There were periods of activity and periods of inactivity.

That was the cycle that his work took. In these periods of inactivity, the sort that he found himself in, he had usually gone home to his family. His wife and children. Well now he didn't have a wife, well he did he just had no idea where she was, and his children were with him at all times. He was not going home, home to the house that he and Masami had shared, so really there was nothing to do during these periods of inactivity besides, well, acting.

Micromanaging.

He had literally nothing else to do. He had enjoyed, before, spending these times with Masami. She was gone. She had been gone for about two years now. Two years…the wound was raw. The wound was raw but…but less raw. Maybe. All things healed in time. Time healed all wounds…even this one. Well he didn't need time to heal all wounds, no, he had healer for that…but this was not the sort of thing that he could heal. He had said so. So there was nothing to do but wait.

He had been waiting for two years.

Work had helped. In the beginning there had been fire after fire after fire to put out. There had been the mess he made looking for Masami, that had taken some time to clean up, the mess from another failed coup, and then the…he didn't even know what to even begin to classify the Eighth Division as….and it had kept him very busy. But those fires had been put out and now he had….well not nothing….but not a lot to do.

So he took the children to work with him.

They had been getting restless. This had been the longest period of time that they had spent in one place. He hadn't set out to settle here, not that they were settling, it had just sort of happened. He had put out the fires that needed putting out and now he and the children were here….and had been here for quite some time. So they had grown restless to he had brought them to work with him. Simple. It was a bit like when they had been small and he had worked from home. They were still small, not as small but still small, and they still sat on his floor and still carried on…and it was pleasant for the most part.

"Can we have more paperclips?" asked Daughter from her spot on the floor. She and Son were making…something. Jewelry? A paperclip net? He didn't know. He did know, however, that this activity kept them quiet while they were in his presence. He maybe should have left them at home but…but he did enjoy spending time with them. Daughter, at least, though Son had his moments. Besides, it was about time that he started teaching Son how to run Claw. It would be his someday after all.

"The big ones." Said Son. He didn't even look up as he used his powers to link together oversized paperclips into something that only the children knew the function of. He wondered what it was that they were building. Maybe jewelry or a bridge, even, though to where Suzuki did not know. Son shared his desire to build things, to create things, though Son's creations usually never made it past the design stage. That was better than what Suzuki had ben capable of at his age. Somewhere in the boxes of junk from the past that filled the old house there were notebooks with his half-baked ideas for the world he knew that he would create.

"Here." Said Suzuki as he sent them over a box of paperclips. They were delighted and went back to using their powers to link them together. He watched them with intermitted attention. There was a pleasure to watching them when they got along.

"Big sis, stop using all the red ones." Said Son

"Ok, Sho, you can have them. Can I have the silver ones?" asked Daughter

"The big ones or the little ones?" asked Son

"Whichever ones you like the least." Said Daughter

"Here, you can use these." Said Son as he handed her a box of small paperclips. They were so pleasant when they got along. He wondered why they fought the way that they did. He had never had a sibling before but he knew that it would have done him no good to fight with the sibling he had. Even if they had been rivals….not that Son and Daughter were rivals. They had no reason to be.

Aside from the fact that Son was so much less powerful than Daughter.

But he was powerful in his own right. He was powerful in his own right, he had earned that power, and it was his. Who would have thought that it would have taken so much to unlock his potential? That he had almost paid the ultimate price….but that was neither here nor there. That, all of it, had happened and now it was over. Son had….Daughter had….they all had….it had been….

He passed them some more paperclips.

It was over. That…mess…at the Eighth Division was over and this was the Fifth Division and that was all over and his children were there and they were fine. Both of them. Son and Daughter. He didn't know why he still thought about it sometimes, why it sometimes came to him out of nowhere, and why it hurt so much to think about it. It had happened and it was over. A lot of things had happened and they were over.

This was now.

There was not any point at all to dwelling on the past. Especially when it had turned out so well. In terms of raw power Son was nowhere close to Daughter but in terms of control he was leaps and bounds ahead of her. Probably because he had less power to control. He was still a powerful esper in his own right. More powerful, even, then most adults. So it had all worked out. He had put Son through all of that…and he had let Daughter lose control….but it was all over now.

They were there, together, and it was all over now.

And as quick as those thoughts came they passed. Irrational. The whole thing had been irrational. Worrying about things that had already happened. He should have been worried about things that were going to happen…not that he was worried about anything at the moment. It was a pleasant afternoon. The children were happy, they were playing, and they were there with him. Daughter may have been wearing that ridiculous headband, he really hated that thing, but she was there. Son may have been talking far too loudly than the situation warranted, and he also may have been making a mess, but he was there.

Things were good.

"Here dad, I made you this." said Daughter. Suzuki looked up from his work as he felt something being draped across his neck. He reached down. Oh.

"So you two were making jewelry." Said Suzuki

"I was but Sho's making something else." Said Daughter

"What is he making?" asked Suzuki. Son looked up from what he was doing, a mass of paperclips hung in the air in front of him, and didn't even waver as Son's eyes widened. Suzuki didn't know what his Son was so scared of.

"I'm making the skyscraper." Said Son. He pointed out the window.

"The Samsung Building? Why, out of all the buildings, did you create that one?" asked Suzuki. The likeness was actually very good. Son could do more than draw. Still, though, there were so many other buildings he could have recreated…or just created his own. But the time for that would come later when Son was older. He was better at conceptualizing these things. The two of them would build amazing things together when Son got older.

"Because it's there." said Son

"He says that he built it because it's there, dad." Said Daughter even though Suzuki was perfectly capable of hearing. He was getting older, his early forties were starting to become his mid-forties, but he could still hear just fine. He didn't know why she did that sometimes. She was a mystery but she was his favorite mystery.

"As good a reason as any I suppose." Said Suzuki. The children got back to their work and he got back to his. Son was still hard at work…and he was more tolerable when he was working. When he had a singular task to focus on. That was best, giving him something to do, and he was getting older…maybe the time was coming….

But he was only eight.

But Suzuki had thought, before, that putting him in an Awakening Chamber would have been a bad idea too because of his age. That had been a rousing….a success. It had been a success. Sure it had cost him an entire Division of Claw, a research Division at that, but in the end it had been worth it. Maybe Son was old enough, now, to help him….he would learn how to run Claw someday…and he had already shown Son how to do some of the most basic things that he did…

And that had been enjoyable.

Having Son near him but not making a racket or a mess. Having both children near him but having them not fight. They had both been busy with their respective roles. Son had been learning how to take care of his father's legacy and Daughter had been greeting people socially. She was so much better, socially, than he had been as a child. Yes, it was about time that both of his children learned how to fill the roles they would grow into.

Teaching Son had been so enjoyable.

He had thought, before, of how much he would enjoy the day when his Son stopped being a child. When they could be something closer to equals. Not ever exact equals, no, but they would be able to be in the same room without Son driving him insane. They would work together, him and Son, until he finally got old enough that he could let him take over. Then Son would rule the world and Suzuki…he could rest. Enjoy the remainder of his life. Enjoy spending the time that he had left with Masami and….with Daughter. Daughter and her children and whatever man it was that she chose as her most perfect person. Or not. Any man that she chose would have been a member of Claw, he did have the largest collection of espers on the planet after all, and then even after retirement all members of Claw would be his to command. He could just send whatever man she chose on a never ending series of pointless missions. The sorts of missions that he sometimes sent people on just to test their loyalty.

Things that even a child would be capable of.

Was Son old enough? The children still got scared when they were separated….and he would have thought that they would have grown out of that by now. They were almost ten years old. Suzuki had no memory of ever being so attached to his parents or to anyone. Not even Masami. He had never been frightened when they were separated because he knew that he would always come back home to her…and now obviously he knew that he had been taking the assurance that she would always be there for him for granted….

He was not going to allow himself to feel that way.

Wistful. He was not going to allow himself to feel wistful…or anything. She was gone and that was fine. She was gone and that…that was how things were so of course it was fine. How else would things have been? He so wished that some fire would start. He wished that some terrible thing would pop up, some coup or explosion or even the children fighting, something to take his mind off of all of that. As it was he was reading and rereading and re-rereading this same document so many times that he could recite it by heart…

He needed a fire.

He was tempted, actually, to start a real fire. Maybe just start a fire and call it a drill….but there was no reason to ruin everyone else's productivity just because he was being irrational. Also he should not have been setting fires where the children could see. Not only would he have been setting a terrible example but, well, Son did not need to learn how to make fire. The last thing Son needed to learn how to do was to make and then play with fire. That would have been….pretty bad. Really bad.

So no starting fires.

"Minegishi's back." Said Daughter suddenly. Suzuki felt…huh. Daughter was better at picking out individual auras than he was…or maybe she had just been waiting and watching. He wondered what it was about Minegishi that fascinated Daughter. Well aside from the implacable gender and lack of eyebrows. If Fukuda hadn't assured that it was socially inappropriate he would have asked all the questions that came to mind when he was in the presence of said fascinating esper.

"So they are." Said Suzuki. Thank God that Minegishi was Japanese. There were so few languages with a genderless conjugate option.

"Can I go hang out with them?" asked Daughter. She seemed hopeful, then, he got that feeling from her aura. There was some irrational hurt there…and he did not understand it. Daughter should have been taking more of an interest in the other espers at Claw. She wouldn't inherit it but she would play her part in running it. Plus it was about time she started to notice the opposite sex…? He didn't know what Minegishi was…and he wished that it were socially acceptable to ask…and he also wished that Fukuda hadn't told him that it was socially unacceptable to ask…and also that he didn't still care about what was and was not socially acceptable.

"With Minegishi?" asked Suzuki. He had no idea why anyone would want to spend time with Minegishi socially. There was a reason that They existed largely as an enforcer. They didn't get along with anyone. That was why they had been moved to Korea in the first place. Nobody in Japan would work with them.

"Yes. They're back and sometimes we hang out. I read a book that they suggested and now I need them to explain it to me because I have no idea what it is that I read." Said Daughter

"What book?" asked Suzuki

"Infinite Jest…in English…I read most of it and I don't know what I read." Said Daughter

"Why didn't you ask me? I would have helped you." Said Suzuki. He had seen her hunched over he tablet these past few weeks but he had assumed that she had been playing some game. There it was, again, the irrational feeling of hurt….and he exorcised it. She was getting older and more independent. That was good. That was what he had been wanting for years…right?

"I'm too old to have my dad reading to me. I'm nine now." Said Daughter

"That you are." Said Suzuki. She was nine years old and at some point she had stopped asking him to read to her. She had stopped…but that was ok. That was good. She was getting older. She was older and…and he should not have felt this kind of a sort of a…loss. It didn't even matter. She was still a child. She was in a headband with cat ears and one of her mock ball gowns….even though he had bought her something worthy of the JAPANESE princess that she was…but he would say nothing about her clothing. Best lesson he had ever learned. Never criticize a woman's clothing.

"So can I go see Minegishi?" asked Daughter

"You're leaving?" asked Son. There. They still got scared when they were separated. Or maybe it was Son who got scared when they were separated. Daughter had made friends with Minegishi, for reasons that Suzuki did not understand, and girls did mature faster than boys…maybe it was Son who had trouble separating from his sister. He didn't blame Son. Daughter was a very pleasant person to be around.

"If dad says yes then you can come to." Said Daughter. Suzuki didn't know if he would give her his permission. He didn't want her to go…but he also knew that he needed to encourage her to be more independent. Like she had said, before, she was already nine years old. Soon she would be ten and then eleven and then he would blink and she would be a grown woman. Even today he had almost expected her to still be the two year old he had met all those years ago.

"I don't want to. You guys are so boring together. All you ever do is read books and talk to each other. I can do that on my own." Said Son

"Don't talk to yourself, Son, it's a sign of madness." Said Suzuki with a sigh. That was the last thing that he needed, one of the children going mad, well madder….Daughter was fine. It was not a bad sign that she had no memory of what she had done to the Eighth Division. She was fine. He was fine, too. He also had trouble remembering what had happened when he lost control and blacked out…and he was not crazy. Even if people did say, when they thought that he wasn't listening, that he was crazy and Claw was just a pipe dream.

"Maybe I've gone crazy then." Said Son

"Please don't go crazy, Sho, I don't know what I would do if you ever went crazy." Said Daughter

"Hang out with Minegishi?" asked Son

"No. Well yes but I would still invite you to come along too. No matter how crazy you get you'll always be my little brother." Said Daughter

"What if I start running around naked and stuff?" asked Son

"I would still be your big sister." Said Daughter

"What if I killed and ate people?" asked Son

"Please don't." said Daughter

"But what if I did? What if tomorrow you opened the fridge and a whole bunch of people came out and they were dead and then blood spilled everywhere like in that movie we saw? What then?" asked Son. Suzuki shook his head. The things that the children watched on television.

"I would….I don't know. Be upset with you I guess…but I would still love you." Said Daughter. There was so much of Masami in her. That acceptance. She could give complete and total acceptance. Suzuki knew that he was not capable of that. He would have knocked Son into next week if he had been going around killing people for now reason. You never killed someone for no reason. That was just not what was done. Also you never ate people, that was dangerous, and also there was plenty of food out in the world.

"Even if it ate people?" asked Sho

"Um….yes? But please don't do that. I…I don't think that dad would let you do that." Said Daughter

"Your sister is right, I would not allow that." Said Suzuki. The things that these children came up with…when he took over the world he would have to do something about what they put on television. He would have to do something about a lot of things but television would be a priority since this was what the children spent their time watching. That was almost as bad as the films they watched staring mice with human intelligence. Disturbing.

And he was not the only one who felt like that.

Not that he was about to go and discuss that, or anything, with….with her. She had a name, he knew her name, but it was easier not to think of her name. He wished that he could have forgotten her name and her aura and that she even existed. Suddenly, as her aura passed near his, he felt very conscious of himself…and he didn't know why. He was Suzuki Touichirou. He did not feel like this.

"So can I go?" asked Daughter. Her aura was tucked in. Guarded. He didn't know why. She was a mystery but she was his favorite mystery. He wanted her to stay…but he would let her go. He hated when they disagreed, as rare as that was, and her growing independence from him and her little brother was something that he should not have been worried about.

He should not have been worried about anything.

"Are you coming with me, Sho?" asked Daughter as she stood up carefully. Son shook his head. His aura was fine. He wondered what Daughter was guarding herself from. He wondered what had her so on edge…not the same thing that had him on edge…and he was not on edge. He was normal. He was fine. Everything was fine.

"You guys go have fun being boring. I've got important stuff to build." Said Son. Daughter accepted that answer and started to leave. She opened the door with her powers…and normally he would have been happy about that display of powers…but she opened the door at the worst possible time…

"Oh my Goodness! I'm sorry Shigeko-chan." Suzuki looked down and pretended to be busy. He didn't know why he did it, just that it was something that he had to do. He had to look busy and not look up and move, above all else move, so he typed even though he was not making words but he couldn't stop because he just had to keep on moving…and he didn't know why….

"Miss Suzuki. I'm Miss Suzuki…and I'm sorry that I bumped into you. Is there something that I can help you with? My father is very busy right now." Said Daughter. She's carrying herself differently. He can sense her aura. She's imitating him, the way he spoke to the various people under him, the way he held himself…and there's an emphasis on the word 'father'…and also she's never referred to him by that title. He's 'dad'. He used to be 'daddy' but now he was 'dad'….and he wasn't sure if he was ready to be 'father' yet….or why he felt so irrational about the manner in which his Daughter referred to him as.

He did not understand himself sometimes.

"Oh it's nothing to worry yourself about Miss Suzuki…oh aren't you grown up? I just have to go over some figures with your father. What about you? Are you off on important business for your dad?" Suzuki kept on looking down. He looked down and he pretended to be busy and he kept on moving because he had to keep moving…and his mind was moving…so his body had to move…and he wasn't even making the beginnings of words…or maybe he was and he had just forgotten all of his Korean. That was plausible. For some reason he could barely remember his own name.

Because her aura was moving closer to his.

"No, I have to have tea and discuss literature with my friend. I'm going to go do that now. It was nice to see you again." said Daughter. He could barely hear their exchange over the rush of his own blood. He was fidgeting with the pens on his desk. He wished that Son had gone with, too, because he knew that he was setting the worst kind of example.

Power was nothing without control, as he had always told himself.

And he needed to get his powers and his emotions and his heartbeat under control. His thoughts, too, because they were racing. He hadn't felt like this since…he doesn't want to think about the last time he felt like this. All he could do was ride it out. What else was there to do? If he couldn't suppress an emotion, crush it into nothing, and then he could at least suppress what it was that he was feeling.

"Suzuki-San? Suzuki-san?" she was addressing him now. He forced himself to look up. Looking at her was sort of like the time he had challenged himself to stare into a lightbulb when he had been a child. It hurt. It was beautiful but it hurt. He needed to get himself back under control. She was there and she was talking to him so the best thing that he could have done was to answer…and he had to speak…

Speak.

Make words.

You know how to speak, Touichirou.

So do it.

"Yes?" asked Suzuki. Son was looking up at him now. He was so much harder to read than Daughter. She wore her emotions on her aura, Son wore his on his face, and Suzuki had never been good at reading faces. He hoped that Son couldn't read him. That would have been…he did not want to do that much explaining in one day…or ever.

"I asked if you made that." She gestured to him and for a moment he has no idea what she means…but then he remembers. He has the urge to shove the paperclip necklace Daughter made him under his shirt…but that would have just been him losing control…and he was not going to lose control. E kept his face impassive.

"No, my Daughter did." Said Suzuki. Normal. Be normal. You know how to be normal so be normal already Touichirou.

"Well she's a very talented artist." She said. Suzuki nodded. She went over some figures, he probably should have listened to that, but he couldn't. Not when it was taking every ounce of his being to keep acting normal. Not like he was about to lose control and turn his entire office upside down. Not like he needed to get up and walk around because all of this was…a lot.

He knew how he felt.

And he did not want to feel this way about anyone ever again.

He fidgeted with the necklace his Daughter made for him. It kept him grounded…where he should have been. Grounded and settled. In control. It kept him in control long enough to get back to that period of inactivity he had been agonizing over. He had even more trouble sitting still, and once again contemplated starting at least one fire and calling it a drill, but as much as he was loathe to admit it fidgeting with that ridiculous paperclip necklace helped.

There were periods of activity and inactivity. He had to get back to the inactivity part.