Suzuki Touichirou did not cook.
He knew how to cook, to an extent, but he did not cook. Others cooked for him. His wife, people who worked for him, people who worshipped him like the living God he was, they all cooked for him. He had more important things to do with his time than cook. His time was very valuable and he so rarely found himself with a surplus of it.
"This tastes different. I like it better before." Said Sho as he picked at the bowl of porridge dad had made. Dad had made them breakfast for the first time that Sho could remember…and maybe that had been for good reason. He jabbed his spoon into his porridge and tried to pull it out. The porridge kept on trying to eat it.
"That's because before someone else made it. Either eat or go hungry, it's your choice." Said Suzuki as his son made faces at the breakfast that he had prepared for him. Masami had asked him to make breakfast. Well she had said that she had a lot to do to get the kids ready in the morning and that she didn't have enough time to make breakfast. He asked her if the children were old enough to make their own breakfast and then her eyes did that thing that he strongly suspected meant that he had said something wrong.
And then she asked him if he could be so kind as to make breakfast.
He didn't want to make breakfast, he hated cooking, but if it got the children out of the house faster than he would help. He really needed to hire someone to help out with this task and all of the other domestic tasks that Masami did. There were just so few female espers…and he did not want another man in the house. That was irrational of him, he knew that Masami would never cheat on him, but he did not want to court any unpleasant emotions. Enough of the unpleasant emotions had already been brought out upon this return to his home.
There was still some distance between Masami and himself.
He thought that he would have settled it, whatever that terrible mood of hers was, when he told her that he would do whatever she wanted to make her feel loved. She wanted affection and he would give it to her whenever she asked. He enjoyed giving and receiving affection from her as well, though he knew that it made him weak, weak and some other emotions that he knew would not lead to anything good. She didn't know, nobody knew, just how much emotional control he needed to have over his powers. Well, there was one person who might have understood…
But she was not there now.
Daughter was being groomed so that she would be fit to be seen by the world. There was so much work that women needed to do to look nice, girls as well it seemed. Daughter's hair needed to be brushed and braided and she needed to be dressed in her school uniform, apparently she had some trouble with buttons, and she needed Masami's help to do all of this. It had been a slow start for the children, it seemed that they had been up late playing, and that had caused the late start to the day.
And also why he of all people had made breakfast.
"Can I have something else?" asked Sho
"Do you plan on making it yourself?" asked Suzuki
"Mom says that I'm too little to use the stove." Said Sho
"Then I guess you're eating what I made." Said Suzuki. He didn't see why Sho was too young to cook for himself, if he set himself on fire they had a healer on call. Sho was five now, he should have been old enough to do something for himself. Anything. He didn't much feel like questioning Masami's judgement, though, because the domestic sphere was not his place to be making comments. Within these four walls Masami was God.
"But I don't like it." Said Sho
"Then don't eat it." Said Suzuki. He wondered if Daughter was just an usually wonderful child. She never whined like this. This whining was grating on his very soul.
"I liked it better before." Said Sho sticking out his tongue even though mom said that if he did that then a crow would swoop down and mistake his tongue for a worm.
"I know. You've said that already. You're going around in circles." Said Suzuki trying his best to keep his aura still. He wanted to reach over and smack his son across the mouth for his constant whining but Masami was upset enough with him already. What she was so upset about he still did not know. He did know, however, that he did not want to make it any worse than it had to be.
"No I'm not, I'm sitting in my spot." Said Sho with a shrug.
"I didn't mean literally. I meant that you had already said that and I already told you that, before, someone else had made your breakfast. Now I've made it and there's nothing wrong with it but if you want to go hungry then that's your business. I don't particularly care either way." said Suzuki
"…Fukuda's is better…" muttered Sho. That was mean. Dad was so mean sometimes. That didn't matter, he had other people who were nice to him. Like Fukuda. Sho wondered when he would be coming back. He came over when he accidentally bought extra food at the store…maybe he had finally learned how to buy just enough food for himself…that's not a thought that Sho likes to have at all.
"And how would you know that?" asked Suzuki not looking up. Honestly, the things that came out of his son's mouth. He would gladly have taken daughter upending her school bag in front of him and explain in painstaking detail each and every single one of the books and trinkets which lay within than his son's juvenile attempts at making him jealous.
"Know what?" asked Sho. Dad was talking to him like…like he didn't know what he was talking about! Well Fukuda was a million and one times the cook that dad was! And he was a better storyteller too! And he knew how to play Mario Party and Mario Kart! And he was good at washing hair so that none of the soap got in your eyes! And mom always smiled when he was around!
"That Fukuda cooks better than I do. He's a healer, not a cook." Said Suzuki making an effort not to look at his son. If he did not look at the boy then he would not get angry with the boy. There. Simple. If he got angry with the boy then he would punish him and that would just make Masami unhappy with him….and she was unhappy enough as it was.
"Sometimes he helps mom make us breakfast." Said Sho. He did too know what he was talking about!
"...when she was ill, you mean?" asked Suzuki after a moment. Well that was…not what Fukuda was paid for. He was paid to be a healer, not an on call chef, and if Masami had been too ill to cook then she could have ordered takeout from any restaurant in the city. They certainly had enough money for that. Hell, if she didn't want to cook any more than they could afford to order takeout three times a day for the rest of their lives. Four time, five times, every hour of every day if she so wanted to.
"Yeah, back when she was super sick…but also when she started to get better. He came over a lot. He made us breakfast and lunch and dinner. He played with us and read to us and helped mom give us a bath and-" said Sho naming all of the things that dad should have done but didn't. Well he would have done all of that for big sis. He liked big sis. He liked her that best and sometimes Sho wondered why they even bothered to have him if dad thought that he and mom had gotten it right the first time.
"Did he now?" asked Suzuki trying his best to keep his tone level. He would have to speak to Fukuda later about this. He had been hired to be a healer, not a chef or a nursemaid. Masami…she might have asked him to…or maybe he took it upon himself. Both options make his aura flare and churn dangerously.
"Yes." said Sho
"And did your mother ask him to help or did he take it upon himself?" asked Suzuki in that same measured tone. He needed to keep it together. This was…both options gave birth to emotions that he needed to exorcise for his own good. He could not lose control. He would not lose control. Nothing had…there was no reason to him to feel like this. Masami had just…taken ill…and needed help around the house…so she asked…he did not want to think about this.
"I don't know." Said Sho. He didn't know if mom asked him to come over of it he just came around. He was always saying that he accidentally bought extra food and stuff but how could he tell if it was extra if he had just come from the store?
"Try to remember, yes?" asked Suzuki
"Ok….I think mom asked him to because he was here so much…but one time I called him because mom was sick…and he started coming by a lot after that. He came by a lot of the time after he got extra food…even though me and big sis didn't know how he could tell if it was extra yet…" said Sho
"Did he now…?" said Suzuki
"Yes, he did, and when he made breakfast it didn't try and eat my spoon." Said Sho sticking out his tongue once again. Suzuki did not comment on that. If his son wanted to act like that then he could have been dealt with later. Right now he had other things to mull over.
"Then make your own breakfast if you're going to be so picky. Honestly, your sister would have never behaved like this." said Suzuki as his son huffed and puffed beside him. The boy was not helpless. He could make his own food…or better yet call Fukuda since he held the man in such high regard.
"Well I'm not big sis." Said Sho. He wanted to take his breakfast and throw it at dad but that would just get him punished.
"Obviously." Said Suzuki not even looking at his son. He so wished that his son was more like his daughter. In temperament especially. Daughter would never have turned her nose up at what had been provided for her. Daughter, also, never would have made such a juvenile attempt at getting under his skin. Daughter would have known better than to compare him to one of his subordinates.
"….I'm going to make cereal." Said Sho. His insides hurt, then, when dad said that. He knew that sticks and stones could break his bones but words would never hurt him. Well he would have rather had a broken bone, all of the bones in his body smashed to bits and used to make marrow soup, than have to listen to dad say such mean stuff to him.
"This is cereal." Said Suzuki picking at his own breakfast. Hot cereal like he remembered his own mother making for him when he was young.
"Is not. It's porridge." Said Sho. Dad was bad at cooking. Everyone knew that cereal came in boxes and had marshmallows and prizes inside and stuff. Honestly, that was why mom or Fukuda should have been the only ones allowed in the kitchen.
"Which is a type of cereal. Hot cereal. Not that sugary garbage you and your sister enjoy so much." Said Suzuki
"It's not garbage, dad, it's good and it turns the milk green, too." Said Sho
"Disgusting." Said Suzuki
"Is not!" said Sho. Suzuki could feel a flare building. He kept his aura and himself under control. He needed to. He could not lose control, not over something as inconsequential as the boy.
"Either eat this, make your own breakfast, or starve. I don't care what you do so long as it involves you shutting your mouth." Said Suzuki. Daughter was never like this. She was always so grateful. She was such a good child, his favorite child, and not just because she shared his gifts. He could not take much more of Boy's whining. He never recalled whining this much as a child and he couldn't imagine Masami ever whining like this, either.
"….fine…" said Sho. He got off his chair and dragged it over to the cupboard. It was easier when big sis helped out. She had powers. Dad liked her better because she had powers. Dad was a jerk to him because he didn't have powers. It was fine. Dad hadn't knocked him down or hit him or anything so it was fine.
His chair wobbled as he got his cereal out of the cupboard. Dad didn't even look his way.
Dad would have helped big sis if she had been about to fall. He would have caught her with his powers and told her to be more careful and he would have been all worried about her and stuff. Dad never worried about him. Dad never cared about him. Sho looked down. He was high up. A fall from this high might break a whole bunch of his bones. That would take a while to heal.
He might even get some decent breakfast out of it.
Sho let the chair he was on wobble a bit more. Dad didn't even look at him. He was looking at something on his phone. He didn't care about Sho. If it had been big sis up there wobbling like that then he would have told her to be careful. He cared so much about her…it wasn't fair!
He let himself wobble some more.
And then he fell.
"Next time be more careful." Said Suzuki not looking up. He had been waiting for…he didn't even know what. For Sho to catch himself? For Sho to reach with his powers and get the balls of sugar and empty calories that he so desired. Hell, even something as simple as an aural flare would have been fine. But no, all he got was his son laying on the ground and a floor covered in green cereal pieces and tiny marshmallows.
"All of my bones are broken!" said Sho as he laid down on the ground. He didn't know if they were broken or not but maybe if he said so loud enough dad would call Fukuda. Even if all of the bones in his body weren't broken Fukuda could still find something to fix.
"Ae they now?" asked Suzuki. He could have helped his son up. He could have made sure that his bones were, in fact, not broken. He could have done a lot of things. He didn't much see the reason why he should have. Sho was probably fine. He always made something out of nothing. Still, there was a mess and Suzuki maybe should have done something….
He picked up the floor.
The last thing that they needed was rats. Sho could get himself sorted out. He had gotten himself into that predicament and he could get himself out of it. If he truly was hurt then he could have called Fukuda. The man had already spent so much time with his family already….
"Little brother!" said Mob. She heard a loud sound and came running. Her shirt wasn't all the way buttoned but she didn't care. Sho was hurt! She picked Sho up and sat him down on his chair with her powers. He just crossed his arms and kicked at her.
"Leave me alone! I'm fine!" said Sho as he got up off of his chair and left the room. He didn't have anywhere in particular in mind, he just wanted to get as far away from dad and big sis as possible. Let them have breakfast together….and lunch and dinner too! He didn't care anymore! He stomped down the hallway and would have made it to his room if mom hadn't stopped him.
"Sho! What's the matter? What was that sound?" asked Masami. She got down to his level and checked him for injuries. He seemed fine, perfectly fine, but if he had done something to warrant being punished…
He looked fine.
"Nothing! I'm fine!" said Sho. He tried to push past mom but she held him in place. If he had powers he could have gotten free…but no, just no. He would never have hurt his mom like that. He loved her so much…she did not deserve him being mean to her and pushing her and stuff like that. He was her favorite, after all, just like big sis was dad's favorite. That was how it worked in families. Each parent had a favorite kid and in families with three or more kids…well those kids were out of luck, then, now weren't they.
No matter how bad stuff got he was grateful not to have a little brother or sister.
"Sho….did your dad punish you again? I've told you time and time again not to-" said Masami. She knew that Touichirou would never do anything to hurt either of the children but he was very old fashioned when it came to some things…like discipline. He was very old fashioned when it came to discipline and Sho…he and his father didn't always get along.
"No! He doesn't care about me! I fell down right in front of him and he didn't even do anything. If I had been big sis he would have caught me or-or-or something! It isn't fair. He likes her better just because she has powers." Said Sho
"Sho-" said Masami
"I could have broken all of my bone into a million little pieces and he still wouldn't have tried to catch me. I fell from up high, really high, and he didn't even…care." Said Sho
"You fell? From where?" asked Masami as she gave her son a onceover. He seemed…he wasn't bleeding. He was…he seemed ok. He seemed like he was doing alright…no blood, no bruises that she could see…nothing physically anyway.
"From the chair. I was trying to get cereal and I fell down." Said Sho
"Sho…I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you fell down and I'm sorry that your dad didn't…he didn't notice until it was too late." Said Masami. She needed to think up a lie and she needed to think it up quick. She could not…her son was too young to know just how selfish his father could be…not that he could have been that selfish…or maybe he could have been. Maybe he truly could have been so selfish that he didn't even lift a finger to help his son…or to make him breakfast.
She asked so little of her husband…
"He noticed. He didn't care. All he did after I fell down was clean up all the cereal with his powers. If he could clean up the cereal then he could have helped me. He just didn't want to because I'm not big sis." Said Sho
"Sho….some people just aren't good in a crisis. Some people…some people get mad, some people run away, some people act, and some people freeze. Your father…sometimes people freeze and they don't know what to do. That's all. Your father…daddy loves you. Remember that he loves you, ok? Now come on, let's go have some breakfast and then-" said Masami
"I'd rather starve to death." Said Sho crossing his arms.
"Sho! You shouldn't say things like that!" said Masami
"It's true! Dad said that I could either eat what he made, make my own breakfast, or starve….so I choose to starve. I am not eating breakfast. I am not!" said Sho. Masami took in a deep breath and shook her head.
"Sho…are you really not hungry?" asked Masami. Sho shook his head.
"I'm not hungry one tiny bit." Said Sho
"Ok…then can you…can you get dressed for school? I have to….to straighten some things out with your father." Said Masami. She patted Sho on the head and went to go have a word with her dear husband. Honestly. She asked so little of him and he still couldn't…she ended that train of thought. He did a lot for her. He didn't do the things that she wanted him to do but he did do a lot to provide for his family.
So could she ask for more?
She wasn't asking so much more of him than any other wife would have asked for her husband. She knew that his work was important to him. He was trying to change the world or something like that. Well she hadn't asked him for the world, she had only asked him to make breakfast for their children before she took them on the death march to Shigeko's new school! She just asked him to make breakfast, that was all, she didn't ask him to cook them a twelve course feast!
She marched into the kitchen fully intending to get into it with her husband at that insanely early hour of the morning, and was just about to, when she heard something that stopped her dead in her tracks.
"….and then Fukuda taught us how to make s'mores in the microwave. You have to be careful or the marshmallows with explode and make the microwave all dirty. Then we all watched Frozen together. We switched between Japanese and English. In Japanese the song is called, the one that she sings when she goes up the mountain after everyone finds out about her ice powers goes-" said Mob as she ate her cold breakfast. Dad called it porridge but she called it cold mush. She didn't care, it wouldn't kill her, and she got to talk to dad for a little bit. She knew that she should have gone after Sho but dad had said to leave him be and when dad said something she had to do it.
"Daughter, I am well aware of that movie. You have shown me that movie one five separate occasions. Please, do not sing a single bar of a single song from that movie." Said Suzuki. Children were awful storytellers, truly awful, but there was much information to be gleaned from their stories as disjointed as they were.
"Oh…ok. Well after we watched Frozen Fukuda helped mom give us a bath and then he read to us about Hello Kitty, the book where she and her friends bake a cake. He did voices, too, like he did a really funny one for her friend-" said Mob
"Shigeko, finish your breakfast. It's a long walk to school." Said Masami as soon as she got her bearing. No. Just…no. Children had tape recorder eyes and ears. They were incapable, truly incapable, of keeping anything to themselves. She didn't know what the children knew…or what they would say….or what her husband would make of it.
And she didn't want to start up with all of that. Not now and not ever.
"Yes mom." Said Mob as she shoveled cold much into her mouth. It tasted of nothing, amazingly enough, absolutely nothing. It also tried to hold on to her spoon when she tried to dig it out. Maybe this was why moms were the cooks, not dad. Wait…that wasn't fair, Fukuda had been a very good cook when he came over. Fukuda cooked much better than dad did so it must not have had anything to do with if you were a boy or a girl.
"Masami, join us. I'll have a car sent." Said Suzuki. He pushed out a chair with his powers and she sat down slowly. He used his powers to ladle her a bowl of what Daughter had so lovingly referred to as 'cold mush'. Masami took her spoon in her hand but made no move to eat.
"You don't have to do that. We can walk, it isn't that-" said Masami. She felt…she felt cornered. Like a mouse did when it got spotted by a cat. She wanted…she wanted to get out of the kitchen and take the kids to school…or just somewhere out of the house. She felt something like a sort of static electricity poking at her arms. Her husband…she knew what his aura felt like.
"I've already called the car, it'll be here shortly, and with child safety seats created for their exact heights and weights. Now, please, have breakfast with me. We'll have time to talk." Said Suzuki. He was not angry with her. He could not be angry with her. She had done nothing wrong. She had…she had needed help and she had asked for it. She had asked another man for help…but nothing more. He was being irrational.
These were crazy people thoughts.
Suzuki was many things but crazy was not one of them.
"I…I have a lot to do. I have to do the ironing and the shopping for tonight's dinner and I have to mop the kitchen and vacuum the living room and-" said Masami
"Ask Fukuda to help." Said Suzuki. Her eyes went wide, then, when he said that. Suspicious…somewhat…no. He had nothing to be suspicious of. He was thinking and acting irrationally, that was all. Masami was his and she would never, ever, ever cheat on him. Ever.
"Can he come over again? Mom, can he?" asked Mob. That would have been so great! Maybe he could play with them again, even, or anything really. She just wanted him around, that was all.
"I…nobody is sick or hurt right now so no, Shigeko, now finish your breakfast. The car to take you to school will be here any minute and we shouldn't keep the driver waiting, that would be rude, and also a waste of money." Said Masami. Suzuki kept himself calm. Now she wanted to talk about wasting his employees' time and his money? Now, not when she was using his only healer as a chef and maid and nanny and-
He exorcised that emotion.
"So he was only here so often because he was tending to you?" asked Suzuki evenly. Masami nodded.
"Yes. He was just worried, I was too sick to do…anything…and he just sort of took it upon himself to help out with the housework and to spend time with the kids. You know how they are." Said Masami trying to sound calmer than she was. She needed to think up something that would satisfy her husband. She needed…she did not need him to be suspicious of her.
Of anything.
As far as he was concerned everything was hunky dory in the Suzuki household and that was how it was going to stay.
"I see….alright then. What you're saying is you need help around the house. Very well, I'll make inquiries." Said Suzuki as he flipped through his phone. So few female espers…so very few…he could not wait until daughter came of age…or at least became old enough to help her mother out around the house in some substantial way. When she was old enough to have her own children. In about ten years or so.
Those years could not pass by fast enough.
"You really don't have to hire anyone." Said Masami. She did not want servants. She knew that Touichirou had money and that he fancied them something akin to the royal family. When they had gotten married he promised her fleets of servants…as soon as he could find some…and Masami did not need fleets of servants waiting on her hand and foot! She wanted a husband by her side! What was so hard to figure out about that!? And he wondered why she had Fukuda over so often! Why the kids liked him better! Why she had let Fukuda into her life, her home, her bed-
Don't think about it.
Not while your husband and daughter are sitting there at the table with you.
"You need someone to help you and I'll get you the help you need. I've been wanting to get you some help around the house for a while now but female espers are rare, very rare, and the ones which I have found leave much to be desired." Said Suzuki. The Awakened, as he called them, were largely useless. Barely any power to them at all. Very few even showed the slightest signs of power…and very few or those few were female.
He did not want any man in that house that was not him or his son when he grew up.
"There aren't any girl espers besides me?" asked Mob
"There are, there are few of them but there are other female espers. Whether they are suited to serve this family or not…well that will take some thought." Said Suzuki
"…they don't have to be espers…" said Masami. She did not want servants, she did not need help, but she did not want her husband to go digging around in that area. She would talk more about this later, when the children were in bed, and not while her daughter was there looking up at them with her eyes wide and her face blank as she took in things that she could not begin to understand.
"Yes they do." Said Suzuki. She was being odd, he didn't know why she was being so odd, but he would figure it out later if it was something that she needed to tell him about. He felt…better. She was amenable to him bringing in help. That was good. She had been overwhelmed, that was all, it had nothing at all to do with her wanting to be near Fukuda. That was good.
That was a relief.
"We…we'll talk about this later on. Come on, Shigeko, let's go get Sho ready before that car gets here." Said Masami. She didn't wait for her daughter to follow her, she just got up and left the kitchen as fast as she could without it being suspicious. That had been close, too close. He could have found out…he could have known…
But he didn't know.
That was what mattered the most.