There weren't a lot of reasons for a person to actually fold a thousand paper cranes.

"Nippon." Said Daughter. She looked to him as she said that. They were back at a nighttime ritual of theirs, watching television together, that he was happy to get back to. It felt like forever since he had spent any parent and child bond affirming time together. He had been spending far too much time with Son and far too little time with Daughter.

She was much more pleasant to be around.

"Correct as usual, Daughter. You're very good at this." Said Suzuki. That was a game of theirs, calling it before the referees, and they were usually right. Daughter had the patience for this. Son…Son did not. He was of the belief that unless blood was shed a sport was not worth watching. That seemed a bit odd to Suzuki. He would have figured that Son would have been able to appreciate the artistry of kendo. Well at least he had one good child.

"Thanks Dad, you're good at this too. You're always right." Said Daughter. He enjoyed the praise she gave him even though it made no sense. He knew that he was always right and he did not need validation from his own children. He became so irrational when it came to his Daughter.

"I've been doing this for longer than you've been alive." Said Suzuki

"Since before I was born?" asked Daughter. That was what he had just said, wasn't it? She asked obvious questions like that sometimes. Well they were obvious to him anyway. He knew that he was not the best at social interaction. She claimed to not be good at them either but she was more socially adept that he had ever been at any point in his life. He could admit that fact since he had no use at all for social skills. Not at this point in his life, anyway.

"Yes." said Suzuki

"Since you were my age?" asked Daughter

"Younger, actually." Said Suzuki. He didn't much want to get into the specifics of his childhood. Going to kendo matches with his father. Mother hadn't cared for the sport. Masami had been the same way and Son took after her. Daughter took after him though he had no idea why. She wasn't his child, not biologically anyway, but she was so much like him it was amazing. Probably due to all the bonding they had done over the years.

Would she remember this?

She was old enough to remember things now. Not like when he had brought her home. She had forgotten her biological family quickly. It hadn't taken her more than two weeks to stop calling her brother 'Ritsu' and to stop looking for her biological family…though it took her over a month to call him 'dad'. Well he had been 'daddy' for a while. At some point he had become 'dad' to both of his children. He wondered if he would ever just be 'father' to them. Maybe when they became adults. His parents hadn't been around long enough to be called 'mother' and 'father'.

He would be around for quite a while.

Daughter would remember him. Son too. He wasn't even forty five years old. He wasn't going to be dying of old age soon and the constant attempts on his life may have been tiresome but they had no chance of being successful. Yes. He would be around for quite a while. Long enough to watch his children grow up and maybe even their children too. He wondered if he would spend time with his grandchildren like this. The ones he would get from Daughter, of course, he was genuinely worried for the world once Son had his children. His children….more of Son….the world was not prepared. Daughter's children, on the other hand, would be pleasant little things. Yes, he'd enjoy spending time with them.

Just as he enjoyed spending time with Daughter.

She would remember this. She already had so many memories of him. More than he had of his own father. They hadn't had much time together, he and his parents, and he doesn't want to think about that…so he doesn't. He pulls her closer. She likes this, being held, it makes her happy. Her happiness was good for him. The happier she was the less likely she would be to explode.

Or rebel.

She was older now. Taller. She would, at some point, enter a rebellious phase…and he was not looking forward to that. Son's entire life seemed to have been one long rebellious phase but Daughter had always been so obedient. He had no idea what she would rebel against, though, because he really didn't restrict her that much. The rules he set down for the children were for their own good. Daughter and Son, aside from a few very easy to follow rules, could do whatever they wanted. Really the children had no reason to rebel.

He was not looking forward to their adolescence.

"When you were really little?" asked Daughter

"Yes. When I was very small." Said Suzuki. This back and forth was getting a little tiresome. He didn't know what it was that she was getting at. He wished that she would get right to the point. He also hoped that the point wasn't her getting ready to ask him about his childhood.

"What were you like when you were my age, dad?" asked Daughter. Ah yes, the question he had been dreading. He didn't like to think about it, his youth, because there was no reason to dwell on it. He had been young and now he wasn't. There. End of discussion. Once he had been a child and now he was a middle aged adult. What was there to ask about?

"Younger. I was young and then I wasn't. There's nothing to know beyond that." Said Suzuki. There. hopefully that would satisfy her. She was a child. Why did she want to hear about his childhood? What was the point of talking about a time of life that she was going through right at this moment?

"Ok….I guess. I don't know. I just wanted to know-" said Daughter

"There is nothing to know. Now come off it or go to bed. Those are your options." Said Suzuki. She was not Son. She wouldn't push him. She never pushed…well she almost never pushed him. That was why this was his favorite child. Not that he would ever admit it to the children if they asked. He'd never see the end of it.

"I'll stay. I'm sorry dad. Let's watch kendo." Said Daughter. Sensible. He liked that about her. If she had been Son then she never would have come off it. No, Son….once he got an idea in his head then he never let it go. Much like Suzuki himself though he had never carried on the way Son did. Why couldn't Son have put his mind to something other than yelling and screaming when he didn't get his way?

"Good girl." Said Suzuki. They sat in silence for a while. Daughter's aura pulled away from his, a little, which meant that something was bothering her. He didn't like that at all. Masami had pulled away from him, too, in the later days of their marriage…not that they weren't still married…and not that he was comparing his Daughter to his wife either. Daughter was nothing like her mother. She would never betray him. She had no reason to…well neither had Masami…and now he's thinking about her. He's thinking about her and there's nothing he hates more than when his mind gets stuck on her. There was no reason to waste his time thinking about her. She betrayed him. There was no reason to fret over a traitor.

"Nippon….that was a nippon! You saw, right dad?" asked Daughter. No, actually, he hadn't. He had been too busy going over every mistake that he had ever made in his marriage. She didn't need to know about that. What kind of an example would he have been setting for her if he told her that he still thought about her mother?

The children probably didn't even remember her.

That was wishful thinking. She had left three years ago about. They still remembered her. They at least also knew not to speak of her. Not to him and not to each other. They didn't even need a mother…well they maybe did…but maybe not since they were so much older. Daughter did a good job of taking care of Son. She did a good job at whatever she put her mind to, much like him, she had even made a thousand paper cranes in one afternoon just like he had at her age.

He wondered what it was that she had wished for.

"I'm sure you're correct. You usually are." Said Suzuki. He wasn't going to lie to her but he also wasn't going to tell her the truth. She was none the wiser. He never lied, it was a waste of his time, and he was not going to lie to the children. If he lied to them then they might have gotten the idea in their heads that it was alright to lie to him and he would not be lied to. Especially not by his own children.

"Because you heard how he said what he was going to do and you saw that he was holding his shinai right and he had both feet on the ground, too, right?" said Daughter

"I don't disagree with you." Said Suzuki

"I said everything that you have to do to get a point, right dad? I said it right?" asked Daughter

"I'm not going to contradict you." Said Suzuki. He wondered what it was that had her so worked up? If he didn't know any better he would have thought that she was vying for his approval. She knew that she had it so she had no reason to go on and on trying to get it. He approved of just about everything that she did. He wasn't a fan of that film she watched over and over again. He also wasn't much of a fan of the fact that everything she ate was either deep fried or smothered in sugar and served with a gallon of milk. He also wasn't a fan of…well he wasn't a fan of a lot of the things that she enjoyed but he wasn't going to contradict her on this.

"You think that I was right?" asked Daughter. He reached up and patted her on the head. She liked that. She liked physical affection. He wasn't a fan. It seemed so pointless. She knew that he was her father and he knew that she was his Daughter and they got along just fine. Why she wanted to much affection he would never know but he would give it to her. This affection, the kind he gave her, wasn't like the sort he gave Masami so it was ok. Daughter didn't see him as weak and she never would…at least he hoped so. He couldn't speak for what she would be like as an adult. He didn't know if he would show her this sort of affection when she was an adult. Would she still need this sort of bonding time? He hoped…he didn't know what he hoped. He enjoyed spending time with her but…but he shouldn't have enjoyed spending time with her. He was getting dangerously close to needing her and he was not supposed to need anybody. He was complete on his own.

"Did I say that you were wrong?" asked Suzuki

"No but sometimes I feel like…sometimes I say the wrong thing. I just wanted to know if I had it right because I know that this is something that you care about and like a lot." Said Daughter

"Well you enjoy this too, don't you?" asked Suzuki

"Yes." said Daughter quickly. He has a thought, one that he knows that he shouldn't have, that she doesn't enjoy spending time with him like this. He half expects to look down and see Masami rolling her eyes and swiping through her phone. She had never liked kendo…but Daughter was not her mother. She wasn't even Masami's child. Not in practice or biology. He shouldn't have looked down and seen Masami. He should have seen himself. This was his child after all, him in miniature, him in miniature more so than Son was….and that made no sense whatsoever but that was just the way his children had turned out.

"Good. Thank you for taking an interest." Said Suzuki. Masami had never taken an interest in his interests…and now he was thinking of her again. This was…he played with Daughter's hair. That made it easier to remember who she was. Her hair was much thicker and straighter than Masami's had ever been. He shouldn't have thanked Daughter, he was not in a position where he had to thank anyone let alone his own child, but she enjoyed it. It made her happy and it was in his best interests to keep her happy.

"You're welcome." Said Daughter. They sat in silence some more. One match turned into another and another. It was late, late for children anyway, and he could see in Daughter's aura that she was getting tired. He should have sent her to bed. That was what fathers did, send their children to bed when they were up at ungodly hours like this, but he didn't want to. He was her father and he could do whatever he wanted when it came to her.

If he wanted to stay up until all hours with his Daughter then he would stay up at all hours with his Daughter.

She wasn't asleep but she was getting there. After she fell asleep he would carry her to his bed. Because it was cold. Waking up to half of his bed being cold was not a pleasant experience. He could have just turned the heat up but that would disrupt his sleep. He would just end up kicking off his blankets in his sleep and he would end up waking up because he could not sleep without a blanket and if he didn't get at least five hours he would need coffee and tea to function and then he would be all jumpy from the excessive caffeine and then he wouldn't be able to work effectively and then everything that he had put decades of his life into would come crashing down and he would lost his life's worth. So therefore it made perfect sense to deposit Daughter in his bed after she drifted off.

It was the only rational thing to do.

She drifted off quickly. It was late for someone her age. It wasn't that late for someone his age but his days started early. Watching television was much less enjoyable without Daughter there to provide commentary or even her presence. It didn't count if she was asleep. She was so peaceful when she slept but he didn't need her peaceful when they spent time together. He needed her awake but he was not going to wake her up in the middle of the night just because he needed someone to watch television with. No, she did not need to be deprived of sleep. She wouldn't be able to do her school work or look after her brother effectively if she was tired throughout the day. That was why he had to be so careful when he lifted her, too, because it would have been so easy to wake her on accident.

He picked her up by hand.

If he used his powers then she would have woken up. His aura would have bothered her aura and then she would have woken up. She had fallen asleep on him so it would have been too disruptive to let her go anyway. She stirred a bit when he picked her up. She grabbed onto him, held his shirt within her little fists, and said something that he could not hear. He held her close like he had when she was small. This was more common when she was small. She and Son used to just fall asleep in the middle of the living room floor when they had been small. They were still small…

But less small.

Much less small than they had been. Daughter was getting heavy. She was getting tall and she was getting heavy. He wondered how many more years of being able to carry her without using his powers. He wondered how many more years of her tolerating being carried he would have in front of her. He enjoyed this, being with her, and this enjoyment toed the line of needing her. That was why this was easier than it had been with Masami. He had so clearly needed Masami…but Daughter needed him. She was totally dependent on him.

She wasn't so big.

He carried her to his bed and set her down gently. He had tried his best, his very best, not to wake her up. He had tried his best but her eyes still opened as he set her down. Her eyes opened and her little hands let go of him. She looked around curiously.

"You want me to sleep here?" asked Daughter

"It's unpleasant rolling over to a cold bed." Said Suzuki as he took off his suit coat and tie. Daughter nodded.

"Ok dad." Said Daughter. She was so understanding. He liked that about her. She just did what he said. Why couldn't he have had two of her? That would have been so much simpler. Someone who always listened to him and shared in the things that he cared about and enjoyed. He was so grateful to have had one good child.

Something crumpled under his feet.

Even if that good child seemed to have developed some sort of a fixation with folding paper. He knew why she was folding so many of these. She wanted a wish. Everyone tried that at some point, folding a thousand paper cranes, and everyone realized at some point that it did not work. Even him when he had been her age. It had made sense in his mind, the existence of magic, because he had been defying any and every natural law the world could throw at him since he had been a baby. Folding a thousand paper cranes hadn't gotten him what he had truly wanted.

But that didn't matter. The world fit in the palm of his hand.

"You can fold as many as you want but you need to do something about them after you've folded them. I am getting tired of stepping on these." Said Suzuki as he laid down beside his Daughter. He laid on his back, that was the most comfortable way for him to sleep. She turned on her side to face him.

"I don't want to recycle them." Said Daughter

"I never said that you had to recycle them, Daughter, I just said that I was tired of them being underfoot." Said Suzuki. He could feel her eyes and her aura on him. He wanted to turn his back to her even though he always had trouble sleeping on his side. He would have more trouble sleeping with her staring at him all night.

"Ok…I'll find a place for them. I just don't…I don't want to get rid of them yet. It took such a long time to make them even with powers." Said Daughter. She was quiet there, almost whispering, and she was scooting closer to him. She always crowded him when they slept next to each other. He should have just sent her to her own bed.

He didn't.

Because then the other side of the bed would have been cold and he did not want to have to wake up to that. Plus he was already settled into bed the way he was now. If she got up and left then that would have disturbed him too much. So she had to stay. She wanted to be there anyway. If she hadn't wanted to be there then she would have said something. He would not have taken it badly. He usually gave her whatever she wanted. It was in his bets interest to make her happy. She must have known that, right?

Or maybe not considering that there was something that she wanted badly enough to fold a thousand paper cranes over.

"What were you planning on wishing for?" asked Suzuki

"What do you mean?" asked Daughter. Her aura seemed startled then. Suzuki did not know why. It was a simple question and it wasn't as though he had snuck up on her or anything like that.

"The cranes. You made at least a thousand of them. What were you planning on wishing for?" asked Suzuki. Daughter went quiet after that. He knew that she was not asleep, he could tell by her aura.

"Um…if I tell you then it won't come true. I think. I don't know, it might go by birthday wish rules." Said Daughter. That would have been very sound logic if magic had existed. Magic, however, did not exist and therefore her argument did nothing more than annoy him.

"It won't come true anyway. Wishes don't come true. You either ask for what you want out of life or you take it. One of the two. Now tell me what it is that you wanted so badly that you would rather fold a thousand paper cranes to get it rather than ask me to get it for you." Said Suzuki. Daughter was quiet again. Honestly, she could be so childish sometimes…though she was a child so it was in her nature to be childish. Yes, he could excuse the fact that she still believed in wishes and magic and the universe's generosity.

"I wished…I wished to be friends with Minegishi forever. I thought that they wanted to stop being my friend and I was worried so I folded a thousand paper cranes so that we would be friends." Said Daughter. Suzuki blinked. That made sense…sort of. It made sense if one ignored the fact that she was Suzuki Shigeko. She could command anyone she wanted to. She could easily tell Minegishi that they had to be her companion until one of them died. Children could be so childish sometimes.

"You know that you can just order them to be your friend, right? You didn't have to fold a thousand paper cranes to continue your friendship with them…though why you want to be friends with them I shall never know." Said Suzuki

"I like them a lot. They're really nice when you get to know them…and also I wouldn't ever force someone to be friends with me, dad, because that's not how it works. I want a real and true friend, not someone who hangs out with me because I told them to, that's no fun at all." said Daughter

"Oh. I see. Very well then. I understand you." Said Suzuki. Like father like Daughter, the apple didn't fall far from the tree, and other such tired old clichés about parents and children. She had asked him, before, what he had been like when he had been her age. She had her answer now. Like her. He had wanted a friend so badly…that was when he had been small and weak. Smaller even than she was now.

He grew out of that.

And hopefully she would as well one day.

"You do?" asked Daughter, her tone hopeful. At least it sounded hopeful to him. He wasn't the best with tones. Her aura had certainly perked up…and that was not good. Not because he didn't want to talk about that time in his life, no, because it was late and they both needed sleep.

"I do, now go to sleep Daughter. It's late and we both need our sleep." Said Suzuki. He turned his back to her even though he always had trouble sleeping this way. Better to sleep on his side than have her staring at him all night. What was she even staring at? She knew him better than anyone else. They knew each other…an odd feeling but one which was true.

They knew each other.

And they both knew why someone would fold a thousand paper cranes.