Suzuki did not hate his Daughter.

He could never hate his Daughter. Ever She was practically perfect, his almost most perfect person, and he could never hate her. Masami had been his most perfect person but Daughter was a close second…but not in the same way that Masami had been his most perfect person because it would have been very wrong to think of his Daughter in that way. Even though she had zero genetic relation to him it would still have been wrong. She was still almost perfect in so many ways…accept for this one.

"Dad, why do you hate me?"

Why was she asking him this? He didn't hate her. He had never once given her any reason to think that he hated her. Also he didn't hate anyone, hating people took too much effort that was better spent on other things, but there were people that he disliked. But he didn't dislike her. He could never dislike her. Even now, with her saying this insanity, he would not ever even dream of disliking her. He cared so much for her…he wanted nothing more than pick her up and to tie a rope around her waist and the other end around his wrist and then never let her go.

But he had to.

Fukuda was smart about these things. She needed her independence skills and she would never gain them if he tied a rope around her waist and the other end to his wrist. About three meters of rope would do it, though, keep her near enough that he knew she was there but not so near that she couldn't change clothing and do all the other things that she needed to do in private. Not rope though because that would have been too rough. String, maybe? That might work. Or whatever that material was that they made dog leashes out of. Something strong but thin and also light…

But that would be bad for her so he wasn't going to do that.

Instead he was going to keep walking back to his room. She had been waiting outside of the bathroom while he had been taking his nightly bath. He assumed that she was waiting her turn, not for him, but now she was following him and he didn't know why. She needed to be independent but she couldn't be independent if she was following him down the hallway and to his room. He needed her to be independent or the whole Suzuki family legacy would fall apart before it even got started. His job was to raise her to be the adult he needed her to be, not the child he wished he could preserve her at now, and in order for her to grow up to be a proper adult he needed to give her space to become independent.

Even though what he really wanted to do was pick her up and carry her to bed and just spend time with her.

"Dad, please tell me why you hate me."

Daughter was still following him. We kept walking. She followed. He got to his door. She stopped but stood behind him. He could feel her aura against his. He could see her out of the corner of his eye. She was there and her face was red and her eyes were red….was she getting sick? She had been carrying on with her brother out in the snow for a while…did the cold make people sick? He'd have to look that up later. Right now he had this to deal with. What was he supposed to do? He was supposed to leave her alone the best thing for her was if he left her alone. So he wasn't going to look at her or talk to her or spend time with her ever again so that she would develop independent skills. Son was doing well. Suzuki hardly ever interacted with him and he was a very independent little boy. He had interacted with Daughter too much, been too weak around her, but now he was going to do the right thing and leave her alone.

He opened the door.

He reached behind himself with his powers and immobilized her where she stood. He crossed the threshold into his room and shut the door. This was the right thing to do. Doing the right thing wasn't always easy but life wasn't always easy. Serving his life's goal wasn't always easy. He was going to rule the world and when he did his work would not be done. He had to secure the next generation. Daughter was his, she was alive, and she would grow into an adult but he would have to have her grow up to be the adult he needed her to be….

Even though he was happy with her now.

"Dad, please tell me…tell me why you hate me now?"

He hated it when she said that. He did not hate her. He loved her. He loved it when she was near him. He loved falling asleep next to her at night and waking up beside her in the morning. He loved how she made it ok for him to revisit the things that he had loved in his childhood. He loved the way that she loved the things that he had loved in his childhood. He loved the game they'd play together, he loved working with her in service of a goal, and he loved the feeling that came when they brought their goals to completion. He loved building things with her. He had always wanted to have someone he could build a new world with. Not that he needed anyone, he was Suzuki Touichirou and he needed no one, but he did enjoy having another person there to help him create a better world…even if that world only existed within the confines of a game. He had so wished that Masami…that they could have built the world together. After he took over the world and remade it he would have loved to have had her help…to have had her near while he made a newer and more perfect world for her…and he loved the idea of Daughter at his side as he destroyed the old world and built a new one worthy of her…

He missed her more than anything.

He missed her happiness. He missed the way she would mouth along to her favorite songs from the ice queen movie. He loved the way she was smile as she drifted off to sleep. He loved the way that she turned into an octopus while she slept and held onto him. He loved how soft her skin felt against his. He loved how soft her hair was in those rare instances when he could reach out and feel it. He loved the way her eyes and aura lit up when she saw him. He loved the fact that she sought him out, that she enjoyed being near him, and he loved her so much, the most, when she was at his side where she belonged.

"Dad…please. Please just tell me what I did wrong so…so I can fix it."

He could hear her through the door. He wanted to open that door and pull her close and to tell her that she did nothing wrong. To tell her that he loved her more than anything. To pick her up and to hold her close and…and that's a crazy thought. First of all she's ten years old and however many kilos heavy. He can't just lift her up like he used to. He'd destroy his back. Also it would have possibly even been socially inappropriate. He had never been lifted up by either parent when he had been her age…though his memories from that time are not the clearest. He wants to pick her up, though, and with his powers he could easily lift her. With his powers he could do anything. He's Suzuki Touichirou and he can do whatever he wants…

But she needs independent skills.

She's knocking on the door, now, and he can't take it. He can't take her being near to him. He can't take the fact that he's so near to her and she's so near to him and he wants to be with her so badly…he wants to be with her more than he's ever wanted to be near someone aside from Masami. Daughter…it's such a gift to be near her. It's a gift to have her and to hold her and…and he knows that he can't but…but he wants to. He wants nothing more than to have her and to hold her and to never let her go….

But she needs independent skills.

"Daughter. Go away."

There. Words. Now she will know that she needs to go away and she'll find something else to do. Hopefully she and Son won't become quarrelsome again. They had woken him up in the middle of the night with their carrying on and he had been so close to opening that door, walking down the hallway, and then knocking some sense into Son because Suzuki KNEW that he had to be the instigator. He was always the instigator. Daughter didn't have a quarrelsome bone in her body. Daughter…he had wanted nothing more than to go in there and pick her up and carry her to his bed where she belonged. He wanted that now, too, to pick her up and deposit her on her side of the bed where she belonged and then just to…to sit there and be in her presence….

"Now."

But he can't. He needs to do what's right for her. That's what it is to be a parent. That's why he tries his best to correct Son…well that and because Son pushes him to that point…he's a father and part of being a father is making sure that his children grow up properly. Being a father means that sometimes he needs to put his needs second for his Daughter. He cares for her enough to put his needs second and…and he doesn't like this. This feeling he has for her. It sits close to the wound that Masami left. It sits right there next to the wound and it threaten to merge with that to create a newer and more painful wound than he had ever felt before.

"What did I just say?"

He sits down on his bed. The bed groans under his weight. He leans forward and rests his head in his hands. His elbows are digging into his knees. If he closes his eyes he can feel Masami, there, laying on her side of the bed. Her hand, her incredibly soft hand, would be on his back. She would say something like 'Touichirou, come on' and then she would tug on his shirt and he would lay down beside her…and he can feel her hand. He can feel her hand on his back and he could feel her presence near him and he can even smell her, that artificial berry smell of her lotion coupled with the smell of cinnamon that always seemed to linger on her…and also her perfume, too, the kind she liked…and he closes his eyes and just allowed himself to feel the ghost of her….

"Dad, please. Why do you want me to go away?"

Masami's ghost has been exorcised. The room is cold. He's alone. He hasn't dried his hair well enough. A bead of water makes it's way from his hairline down across his temples and then stops on his eyebrow. He's so alone…and it's painful. Even though he doesn't want or need anyone beside him it's pain. The wound. The admitting of the wound. The admitting of the admitting of the wound. The cause of the wound, the ghost of her, and the living person who makes it worse. She's there. He can see her aura, he can feel her voice, he can see the shadow she casts in the hallway.

"Daughter. Leave me."

She doesn't obey. She doesn't listen. He wants….if this had been Son Suzuki would have just sent him flying down the hallway. But this was not Son, this was Daughter, and the thought of correcting Daughter in the way that he's corrected her in the past, or the way that he corrects Son in the present, feels wrong to him. As wrong as it would have been if he had sent Masami flying…he thought makes him feel ill. He would never, ever, have done anything to hurt Masami just as he will never, ever, do anything to hurt Daughter…even though she's right there where she shouldn't be. Even though she's deliberately disobeying him. Even though he knows that she had can hear and he knows that she hasn't spontaneously forgotten Japanese and that she hasn't spontaneously forgotten that she is the child and he is the father….he cannot bring himself to do what he knows needs to be done.

What's the matter with him?

When had he become…this? This person who would rather sit there and wallow in his…whatever this emotion was…instead of doing what needed to be done. He needed to correct her, to make her better, and to make all of this better. He needed to fix this. He needed to stop admitting the wound. If he didn't admit the wound then there would be no wound in the first place. After all he had not actually been wounded. He had not been wounded and…and he was fine. These were just emotions and emotions were not real. Wounds, physical wounds, were real…and this was not real. This was just…his mind losing control of it's self. This was just his mind attempting to…he didn't even know what.

Another knock on the door.

"Dad, please, just tell me what I have to do to make this better."

Grow up quicker. She could grow up quicker and then he would be able to have her and hold her and be with her to his heart's content. He would be able to have her at his side at all time. He would be able to tie a rope around her waist and then the other end to his wrist and then it would be alright because she would have been an adult and her mental development would be complete. Then he would be able to be near her to his heart's content and he would be able to hold her to his heart's content and then she could go back to being the last thing he saw before he closed his eyes at night and the first thing he saw when he opened them in the morning. She would go back to being right there beside him wherever he looked. She would go back to being there and telling him every day that she loved him and he…he would do the same. To make her happy he would do the same. He would admit his weakness if it would make her happy. He would do whatever it took to make her happy.

He needed her to be happy.

He needed her to be happy and he needed her to be near him and…and he just…he didn't NEED her but he WANTED her and wanting…wanting was alright. A want was not a need. Wanting to be near her, to have her, to hold her, to use her to close this wound which was not a wound at all…that was alright. He wanted things, he wanted a great many things, and it was alright if she was on the list of the great many things that he wanted. Her, her presence, her warmth, her happiness, the feel of her in his arms, the feel of her skin against his, the feel of her aura against his, all of it. He wanted to be with her so badly…but he knew that he had to do the right thing.

"I told you to go away."

She doesn't move. She doesn't move a single centimeter from where she stands. She's there and she's so close and he could so easily get up off this bed and go to her…and he wants to go to her…and he wants to be near to her and…and she's there and so close and so warm and so soft and so perfect…she's so perfect. She's his most perfect person and he doesn't want to let her go or to make her go…and she's so warm and soft and he's so cold…and he doesn't understand himself. Why he's fixated on how she feels in his arms. What is the point of thinking of her like that? What is even the point of…of any of these feelings? She's just so warm and…if he feels cold then he could just out his over shirt back on. He had gotten into the habit of not wearing his over shirt to bed and…and Masami had been the last person who had gotten him to sleep less than fully dressed….

He isn't sure if he wants to examine that.

He isn't sure if he wants to examine his feelings for Daughter like this. How he gives her the same amount of…of himself…that he gave Masami. He's given her as much as he's given Masami and…and it makes sense. She's Masami's Daughter. She may not have a single drop of Masami's blood running through her veins but…but she's still Masami's Daughter. There is just so much of Masami in her and…and that makes the wound worse…even though he knows that the wound will go away if he just STOPS ADMITTING IT…..but he can't.

He just can't.

"Dad….I'll go away when you tell me what I did wrong. Please…please tell me what I did wrong. Please just tell me what I did to make you hate me so much. I just want…I want to know so that way I can fix it and then I can be better for you. I can be better for you and then you can love me again and…and then we can be ok again…and I just think that maybe if we talk about it, what I did, then things can get better."

He can't listen to this anymore.

He doesn't want to listen to this anymore so he won't. She's saying…he has no idea what it is that she's even saying. He has no idea what it is that she….that she even has going on in her mind. The things that she's saying are just…what is she even saying? Why does she even…what makes her think that he would EVER hate her? No. He can't sit there and listen to this anymore. He just can't, he just won't, so he just has no choice but to get up and make her stop. She won't leave so he has to get up and make her stop even though he doesn't want to. Even though he wants nothing more than to sit there and just be near her. He wants to be near her and he wants to feel her aura and listen to her voice and…and he doesn't want to be away from her…

But he has to be.

He gets up from his bed and crosses the room. The air feels cold against his arms. The floor feels hard under his socks. The bead of water which had rested on his eyebrow was now moving it's way downwards. He flicked it away with his powers. He flicked it away with his powers as he walked away from his bed and towards his door and…and he doesn't want to do this but he will.

He opens the door.

"Daughter. I don't hate you. I could never hate you. I love you. Now go away."

There. He opened the door, said his piece, and then closed it. There. He waited on the other side of the door. She was there. She was still there and she gave no sign that she would move…and he had no idea what to do now. Masami…she never did things like this. She never stayed near to him like this when he told her that he wanted her to go away…actually she stayed away from him for much longer than he had ever wanted her to when he told her to leave him alone…and he had no idea how he was supposed to deal with this. What he was supposed to do. What he was supposed to do when his Daughter wouldn't leave him alone, wouldn't go, wouldn't leave him alone and then just…just go off and be independent like she was supposed to be.

"Ok….I love you too….and I'll go now. Goodnight."

She walks away. He can see her shadow and he can feel her aura and he can hear her footsteps…and he can feel the wound. The wound hurts with every step she takes. Even if he doesn't admit the wound it's still there…and it gets even worse with every step she takes. She takes steps away from him and out of his life and…and she's walking down the hall, not out of his life, and he just…he needs to calm down and get himself under control. She's his Daughter and he….he needs to think of her. He needs to think of her because she was his and…and he has to do the right thing and make her into the person that he wanted her to be…that was the right thing to do. He lays down on his bed. It's empty now.

He could never hate Daughter. He loved her.