It wasn't often the Suzuki Touichirou found himself with no idea as to what he was going to do.

He was drawing a blank. It was like no matter what option he took the outcome still would not totally favor him. The child, a natural esper, was simply too old to incorporate into his household. A nine year old, the same age as his children, was old enough that he would not be able to forget his biological parents. If the boy had been an orphan it would have been a different story but, of course, he hadn't had the idea to orphan the boy until after he had been captured. Of course killing the boy's parents and making it look like an accident would have had it's own logistics…

And there was no point in dwelling on what he should have done.

The boy had bene captured and was being held in the Seventh Division headquarters. To what end he did not know. He had never had to deal with this, an esper child, before. Adult espers usually flocked to him willingly. Threats of violence and copious amounts of money could sway even the most stubborn adult. Children were different. He should have planned this better.

Of course he had never imagined that he would find another prodigy.

Well that was a strong word. His Daughter was a prodigy just as he had been. The child that they had found was gifted, if anything. Closer to Son's level than Daughter's. A good addition to Claw. Not a good addition to his family. Even though the children could have used a companion. That was why they were constantly asking him for a pet, they wanted a companion, and he was finally in a position to give them one. A companion, not a pet, because he had no desire to cart a cat or a dog or a canary or a komodo dragon or whatever else it was that the children wanted.

There was a cat looking at him. He glared at it.

He should have been back at the Seventh Division. He knew that he should have had some sort of plan, he should have been there to dispense some sort of orders, but he had nothing. Why did this have to be a nine year old? A nine month old would have been so much easier to deal with. Someone small enough that they could have been seamlessly added to his family like Daughter had been all those years ago. He should have been happier, ecstatic, over the moon…but he wasn't. Because of logistics. That was it. There were just too many logistics that came with kidnapping a child. Another powerful esper that spawned from two nobodies from nothing….

Two very rich nobodies from nothing who actually wanted their esper child.

He should have orphaned the boy before kidnapping him. Not personally, of course, because this was not one of the things that he was going to see to personally…even though maybe he should have. There were so many ways that it could have gone wrong…but it hadn't gone wrong. It had gone right and now they had the child and they needed to know what to do with him and Suzuki had no idea what he was supposed to do with a child who did not want to be a part of Claw but needed to be a part of Claw because child espers were so rare….

That cat was still looking at him.

He glared back at that cat. He glared like he had never glared before. He could make his eyes glow red and it was good for putting the fear of God into people. Apparently cats were immune. It stared right back at him from where it was sunning itself. He stared right back at it. He didn't remember Seasoning City having quite such a stray cat problem but then again he hadn't been back in years. So much had changed. The fact that this city seemed to churn out powerful espers, however, had not changed since he had been born. First him and Fukuda and then Daughter and now this new child. This city did not disappoint. He needed to get back and make sure that he didn't end up disappointing himself. He never should have left in the first place. He was attending to business. That was all. He had noticed a distinct lack of Fukuda and of course he had to track the man down personally. In case he had gotten the idea in his head to run away.

Not that Fukuda would ever do that.

Suzuki knew Fukuda. He had been fiercely loyal since the very beginning. Back when Claw had been nothing but the two of them sitting on his bedroom floor dreaming of a better world. Fukuda would not have left…at least the old Fukuda would not have left. He was a different man sometimes. He had first seen it during Sho's awakening. He would have dismissed it as a one off thing, a fluke, but then it had happened again when he learned of the exact reason they had all been uprooted back to Seasoning City. Suzuki did not consider himself to be a very forgiving man, or even a little bit forgiving, but he could excuse Fukuda's outburst when he realized that they were going to be kidnapping the child esper.

He had a soft spot for children.

And also, Suzuki knew this for a fact, he did not want to be back in Seasoning City any more than Suzuki did. Seasoning City had been the place where it all had started for the both of them. Fukuda had been eager to leave this place, eager to get on with life, and eager to get away from everything that this city was. Every memory it held. There was nothing good in this city, nothing from the past anyway, and Suzuki…he did not want to have to even think about the past. Not that he felt guilt. Not that he was still ashamed of how things had gone. Not that he had been actively avoiding not only this city but this place, the place he was in currently, for decades….

And not just because some cat was staring at him.

He walked past it. He wondered if there was any significance to the fact that a graveyard cat was staring at him. Maybe he had the mark of death on him. Maybe that was it. Maybe this was going to be the day that he died. Maybe he tripped and fell and broke his neck. Maybe there was some elaborate plan to kill him in the works and this would be the day that it finally worked. Or maybe being in a graveyard just got him thinking about death. He didn't know. All he knew was that he did not want to be there. He would have never come if he hadn't had to. But he did. He knew that he could have sent someone to collect Fukuda but…but knowing their history together…and the way that they had parted…the last words that he had spoken to him…

Suzuki was not a forgiving man but he did understand the value of building at least a decent relationship with the only healer that he knew.

"Come to pay your respects?" asked Fukuda as he poured some water over a gravestone. There was some incense burning, too, and a plastic convenience store bag near his feet.

"No." said Suzuki. It was pointless. Fukuda's parents had already passed on. That was why they were not amongst the lingering spirits. His mother had passed of a stroke and his father had passed in a car accident. Perfectly normal and mundane ways to die, deaths that gave neither of them cause to linger, Fukuda knew that. He was an esper, he could see spirits, and he knew that the only things housed in that grave marker were his parents' ashes. Their spirits had long since gone on so, really, there was no point at all to this ritual.

"I didn't mean to my parents." Said Fukuda. He turned his head to the side. Suzuki followed his gaze. He knew that Fukuda was not watching that cat saunter away, no, he was looking about six meters to the right. To the gravemarker that said Suzuki. There were probably thousands of people called Suzuki in Seasoning City alone but that marker belonged to a specific Suzuki family. His family.

"I'm not here to pay my respects to anyone." Said Suzuki. He had no urge to light any incense. He had no urge to pour water over any grave markers. He had no urge to leave a slice of cheesecake with whipped cream and strawberries for his mother or a mochi bun filled with red bean paste for his father. He had no prayers to say, no farewell missives to give, and no flowers to leave so that they could wither and die like everything else in this godforsaken place.

"Come to kill me then?" asked Fukuda

"No." said Suzuki

"You sure? I mean we're already in a graveyard. It would save you the trouble of burying me." Said Fukuda

"You don't want to be cremated?" asked Suzuki. Well that was something that he hadn't known. He would have assumed that Fukuda would have realized that spirits had a better chance of moving on if their bodies were cremated. Also it made more sense from a space saving point of view.

"No. I want to be buried under a tree. A sapling. That way I can at least be of some use to someone after I go." Said Fukuda. He had a tone there that Suzuki could not understand the meaning of. It wasn't heated like it had been before, when he had sent the extraction team after the child, it was…tired? Yes, it sounded tired. But it was in the middle of the day. Jetlag?

"That makes sense I suppose. Not a fruit tree though, I hope, since some may consider it disturbing to eat the fruit of a tree which was nourished by a decaying human body." Said Suzuki

"That's what you find disturbing?" asked Fukuda

"Yes. That doesn't disturb you?" asked Suzuki

"Not as much as kidnapping a nine year old boy for no reason whatsoever." Said Fukuda. There was another note of something in his voice. Not tiredness. A strain to it. Anger? Fukuda's aura certainly seemed angry…and now they were right back to where they had started.

"I don't need to explain myself to you." Suzuki. Fukuda had taken issue with taking the child for some reason. There were plenty of reasons not to want the child, logistical ones, but that was not the place Fukuda was coming from. Fukuda had a problem with taking the child from his parents. He had a problem with the fact that the child's parents would miss him. It made no sense to put the parents into the equation. The fact that the boy would remember them, that was the thing to worry about, not the fact that his parents would miss him. They could easily have another child. The child may not have been an esper but since the parents were both normal people then that shouldn't have mattered. It wasn't like the thought of losing his children, the thought that made his aura flare and his powers threaten to go out of control, because his children were irreplaceable.

"I know." Said Fukuda. If he knew then why was he being like this? Fukuda was usually the one who explained other people to him but now there was no way that he could ask Fukuda to explain himself. People did not react well to that. They became defensive and shut down so Suzuki knew that he was not going be asking Fukuda to explain what was wrong with him.

"If you know then why are you still upset?" asked Suzuki

"Because….I spoke out of turn and I'm sorry. If you're going to kill me or something just…do it. If not then I'll be back in a minute." Said Fukuda. He turned and took a small cake from the convenience store bag by his feet. He left it at the grave marker by his feet and bowed his head in prayer.

Suzuki got the feeling that he was not supposed to be there.

He got the feeling that this was not the thing for him to witness. This ritual. Their cultural rituals were important but this was just…pointless. The dead didn't care. They either passed on or lingered until their unfinished business was finished with. They didn't care for prayers or flowers or incense or offerings. He hoped that his children didn't waste their time doing these things for him after he died. He planned on passing on quickly. His parents had gone quickly.

Immediately.

He didn't know what possessed him to look over at their grave marker. They weren't there, just their ashes, they had passed on immediately. He had no reason to look over for them. He didn't need them. He was a grown man with children of his own now. Even if they had been alive he wouldn't have needed them. He didn't need anybody. He was complete all on his own. He didn't need to tell his parents that…that he had children now. That he had children now and that his children were espers and that he was proud of them, even his son, and that…he had no reason to want to tell his parents anything. Even if they had been alive he as a grown man now. He was complete all on his own.

Fukuda stopped praying.

"I'm not going to kill you." Said Suzuki. Why would Fukuda be worried about something like that? He only killed traitors and while Fukuda had spoken out of turn he had never done anything that could ever be considered treasonous.

"Then why did you follow me here? I know that it's not to visit your parents." Said Fukuda

"I wanted to know where you were." Said Suzuki simply. The truth was that he was putting off making decisions about what was to be done with the esper boy but Fukuda did not need to know that. He would not shatter Fukuda's image of him by admitting that he was inductive.

"You could have just had me followed. I know that you don't usually do these things personally." Said Fukuda

"That's true but…but you are not just anyone. You're the only healer, you know, and if some misfortune were to befall you then your loss would be felt." Said Suzuki

"Well I was planning on coming back. I was always planning on coming back." Said Fukuda

"I don't doubt you." Said Suzuki. Fukuda was his most loyal follower and the closest thing that he'd ever had to a friend. Fukuda had asked him that, to be friends, back when they had been young. Suzuki told him that he didn't have or want friends, just allies, and here they were now. Still Fukuda had known him the longest and knew the most about him. More than anyone else in the world barring Masami.

"Are we heading back now?" asked Fukuda. He didn't look at Suzuki when he said that. He looked past him. Suzuki wondered what was so fascinating. Probably that cat again. He had never understood the fascination that people had with cats or any other animals really. Then again the things that he couldn't understand about people could fill a warehouse.

"Have you finished?" asked Suzuki

"Yeah. I'm done unless you have soe praying to do." Said Fukuda

"No, I don't. It's a pointless ritual. My parents have passed on. Yours have too." Said Suzuki

"This isn't about the dead, Suzuki, it's for the living. I know that my parents have passed on but I still like to visit them and pay my respects." Said Fukuda

"I don't understand. They've been dead for some time now." Said Suzuki

"I know that you wouldn't….I know. I know you…I know you don't believe in this. In ritual. In human connection." Said Fukuda

"I don't, you're correct. I've never had any use for it." Said Suzuki

"I know. That's why it's so easy for you to…never mind." Said Fukuda

"Easy for me to do what?" asked Suzuki. There was something to his voice there, an edge, because he had gotten the distinct feeling that he had been criticized. Nobody criticized him. Nobody had the right to. Especially not his subordinate. His aura flared. He exorcised that emotion. He was not going to lose control again. He was hearing things that weren't there. Fukuda would never have…well he had before….but he didn't mean anything by it. Maybe he was becoming more sardonic in his old…middle age. They were middle aged now, weren't they? Forties already….

"Easy for you to take a nine year old boy from his mother and father. It's easy for you to do that since, you know, you never had any attachment to your parents to begin with. You've never needed anyone, never been attached to anyone, not once in your entire life." Said Fukuda

"Yes." said Suzuki. All of the things that Fukuda had just said were true…so why did he feel like this? He felt like he was being criticized while Fukuda was only speaking the truth. He had never been attached to his parents…not since he had been very small, anyway, so it was…easy. Easy for him to take the child away from his parents…hard to figure out what to do with the child, though, since there was no option that didn't have something of a bad outcome….

The child could not join his household.

The child would try to escape no matter what division he was assigned to.

The child would never want to join Claw, not really, not unless…he had no idea. Usually he was very good at thinking things through. Usually he was very good at planning but…but there was just something about this city that stripped him of any and all ability to think and plan and…and he needed to get the hell out of this city.

"That kid…Suzuki that kid has a family. It's not like with Shigeko. Shigeko was practically an orphan, no one wanted her, this kid is different. He has a family. He's nine and he's never going to forget this family, not like Shigeko did, and he will always resent Claw and…and you…for taking him away from them. His parents actually want him. They're going to…they're going to want their son back. This kid…people are going to look for him. A lot of people." Said Fukuda

"I know." Said Suzuki. He had thought of that little eventuality. There was nothing that could be done about that but people would give up the search eventually…or he could just have the parents removed…but then the disappearance of an entire family would arouse even more suspicion. He wished that this boy had lived literally anywhere else on the planet. Then Suzuki could have had plans A-Z ready without all of this…noise…in his head.

He hated Seasoning City so fucking much.

"Then why even put yourself through all of this? Why not wait until he's an adult and then approach him. I know how you value your time. I know how much you have going on. Wouldn't it have been better to wait the nine short years until this kid was a legal adult and then approach him with the same spiel you give every espe that crosses your path?" asked Fukuda. Yes, this was why he was kept around. Well that and his healing powers. He had a way of looking through the fog, through the noise, and seeing the best possible plan. That was a good plan, it would have been a great plan, if not for a few simple things that Fukuda had overlooked.

"Nine years is too long. I want Daughter to get used to him." said Suzuki. Fukuda had overlooked the children. Specifically he had overlooked the fact that the children desired a companion who was not their sibling. Also Daughter was getting older and it was best to find someone for her now. At least someone worthy of her. She asked, sometimes, about making friends with children who were not espers. He knew that soon she would want to become involved with the opposite sex and soon she would be begging him to allow her to be with a non esper. There weren't a lot of espers in the world to begin with, it was too early to see how many were in her generation, but if he could find someone for her…and make sure that it was someone who could never leave her…well then why wouldn't he have done so? Every single father wanted what was best for their Daughter.

"What….? She's….she's not even ten years old. I don't think that this is something that you need to…to worry about. Also I can't see her being ok with you just picking out….picking someone out for her…and the kid also….I'm sorry. I'm just trying to wrap my head around what you just said. This…arranged marriage or whatever it is you have planned…." Said Fukuda

"No, not an arranged marriage. I would never make Daughter go through with something like that. I simply thought that finding someone for her at this age would have been better. Also it would be good to study another child esper. This is the third one that I know of. I have my reasons for not waiting for the child to grow up. Do not question me." Said Suzuki

"I wasn't questioning you." Said Fukuda. Suzuki would take his word for it even though it had seemed like he was being questioned. Fukuda would never do that. Well he would but…but only when acting out of emotion. Only when he lost control. That was….understandable-ish. Tolerable-ish. Fukuda-ish. He would believe Fukuda for now, anyway. That was what he would do. Even though a feeling was taking root within him. Even though he could feel…he could feel something that was hard to exorcise but still there….

"I know." Said Suzuki

"I'm with you all the way, you know that right? I just think that there are less…stressful…ways to do things." Said Fukuda

"When I want your opinion I'll ask for it." Said Suzuki

"I know, I spoke out of turn. I apologize." Said Fukuda

"Good. Now come back with me and-" said Suzuki. He would have told Fukuda that when they got back he needed to look over the esper child. Make sure he had no concussions, contusions, or abrasions. Make sure that nobody had been careless or overzealous in their efforts at extracting the boy. He would have said something but he hadn't had the chance. No. His phone had vibrated and that had broken him out of whatever moment that he and Fukuda had found themselves in. This…moment. This moment was…this moment was theirs and was not…enjoyable. Pleasant. Yes, pleasant was a much better word to use.

"Suzuki?" asked Fukuda. His aura was shrinking back. Suzuki knew why. It was because his own aura was expanding outwards. He couldn't help it. Thank God that they were in a graveyard. Pretty much everyone there was already dead and those that weren't were keeping their distance. Even that damn cat had gone away.

"We are leaving right now. Come." Said Suzuki. He was so angry. He could barely hold it together. This was…he was surrounded by incompetence! This was…this was the worst thing that could possibly happen. How could everyone be so…incompetent! How hard was it to keep track of one little boy?!

"Sir?" asked Fukuda. Suzuki knew that tone, it was fear, and he didn't care. He welcomed it. A welcomed distraction from the rage the simmered beneath his surface. How could this…he needed to keep calm. The child was gone but he could be found…and he could expand his aura out and…and he found nothing because…because he was so muddled…all he could feel were the awakened and…Daughter? Why was she so bright? What had…what had transpired?

He didn't know but he would find out.

"Come. Something…unforeseen…has happened." Said Suzuki. He would find out who was responsible for this and they would pay. He didn't know he would do or who he would do it to but they would pay for this.

God, how he hated Seasoning City.