Fukuda knew those eyes.

It was never a good thing when Suzuki's eyes got like that. When his pupils disappeared like that. Sho got that look sometimes too, when he was concentrating hard on a drawing, but never to the extent that his father did. Shigeko's eyes were normal. She seemed normal if a bit…he let his aura run over hers….well someone had been up to something that she shouldn't have…though Fukuda could not blame her since she had Suzuki's full attention….

Nobody ever wanted that.

Fukuda knew that look well. He was into something and that something was her. Not in the way that Hatori implied, he knew Suzuki and he knew that he would never even dream of anything like….that, but he knew that Suzuki had latched his attentions towards his Daughter. This would pass. He had been this close to Masami at first too but then he had, eventually, gone back to neglecting her. He'd been like that about Sho for a bit too when he had been born. Standing vigil above his crib and repeating, over and over again, 'inhale' and 'exhale' and then when Sho started to breath more slowly waking in because he could have spontaneously died….

Yeah, Fukuda needed to step in for the good of everyone.

"Fukuda." Said Suzuki. He had felt the man long before he saw him. He wondered what this could be. He hoped that it didn't have to do with the amount of work that he had let pile up. He so hated procrastinating but he and Daughter had been enjoying a lot of time together lately. It was a bit like when he had first met Masami. When he had met her, when they had begun their relationship, he had been able to think of nothing other than her. Her, her, and always her. He had let his work pile up in favor of being near her or speaking to her or just thinking about her. She was just so…her.

Fascinating.

Daughter was fascinating as well. The game they enjoyed together, him purely because he could more easily create designs for bases and HQs of course, the movies she watched that weren't the ice queen, the little stories she would tell, all of it. He just…loved being near her. He loved her. He was not happy to admit it to himself but he also sort of….was. There was a freedom to it, being able to just let it go, like the song said. When he was around her he had such contradictory emotions. On the one hand he hated being weak and showing weakness….but on the other hand in finally showing her that weakness that he hated he felt like a man with nothing to lose…and that felt good. Like he could just let it go….

He NEEDED to introduce her to some other movies. Literally any other movies. The ice queen movie was starting to seep into his mind.

"President Suzuki. Miss Suzuki." Said Fukuda politely. Always politely. He was polite and gave nothing away as his eyes scanned the room. Shigeko was sitting there sharing space on her father's desk. Suzuki did not share. The fact that he was sharing with her, his desk, coupled with the other information that he had gotten…well he worried just a bit.

Also he didn't like the look of either of their auras.

Suzuki wasn't anywhere near an explosion, which was good, but his aura was a lot more active than normal. That wasn't good. Suzuki had gotten to this point in his life by having total and complete control over his powers. Fukuda had seen firsthand what Suzuki could do if he lost control. Shigeko, too, though as of now her aura was artificially calm. He knew why. She had taken up several bad habits that a girl her age should not have even known existed….and for once he did not fully blame her. Suzuki had been…off…for a while now…

And it culminated in this.

"Hi Fukuda. Are you here to sign Shimazaki's birthday card too?" asked Mob. Sho had drawn him a card for his birthday. It was a picture of a dog and he had pressed really hard so Shimazaki could figure out what it was. Mob had a brail label maker and she had written the happy birthday message inside…though she had no idea what it actually said since she had just gone off what the internet had said had been right. She couldn't go and ask Shimazaki what it said because then his birthday surprise would be ruined and he'd be bored and he hated being bored.

It was important to think about your friends.

And it was important to think about your dad, too. That was why she hadn't gone into Tokyo even though she wanted to. She just kept on sending Awakened out until they got it right. She wanted to go off into Tokyo, she needed more manga, but this was ok. She was with dad now and dad needed her because…well she didn't know. All she knew was that she had always wanted dad to be nice to her and to tell her that he loved her and now he was and…and it was like Princess and the Frog rules. She got what she wanted but she lost what she had.

But that was ok because dad needed her.

"No thanks. I'm actually here to talk to your dad." Said Fukuda. He glanced down at the card. Sho's work. It looked like he had just pressed down as hard as he could to draw that dog. Fukuda had no idea what the brail labels said. It looked like those were Shigeko's doing. She had been playing with a label marker. It was nice to see her acting like a ten year old for once.

"Yes?" asked Suzuki. He had to get done with this work so he could get back to the world he and Daughter had made. They had found some red power stones and they could use those and the gold that they had found to make powered rails which in turn could revolutionize the way they moved about their world. The possibilities were endless, well they would be, once he and Daughter finished up this work and went to work on their rail system.

Purely for the purposes of designing possible Claw bases and such, of course.

"Are the Awakened fighting again?" asked Mob. She wanted to go and stop them from fighting…well not really because they were always so weird when it came to talking to her…but she did want an excuse to get out of this office. She loved her dad, she really did, and she had wanted to spend time with him and share interests with him for her entire life….and she had always wanted his love but too much of his love could be kind of…scary.

"You know, I can't really tell with those guys anymore. They might be fighting or they might just be playing. Those guys are a mystery to me." Said Fukuda. He gave nothing away. That was bate that he dangled in front of her. She liked being liked by the Awakened. She didn't rule through fear like her father did, no, she had her own little cult of personality going on…and it did no good at all to have a cult within a cult….but he was going to deal with one thing at a time. First he had to gauge what stage of obsession Suzuki was in and then he had to subtly plant the seeds to get him out of that obsession. Shigeko could not deal with the full force of obsessed Suzuki. Nobody could but it was especially dangerous to her, and to everyone else, if she ended up getting too stressed and exploding.

So of course Fukuda had to step in.

"I should go see. I'll be back, dad, I won't go far." Said Mob as she got up. She could feel a big group of them all together in one place….which could have been good or bad. She'd see what they were doing and then take the opportunity to visit Hatori. He was still her friend even if he would never like her the way she liked him. She could still be near him and talk to him and think about him and…and stuff like that. That was all ok even though he would never like her back. Maybe it was even better if he didn't like her back. Dad would just end up beating him up and stuff if he ever ended up liking her back.

"See to it that you don't." said Suzuki. She wasn't leaving the building. He could trust her not to leave the building. He would have felt better with her at his side but…but he had no reason not to let her go. If he told her that she was never allowed to leave his side for any reason whatsoever then that would just be giving her far too much power over him. He had just now started to be able to tell her regularly that he loved her. He wasn't going to tell her that every time she was out of his sight he remembered those days when Masami would leave his sight and just…leave…and how one day she just left and never came back….

He wasn't insane enough to give his ten year old daughter that sort of power over him.

But he had ended up giving her a lot of power over him. She had asked for that power and he had given it…because he trusted her. She was trustworthy. She was his Daughter. She was Masami's Daughter. He trusted her. She…she was a part of him even if she wasn't. She was a part of him and she was also his. She would not leave him or betray him…but he had thought the same of Masami….but she was not Masami…

The whole thing left him feeling all mixed up inside…and these emotions were very difficult to exorcise.

Watching her walk away…there was a pain there that left him aching. The wound was agitated, the one that Masami had left him with, and he didn't know why. Masami was gone and he accepted it. He knew his Daughter and he knew that she would never leave him. She was his in way that Masami had never been. Daughter was only ten years old and did not have the means to leave him…though she would be eleven in half a year…and then twelve and so on and so forth. But she was…she had no reason to leave. He gave her everything she asked for. Affirmations of love and affection, a measure of autonomy in her life, all the material possessions she could even want, and he had even recognized her achievements in the domestic sphere and gave her total and complete power over raising her brother.

She had no reason to want to leave.

Everything that she could ever ask for he could and would give her. She could just never leave him but why would she ever want to? He wished that he could have given her a world like the one which existed within the boundary of their computer. One in which they could create and destroy as they saw fit. One in which she could be his equal but it ultimately would not matter if she became his equal since the world was not one of flesh and bones and aura and life but ones and zeros, yes or no decisions, that came together to create a world where creation and destruction were possible at the click of a mouse. The world of their creation came so much easier, control over it did, than the world of their existence. He wanted to give her this world, too. He wanted to give her this world and every world because she deserved it, she was right to ask it, because she was his Daughter.

Once they, once he had, the world then he would never have to worry about her leaving again.

There would be nowhere for her to go since it would be his world. Right now his world, the boundary of it, did not go past this building. So that was where she could be allowed to roam freely. The world outside of this building was too large. She could find herself on a path he did not know on a journey out of his life…and he would not know that he had lost her until she was gone…

But he would never lose her. Not if he kept her at his side where she belonged.

"Suzuki, can we talk?" asked Fukuda after he made sure that Shigeko's aura was far enough away that she wouldn't overhear anything and try to interject.

"About what?" asked Suzuki. He went through everything that Fukuda could want to talk to him about. Son had injured himself again, the Seventh Division continued to disappoint, another riot over desserts had broken out, literally anything…but something serious enough to warrant an in person and in the middle of the day visit from Fukuda.

"Just some concerns I've been having lately. About Shigeko." Said Fukuda. Suzuki's pupils somehow got even smaller. His aura flared out. Fukuda remained calm.

"What about Daughter?" asked Suzuki. A painful feeling gripped him. The same one that had made him think that Daughter had spontaneously died a few nights ago. Fukuda was a healer and he healed the children when something was wrong and therefore something was wrong with Daughter…one half of his mind told him that. The other half told him that he had just seen her a moment ago and, aside from being somewhat spacey, she had been fine…but she had been very spacey lately…but she was a child and that was how children were…but he had been a child and he had never just lost his train of thought in the middle of a conversation or gone off on very long rambling tangents that went nowhere….

"She seems like she's been stressed lately. You seem like you've been stressed lately too. I was just wondering what was wrong. Work's been piling up, too." Said Fukuda. A place of concern. That was it. He was concerned for the Suzuki family because he believed in all of this insanity. That was a good angle. Suzuki would understand that angle.

"I've been fine and Daughter has been fine. Better than fine. We've actually been doing very well." Said Suzuki. He and Daughter had a very good relationship going. He had thought that things would become more difficult as she got older but they had actually gotten better. She was growing into a woman but she was easier to understand than any woman he had ever known. She said what she meant, meant what she said, and he was even willing to compromise with her when she needed something that he could not give. He was also giving more than he ever had before and she was not taking it for granted, expressing disappointment in him, or pushing for any more. Things were wonderful and perfect and she was wonderful and perfect…just like her mother….

"I'm glad to hear it. She just seemed a little stressed out is all. But then again I don't see her very often these days. Nobody does. Not even her brother." Said Fukuda

"She and I have been busy." Said Suzuki

"With work?" asked Fukuda

"Parent to child bonding. It's important." Said Suzuki. There. There was nothing wrong with building a good bond with his Daughter. He had to bond with her, she was his child, and if he didn't bond with her then she would never be able to form healthy attachments in her adulthood and she would never marry or bear children…and as terrible and as terrifying as the thought of some man taking away his daughter is Suzuki knows that the world needs more espers in it…though if she never married and just had children with some other esper but stayed right where she belonged by his side then that would have been just fine.

"Yes, most definitely…but Sho's been feeling a little left out." Said Fukuda

"He's fine. He has his own things going on." Said Suzuki. Truth be told he had no idea what it was that Son had been getting up to lately. If anything serious was happening to the boy someone would have informed him. Most likely Daughter. She cared for her brother immensely just like Masami had.

"Different from what you and Shigeko have going on?" asked Fukuda

"Yes." said Suzuki. He didn't elaborate. He had no idea what Son had been getting up to and unless he was doing something to undermine Claw then Suzuki really didn't care.

"Sho says that you two have been spending a lot of time together lately. He also says that you took over his Minecraft world…that you and Shigeko did..." Said Fukuda. Yup. He knew those eyes. Those were the crazy eyes. Those were the 'send Fukuda out in the snow to figure out some poor girl who's caught his attention's shoe size by measuring her footprints' eyes. Those were the 'fill several spiral bound notebooks with every possible combination of kendo moves and their counters' eyes. Those were the 'just heard that being gay was a thing in health class better make out with my best friend to figure it out' eyes. Those were the 'just got space invaders for the Atari and have given up eating, sleeping, and bathing' eyes.

Nothing good had ever come of Suzuki having those eyes.

"He wasn't using it." Said Suzuki dismissively. He had seen the things that Son had built. Impractical. He was also the one responsible for all of those holes to nowhere. They had been very inconvenient when putting together the tunnel system, even Daughter had admitted to that, and having Son in their world with them would just be too…much. Daughter would have to focus on caring for him and Son, well, he wasn't good at things like this. Things that required planning and thought. So really it made more sense for it to just be him and Daughter together in this.

"So you and Shigeko have been playing Minecraft together?" asked Fukuda. He could see that. A game with a lot of rules and a complicated crafting system? Suzuki would love that. He wondered, briefly, if he should leave well enough alone. Just leave Suzuki and Shigeko to their game and let Suzuki get obsessed to the point that he drops out of the world…but, no, then it could spill over onto Sho. Also if Suzuki was as obsessed with Shigeko as her friend made it seem then an explosion was inevitable and Fukuda could not let that happen. A lot more than seventeen people would die this time if she were to explode again.

"…she has made me familiar with the game, yes." said Suzuki. He was a grown man. He was not going to admit to playing a children's game. He had to be respected, he could not let himself look like an idiot, and grown men did not stay up late every single night playing games with their children…but maybe it was ok because he was a father and being a father meant spending time with his children to…to make sure that they…they grew up properly. Yes. That was it.

"Yeah, Sho showed me how to play too. I have zero clue what I'm doing but, hey, it makes him happy." Said Fukuda. Truth be told Fukuda was not a fan but it made Sho happy and that was what mattered. He had been, once again, forgotten by his own family…not that Fukuda would ever have let him deal with his father's obsessions on his own. No, he was too young to know how to handle Suzuki when he got like this.

"You've been playing with my Son?" asked Suzuki. He was…he was happy that Son had found a way to amuse himself…and also that he was doing something with his time that did not involve running and jumping and climbing and acting like Suzuki didn't even want to say….but on the other hand that was his Son and…and…well yes, that was his Son but Son could do whatever he wanted.

"Well Sho's been doing most of the playing, honestly. I can barely even make my character walk let alone build anything. I've got all of this iron and-" said Fukuda

"Iron is useful. You can mine any ore with it…any ore but gold, diamond, red stone, and emerald. You have to build the pickaxe first, of course, but that should be easy. Diamond is the best material, though, because that way you can mine obsidian…." Said Suzuki. He's young again, for a moment, just a moment. He's young and his back doesn't hurt and it's sometime in the late 1980s and he's explaining to Fukuda why the ten year old Space Invader's cabinet is that best game ever and how shooting through your own shields is a dumb strategy and that if you could time yourself properly then, of course, you could keep your shields and win. He's called Touichirou again, for a moment, and Fukuda is back to being Tadashi. It's an odd feeling. Not a bad one. Just…melancholic? Wistful? He doesn't know.

"Damn. You could give Sho a run for his money." Said Fukuda. He had been glancing at the clock every few minutes. That had been four minutes and thirteen seconds…which meant that he was getting into the later stage of obsession…which meant that he had been spending a lot of time with Shigeko…which may have been a good or bad thing depending on…on how much of that obsession was tied to her.

"Well Son doesn't have that sort of patience." Said Suzuki. He glanced down at the time. Oh. It had just flown by. He expanded his perception's outwards. Daughter was still in the building. She was surrounded by Awakened. If she wasn't back by the time Fukuda finished up with this social call then he would go and find her. She had been gone for five minutes. That was a long time to be away from him.

"He can be patient when he wants to be. We've been trying to kill this dragon, actually, and he's been pretty focused. I'm pretty useless, though, but I bet that with his sister's help, and yours too since you clearly know what you're doing-" said Fukuda. He was leaving Sho out, that was normal, but Sho was even less of an afterthought to his father now than he usually was. That was…Fukuda stuffed down any anger he felt about that. Sho was actually better off not having to deal with his father when he got like this. Fukuda reminded himself of this. He reminded himself of this and he kept himself calm.

"Daughter and I have our own projects we're working on. Son is fine with your help." Said Suzuki

"What have you two got going on? Must be pretty big." Said Fukuda. Light, friendly, interest. Don't delve too deep too fast or you'll scare him off. He's deep into obsession and when he gets to this point his emotional control starts to slip. So does his grasp of social rules. Peel this away bit by bit like an onion.

"Several potential Claw bases. Now were you concerned about Daughter or is this a social call?" asked Suzuki. Daughter had been gone for a very long time and he needed to bring her back because…because he just did. She was out of his sight where anything could happen to her. Where she could go anywhere and there would be no finding her…even if he sent teams of people then there would be no finding her…and then she could just be gone from his life forever….

"A little of both. I was just worried about Shigeko because she seems like she's been stressed out lately. I was just wondering if anything out of the ordinary's been going on." Said Fukuda. He had over stepped and over played and now Suzuki was starting to close himself off again…which would have been a good thing if Fukuda hadn't known that he was planning on closing himself off with Shigeko. Suzuki had been reaching out for her, for her aura, even though it hadn't even been ten minutes yet. Normally he let her wander wherever she wanted but now…now he was keeping track of her. Keeping her close…

"No. Nothing out of the ordinary has been going on and Daughter has no reason to be stressed. She's been very happy. We both have. I know when she is and is not happy and I act accordingly." Said Suzuki

"How can you tell? I've never been able to get a good read on her." said Fukuda. That last bit…he CARED about how Shigeko felt. He had never cared, before, about anyone's feelings. He had always said that he had no reason to care for others because he was a full and complete person all on his own…but here he was caring about Shigeko's feelings. He had never given a damn about Masami's feelings but he cared about Shigeko's….

Her aura, mainly, and also because she tells me. She tells me when she wants to play and when she wants to rest and when she wants to socialize with her friends, a truly excessive amount in my opinion, and she tells me when she wants to watch the ice queen and when my construction is in her territory and when she needs affection and in what form and frequency and when she wants to go to bed and how much of the bed she needs to be comfortable and-" said Suzuki

"She still sleeps in your bed?" asked Fukuda before he could stop himself. Well her friend had told him but…but hearing it from Suzuki. Masami had always said that sleeping next to him was like sleeping next to a corpse. He slept on his back with his hands folded, which he had done even back when they'd had sleepovers as kids, and he never made an move to cuddle her or hold her while he slept….and she had hated it so much. Suzuki hated sleeping next to other people. Even when they'd had sleepover he'd made Fukuda sleep on the other side of the room. Something about vulnerability or whatever that he had never grown out of…and now he was sharing a bed with Shigeko.

Who was ten years old.

She was ten. That was….well people used to sleep in the same room with their whole families back when his parents….well actually back when his grandparents…had been alive. So it wasn't too weird but…but it also was. Because she was ten and…well if she wanted to sleep next to him then it wasn't so weird but her friend had said that Suzuki was making her sleep next to him…which made no sense because he hated sharing a bed with his wife so why would he want to share one with his Daughter? Also she was ten and…and still clearly a child. She was starting to look a little older, she was getting taller and not that he made a habit of staring at a ten year old girl's chest but she maybe needed to start wearing thicker undershirts or just clothes that weren't costumes…and she was maybe too old to be sharing a bed with her father…because the whole thing was just…weird…

Suzuki Touichirou was a weird guy who had no idea what did and did not constitute normal behaviors.

"Yes. She's good company." Said Suzuki. He did not enjoy being interrupted at all. Also he didn't like the fact that Fukuda had something of a tone there…though it may not have been a bad one since his aura was still as calm as ever. There were too many layers to human speech. Word choice and tone and gestures and body language and all of that…it was just too much. Daughter, well, she was different. She said what she meant and meant what she said and didn't expect him to understand any of those other layers of human communication beyond the meaning of the words she said. She was always so direct and to the point. He loved her for that.

"Does she come to you or do you come to her?" asked Fukuda. He knew Suzuki and he knew that it was not a worst case scenario thing. He just...was really bad at social rules. Also he tended to get very possessive of the things he cared about…and he cared about Shigeko. Ten seemed a little late to be getting all overprotective of her but it was what it was and Fukuda just had to deal with it.

"She used to come to me on occasion but I started bringing her to me. Why does that matter?" asked Suzuki. Was there something there? Fukuda was making that face that he made when Suzuki made some social transgression…but what? What could he have possibly done wrong?

"Well…she's ten. She's ten and that seems a bit…old. To be sleeping with her dad I mean. Most kids have long grown out of that by the time that they're her age." Said Fukuda

"When our parents were young they slept on tatami mats with their entire families. I don't see what's wrong with me sharing a bed with Daughter. She's good company and she enjoys it. She enjoys spending time with me. She's hardly left my side in weeks." Said Suzuki. He hadn't allowed the children to sleep in the bed with him and Masami when they had been small because there just would not have been any room. He had always had his own bed and his own room and could not remember…well vaguely he could remember sleeping in the bed with his parents…but he had been very small…but it didn't matter. His parents had slept on tatami mats with their entire families in the same room. Daughter was not too old to share a bed with him. Besides, she enjoyed it. She enjoyed waking up to someone being there. She enjoyed the warmth of another human being next to her in the night. She enjoyed waking up and seeing him…well she would have If she had been the one who woke up first.

"Yeah, I have been seeing her around the building a lot less. I wonder…." Said Fukuda. He knew how to play this now. Shigeko was losing her freedom and it was stressing her out. She was also having to deal with being the object of her father's obsessions, something that anyone would have found stressful. He knew that he had to play this like he was concerned for her development. Not that he was concerned that she was going to snap one day and blow this place sky high. Suzuki may have hated being told what to do but he also relied on Fukuda to tell him what was and was not ok socially.

And he wanted the best for his Daughter.

"What is there to wonder?" asked Suzuki. He had no idea how to feel. There was something to wonder? If it had been anyone else talking to him like this they would have found themselves on the ground and…and this was Fukuda and he knew a lot about these things. He had always been the expert between the two of them when it came to social things. He was bad at them. He was the worst when it came to socializing and…and Daughter…had he been doing wrong by Daughter?

But how?

He was doing all of the things that a good father was supposed to do. He gave her whatever she wanted and met her needs whenever she voiced them. He enjoyed spending time with her and wanted to keep her by his side at all times. When they were apart he sought her out and when they were together he treasured the gift that it was to be in her company. He would not make the same mistakes with her that he had made with Masami. He had taken Masami, her presence in his life, for granted. He would not do the same for his Daughter.

"If maybe that's what's got her so stressed out." Said Fukuda. He felt like he was playing hopscotch on a minefield. Any little ething could get Suzuki to either shut down or it could end up setting him off. Well Fukuda was going to take his chances. Shigeko was a minefield, or an armed bomb, and being this close to Suzuki all the time…it was not good for her. For her or for anyone.

"What do you mean? Why would she be stressed if she was near me? She should be relaxed when she's near me. I take care of her. I make sure that she's comfortable and happy and I take good care of her and I give her constant affirmations of love and affection. She has no reason to be stressed." Said Suzuki

"Well that's good but…well…she has been pretty independent for a while. It's not good for kids, socially, to go from being independent to dependent. It's a reversal of the natural order of things. I bet that this could be stressful for her. It might even confuse her development." Said Fukuda. He may have overstretched with the last part but that's what Suzuki cares about the most. The kids growing up and serving him, serving Claw, and ultimately ruling the world.

"….she can't leave my side, she can't leave. I won't give her the opportunity…and I won't take her for granted." Said Suzuki. She had been very independent and he knew that in humans as with all other animals children went from being dependent to independent…but he also knew that he could not risk losing her. Maybe she just never needed to be independent. He could take care of her until the day he died…but he would die and leave her alone…and she would have her own children to raise some day…and he had to think of the next generation and all coming generations…but he so cared for her…

"She's ten. Where would she even go? And why would she want to leave you?" said Fukuda. Well that was…not good for anyone. That tone, that aura, those eyes….and also what was going on in his head. Fukuda knew what was going on in his head. So now he cared about Masami. So now he cared that she had left him. Where had this caring been when he had been neglecting her? Where had this caring been when he had abandoned her for weeks or even months at a time? Where had this caring been when he had been sleeping with someone else, unprotected, in Korea? At least he and Masami had been careful. At least Masami hadn't gone and made another human being and-

He forced his aura to stay calm.

"She…she is ten…but she tries to leave. She has people she socializes with and…and she could….but she won't." said Suzuki. Right. He was not with Daughter right now. Daughter was the only person he could be like this with. The only person who wouldn't look down on him…or question him…and he cared for her so much…and he didn't…he didn't think that he was doing anything wrong. She was happy. She was happy with him and he was not doing anything wrong.

"Well, yeah, there's a difference between wanting to be with her friends and wanting to leave you. Come on, she loves you. She's always loved you the most out of everyone and she takes after you, too. It would be a shame if stopped being like you. I mean you don't need anyone. You're a full and complete person on your own." said Fukuda. This was good. Suzuki was thinking. Time to appeal to his warped ideology. That same life philosophy that had been carrying him to hell for all these years.

"I…I am…and I want her to be…but there is nothing wrong with bonding with her. There is nothing wrong with trying to make her happy. There is nothing wrong with succeeding in making her happy. She's so happy. She's the most happy." Said Suzuki

"Hey, I never said that she wasn't. I just seemed that she seemed stressed out. I mean it must be stressful to suddenly have her freedom restricted like this. I mean you've trusted her before to run Claw of all things…but you won't let her sleep in her own bed. Seems like it would be a little confusing for a little girl." Said Fukuda. Maybe he had gone too far before. Time to pull back just a little…or maybe just keep going. He was…Fukuda knew him. He was doubting himself. He always doubted himself when it came to social skills. Good. That gave Fukuda the chance to move in…yes. This was…this was good. This was going in a good direction.

"I…I suppose that it would be…but she's happy. I know that she is happy…" said Suzuki. That was true. He had trusted her to run Claw…well he had never asked her to do so but she had just stepped in. She had stepped in and made a mess but she had also…also made a mess…but she was only ten. She was loyal enough that she had stayed even after he left and she had given up power to him when he came back…and he could trust her…

She was not going to leave…but he couldn't give her the chance…

"Well, yes, she's happy but it's not good for her socially to move backwards like this. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I mean there's nothing wrong with her being near you if she asks you first and nothing wrong with playing games with her and giving her affirmations of love but, well, she's got to ask for them first. Otherwise you're smothering her and she'll lose all of the independence skills she's been gaining for the past ten years…and also you shouldn't carry her to bed with you. It's not developmentally appropriate for this generation and could actually be detrimental.

"I…she's been happy." Said Suzuki. She was happy and that was what mattered. If she was happy then she would have no reason to leave.

"There's more to loving someone than making them happy. Sometimes you have to do what's best for someone, not what makes them the happiest." Said Fukuda. There. He had him. That was what he needed to hear. Suzuki Touichirou thought that he knew what was best for the whole world so, of course, he would have no problem lording over his daughter…

"I…suppose that there is." Said Suzuki. He loved Daughter so much and he wanted to make her happy…but he also wanted her to grow up and…and he wished that he could freeze her at ten and…and he wanted her to grow up to be useful to him…and he just…he decided to listen to Fukuda. He knew, deep down he knew, that he had been too…too open with Daughter. Open with his emotions and the depth of his feeling towards her…but she liked it…but he was not being the sort of person that he wanted her to grow up to be. He wanted her to be self-reliant. He wanted her to be able to stand on her own two feet and to be able to run Claw…to help run it…and he may have miscalculated. He had factored his own needs into the equation…

And hers.

She asked things of him and he did them. He told her that he loved her and…and he kept her close…and he loved her so much…and she knew it. She knew it and she knew that he had given her that kind of power over him…and he had given her power…and he cared for her…but he also didn't want to miscalculate….

"You can raise your children however you see fit. I just want everything to work out, that's all. You don't have to stop spending time with her but, maybe, just let her be Shigeko…and maybe don't make her sleep next to you. Not unless she comes to you…but that's for a whole different reason." said Fukuda. That last part he had said for his own piece of mind. He knew Suzuki and he knew that Suzuki wasn't like that but also her a gut reaction to that and…and it was just plain weird. That would be the thing that messed Shigeko up. She was already not doing well, those decanters were starting to look a little low again, and she did not need her father making her sleep next to him.

Fukuda wasn't a psychologist but he did know that it couldn't have been good for her.

None of this had been good for her. Suzuki…he knew how Suzuki had been acting towards her and he knew that it could do more damage to her than even the way he treated Sho. She was his favorite child and Sho may have been the male heir and blood son but Suzuki liked Shigeko better…and if he ended up leaving her the world then she needed to come out of her childhood a little more unscathed than she was now…and also if she exploded then the whole thing was a moot point. Yes, that was their biggest concern when it came to Shigeko…

But it looked like that explosion had been avoided.

He knew Suzuki. He knew those eyes. And he knew that he had at least been listening. Whether or not he was actually going to change well…Fukuda had no clue. They could only wait and see.