and now he had it…

But it made no sense.

"Not forever. I mean for a length of time, yes, but not permanently." Said Suzuki. She seemed to have gotten an idea in her mind that he was going to use this as an excuse to leave her…but he was doing this for her, for everyone who depended on him, for everyone that he was expected to provide for. Mostly for himself, yes, but for her and the rest of the world as well. When he ruled the world he would be able to make it perfect, not just for him but for all espers, including her.

Especially her.

"That doesn't matter, you're still choosing to leave me and…and what if you don't come back? I love and…and don't love this side of you, Touichirou, this suicidally overconfident side…the side of you that's going to pursue this and…and commit to this…" said Shiori

"I've been pursuing and committing this since before I met you." said Suzuki

"Yes, I know, but…but what if you…what if I never see you again? What if…" said Shiori

"You think that I'm going to fail. That my plan is going to fail." Said Suzuki. This…this seemed as though it was the sort of thing that was going to cause genuine problems between them. She needed to believe in him. It was one thing for Shigeko to believe that this plan would fail but…but Suzuki? No. He was not going to fail…he wasn't!

He just had to make her see reason.

"Well, I-" said Shiori

"You and Shigeko both think that this plan will fail and…and I have no idea why. I will succeed. I will and-" said Suzuki

"Well then maybe you should listen to your daughter…and hell has just frozen over…anyway, yeah, listen to her. She's just worried about you, Touichirou, we both are. This is…if you get caught, if something goes wrong, if someone betrays you or even just tries to get a bigger piece of what you're offering then the entire thing is going to come crashing down over your head." Said Shiori

"Yes, I have planned for such things. I'm not a moron. I have planned for every variable. I know the risks and…and I will succeed. But it will be vastly more difficult with the people closest to me doubting me." said Suzuki

"I'm not doubting you, Touichirou, I just don't want to see you die! Excuse me for caring if you live or die!" said Shiori before she got up, took the blanket with her, and walked out the door. He laid there in the cold watching the door. Feeling for her aura. She was close, she hadn't left the house, she was just in the living room.

He had no idea why.

He loved her, she loved him, but she had still left…this wouldn't do. He needed her. He needed to be with her, to harness the strength she gave him. She was all he desired in this moment, his will to succeed, and he was going to be with her. So that was what he did, he made the short trek to the living room in pursuit of her, because he had to.

Because he loved her.

"Shiori…please come back. I don't know what it is that I've done but…but I want you to come back." Said Suzuki as he stood at the foot of the sofa where she had elected to continue her sleep, it seemed.

"No. Not now…not when you won't listen to me." said Shiori

"I'm listening right now." said Suzuki

"No, you're hearing what I'm saying but you're not listening. I love you, I don't want to see you get killed or captured, and this whole thing seems like a very high risk and low reward situation. Why not just keep what you have? You already have everything that I…that I've ever wanted." Said Shiori softly. He nodded, making sure to commit her every word to memory. He knew what she meant. The thought of losing him made her feel the same way as he felt when he thought he was going to lose her. That was all she could see, the risks, but not the rewards.

He would simply have to set her straight.

"Shiori…I love you but I need you to understand, not just listen. This is something which I have devoted most of my life too. I will rule the world, I have to, and the world needs me to rule that. This isn't just for me, it's for you as well, you and everyone I care for. You deserve the world and I am going to give it to you. Now please, come back to bed." Said Suzuki. She sighed and stood up. He eyed the front door, praying that she didn't walk through it…she didn't. She simply walked up to him, put her arms around him, and rested her head on his chest.

He held her.

"Only if you promise to come back." Said Shiori, her words muffled by his shirt. He didn't mind, she was close, that was all that had mattered and…and if by some cruel miracle he did fail then he wanted to make sure that he kept the memory of this moment with him always.

"I promise to come back with the world." Said Suzuki as he committed everything about this moment to memory. The feel of her hair against his chin, the softness of it, the smell of it…the softness of her skin…the feel of her heartbeat as it kept time with his…everything. He wished that he could have frozen this moment in time forever…he even would have traded the world for it…

But why trade the world when he could bring it to her? Then they could have these moments whenever they choose.

"Just come back, that's all I ask." Said Shiori before she broke away and then made her way back to her bedroom. He followed her, the feeling of finality back in the atmosphere around him…but he didn't mind it this time, no, because now he knew what it would be. This would be one of their final nights together…before he took over the world. Then they'd have new nights together, new days, and entirely new life.

Finally.