Fukuda was not anyone's father.

Maybe if he had been someone's father then he would have had a better idea of how to do…anything. He hadn't ever watched Sho for more than a few hours at a time over the years. It had been two weeks now…and Fukuda….he was ready to admit that he had not been doing the best job of it. Well it made sense, he was not a father, but he had always thought of himself as something of a father to Sho. He was the one who got him through his various emotional crises, he was a safe place to go whenever his family got to be too much, and he was good at that. He had been doing that for years now. He had it down and could do that in his sleep.

It was everything else that was getting to him.

"Sho….come on. Just please at least stop un-tossing your salad…and there's ranch. You like ranch." Said Fukuda. He had gone to Subway specifically for ranch dressing. That was the only place in Korea that sold ranch dressing. The only way Sho would eat salad was if there was ranch dressing. It was in the notes.

The goddamned notes.

Shigeko was a lot of things…and one of those was good at caring for her brother. She wasn't just playing the part of the little mother, she was his little mother, and that was not good for anyone involved. She may have been bossy, and had power that no child ever should have had, but she knew how to care for Sho and that…that was something. That was more than Suzuki could do. He hadn't been the one to write out pages of notes for every single aspect of caring for Sho. Every. Single. Aspect. Including how to clip his nails for him without him getting upset….and Fukuda got the feeling that he should have been clipping his own nails at ten years old…

And also he should have been able to eat a salad without ranch dressing.

"I have to make it stop touching. I don't like it when my food touches." Said Sho as he picked his salad apart. He had a plate for the lettuce, a plate for the tomato, a plate for the carrot, and a plate for the croutons. There was already no cucumber because they made him throw up inside of his mouth. He had no idea why Fukuda was riding him so hard about what he ate. It was his mouth and he could put whatever he wanted in it. He could even eat a candle if he wanted to…

Not that he was going to be eating any candles.

He had candles, a whole bunch of them, but those were for Shimazaki….Ryou. Those wee for Ryou. He liked the feel of chewing on candles. Sho didn't know why but if he wanted to chew on candles then when they met up again Sho would chew on candles with him all day and listen to music and play in a fort and maybe even jump out and scare Hatori. First one to send him running to the bathroom won. They had so much fun together…Shimazaki was so much fun….Ryou was so much fun…

He was a hell of a lot more fun than Fukuda.

"Sho…come on. You didn't even do that when you were little. Remember? You were such a good eater back then." Said Fukuda. He was a healer. If Sho ended up hurting himself by only eating things which had been fried, chocolate covered, sugar blasted, or dipped in caramel then he could heal him…while he was still alive. Fukuda had no idea how long he would live for but he was forty four now, and Sho was ten, so he didn't see himself living to see Sho make it to forty four. He had to teach Sho how to eat and take care of himself and all of those other things that his father didn't feel like teaching him…that his sister had been trying to teach him…

Though he had no clue if the ranch was helping with the healthy eating aspect.

"Back then I didn't get to pick what I ate. I don't like it when my food touches, it's gross, and I shouldn't have to eat anything that's gross…and also the ranch here sucks." Said Sho. He wanted to have fries and pop tarts for dinner…but Fukuda was making him eat his food groups. Just like big sis would have. He didn't know why he needed to eat all of his food groups. It wasn't like he was eating entire sticks of butter. That was gross. You had to put something on the butter…and stuff.

"There's nothing wrong with having food touch…and there's nothing wrong with the ranch here. It's…not that bad. It could be worse." Said Fukuda. Truth be told the ranch dressing was terrible here…and he should have thought to bring some with…because he had known that he would only have eaten vegetables with ranch…well he hadn't known that it was such a problem….

He maybe should have read the notes.

Suzuki was a genius. A book smart genius. He had literally memorized all of their school books at the beginning of the year every year all through university. He had never once underestimated Suzuki's intelligence…and he should not have underestimated Shigeko, either. She was a little girl, true, but she was an intelligent little girl. She had been smart enough to sow the seeds of her own influence in Claw and she had her father wrapped around her finger….so she was smart enough to know how to take care of her own brother…

And he really should have read the notes when he had gotten them.

Because it had been a HARD two weeks. He'd had to juggle work, juggle Sho, and juggle himself. That was a lot of juggling and he had never been good at it. He could deal with Suzuki. He was a simple man all things considered. Sho was…he was a good kid…but he was obstinate in a way that his father had never been. Masami…she had been able to deal with him…but he hadn't been ten years old. He hadn't been a ten year old with his own ideas of who he was and what he wanted…and also Fukuda had no way of punishing him because he was ten…it wasn't as though Fukuda could just pick him up and put him in the corner…

And also according to the notes Shigeko didn't believe in punishment of any sort.

"When people say that something could be worse they're just trying to find a nice way of saying that it sucks. It sucks di-" said Sho. He didn't get what Fukuda was so mad about. He didn't get what was so bad about taking his salad apart and he didn't know what was so bad about what he was about to say. It sucked dick in a public bathroom for yen ten coins. It was funny. Ryou always laughed. He had been the one to teach Sho that and he always laughed. Fukuda never laughed…and Sho didn't know why. It wasn't like dad was there to kill all the fun like he always did.

It was so nice to be away from dad.

He'd been away from dad for two weeks now…and it was great. No dad there to hit him or call him names or tell him that he was grating or annoying or troublesome or quarrelsome or whatever else dad was going to insult him with. He could do whatever he wanted without having to worry. He could walk around naked if he felt like it! Well he didn't, because Fukuda was there, but dad wouldn't even let him sleep without a shirt on even though big sis said that it was ok. Big sis said a lot of stuff was ok even though dad said that it wasn't….

She was cool like that.

Like she let him eat in the bed and stuff. Also she let him jump on the bed and the couch and…and a whole lot of other fun stuff that dad said not to. She was bossy too, she was always making him take baths and change clothes and brush his hair and not eat sugar straight from the bag…and stuff….but she could be cool too. He wondered what she was doing right now without him to boss around. Probably hanging out with Minegishi or something…or Shimazaki….

Not Shimazaki because…because she would never do that to him…because she loved him…and she wouldn't be a best friend stealer…

"Language! Sho….for the love of God…stop saying that." Said Fukuda. He knew that there was no way to harm or kill Shimazaki Ryou…but he would find a way. There must have been a way. He had to have a weakness. Everyone had a weakness…and he had to have one…and then he would pay for teaching Sho all of that. Fukuda had no clue how to get him to stop. He couldn't have punished Sho even if he wanted to…but he had to get him to stop. God help him if Suzuki ever heard him talking like that.

"Why? Shimazaki thinks it's funny." Said Sho

"Well that's him. You can't talk like that. What if your dad heard you talking like that?" asked Fukuda

"He's not here." Said Sho

"But what if he was? What if he was and you slipped and talked like that in front of him?" asked Fukuda

"He'd be pissed….but he's always pissed at me." Said Sho. The only time dad ever said anything to him was when he was pissed off. That was fine. That was dad. He didn't care. He didn't need dad. He had been away from dad for two weeks and he hadn't missed him even once.

"Well….what if your sister heard you cursing like that? How would she feel?" asked Fukuda. He didn't want to bring up Shigeko, it felt somewhat manipulative, and also he just did not like to bring her up…but maybe that would get Sho to knock it off already. Sho…..he was a good boy…he just said some very bad things…and Fukuda was getting tired of hearing it. What happened to little Sho? Sho who needed to sit on a book to see over the table? Sho who ate all of his dinner and then begged him to play? Sho who went to bed and woke up and did it all without fighting? He missed that Sho….and he loved ten year old Sho….but four year old Sho had been a lot easier to deal with….

"….she'd be pissed off…..well her version of pissed off which is mostly sad…but she isn't even here! She's over with dad and everyone else and she's probably playing Minecraft or watching Frozen or painting Minegishi's nails or something. She's not here and I don't have to follow her rules…and there's nothing wrong with saying that something sucks dick in a public-" said Sho

"Sho…just eat your dinner. You have no idea what any of that means anyway. Just…please eat all of your dinner." Said Fukuda with a sigh. Sho went back to deconstructing his salad. He had already deconstructed his chicken, there was a pile of meat and a broken up bone on a plate, and he had even taken the ice out of his soda…and Fukuda had no idea what this was. He suspected that it went beyond picky eating and being obstinate. Maybe it was a manifestation of something. He didn't know. All he knew was that he was tired…so very tired….

"I will eat it. I'll eat it once I get it right." Said Sho. He liked Fukuda a lot, he really did, but he did not need to be bossed around like that. He already had dad and big sis bossing him around, he didn't need Fukuda to boss him around too. This was hid food and he would eat it…once he got it right…and maybe with the gross ranch, maybe not with the gross ranch, and make he would just hide his vegetables in his shirt and throw them out later when Fukuda wasn't looking. That one always got big sis.

"Sho….do whatever you want….just finish your dinner already. I'm going to go run your bath now…which you need. It's been three days and you need to take a bath for your own health." Said Fukuda. He didn't want to have this fight with Sho anymore. His own meal had been long over…and he should have read the notes. Shigeko had been very clear that the best thing to do was to try and get Sho to match your pace while you ate. That could be achieved by talking to him about his day, things he liked, drawings he had done, and other things…

And then the back of the page had been a written list of conversation topics.

As if Fukuda didn't know how to talk to Sho. He had been talking to Sho since before Sho had even been able to talk….but Shigeko did talk to him more. Suzuki was a genius and Shigeko…she knew her stuff. He wasn't president of her fan club, he wasn't going to join her entourage, but after two weeks he could acknowledge that she knew what she was doing when it came to caring for Sho. She had been right about the no liquids after ten thing, right about not giving him too much caffeine during the day, and right about reading him to sleep. She knew what she was doing….

And he was loathe to admit it.

"I don't need a bath. I don't stink." Said Sho. He didn't know what was so important about taking baths. He didn't stink and he wasn't dirty and he had changed his clothes today so what was so bad about skipping his bath for another day or two or ten? Big sis wasn't there to make him take a bath. She was the only one who cared if he was clean or dirty. She was far away and she couldn't tell if he had taken a bath or not…and why should he have to be in water like that when Fukuda knew he didn't like it?

Fukuda knew why he didn't like it.

"Sho…either you take a bath or you wash yourself with a rag on a stick. Which sounds better to you?" asked Fukuda with a sigh.

"The rag, obviously." Said Sho. He hadn't even known that a rag on a stick was an option. Then he wouldn't have to get in the water and have it up high…and then there were the walls of the tub…and then it was so hot…and then it was cold…and then he couldn't breathe….

Obviously he would pick the rag every time.

"I wasn't being serious. You can't wash yourself with a rag on a stick. That's not hygienic. You have to take a bath, a real one." said Fukuda. Why had he given him a choice? The rag would have been easier but…but it just wasn't clean. You washed off and then soaked in the water. That was how you took a bath…or you just took a shower….but those never got you as clean.

"Don't promise me things that aren't going to happen." Said Sho. He was not getting in that tub. He was going to sneak his DS in with him in his sock or his phone or something and he was going to sit in the bathroom for half an hour. Then he was going to sprinkle some water in his hair and tell Fukuda that he'd had a bath. If it could work on big sis it would work on Fukuda. He wasn't nearly as smart as big sis was. He never even checked to see if Sho was really asleep. He just believed the fake snoring. Big sis knew how his breathing was when he was asleep and she always sat next to him and read until she could tell that he was really asleep…and also she took his phone and laptop and DS out of the room so he couldn't wake up in the middle of the night to play and stuff.

Fukuda wasn't nearly as smart as big sis when it came to that kind of stuff.

"You knew I was kidding. Come on. You know that you have to take a real bath. You have to rinse off and then get in the tub just like everyone else." Said Fukuda

"Some people take showers." Said Sho

"Do you want to take a shower?" asked Fukuda

"Hell no." said Sho. Showers were worse than baths in some ways. He hated the feel of water on his head, in his hair, and running down his face. It made him feel like he couldn't breathe even though he knew that he could. He wished that he could have washed himself with a rag on a stick. That would have solved a lot of his problems.

"Language." Said Fukuda

"Regualr no." said Sho

"Then you're getting a bath. Finish your dinner and then I'll make you a bubble bath and I'll get one of those shows you like going….with all the gore…and I'll even read to you through the door if you want." Said Fukuda. That was how Shigeko got him to take a bath. He got one episode of this horror anthology show he watched, or an episode of something else he liked, and that served as the timer. Reading to him helped keep him calm. The bubbles helped keep him occupied and helped him remember that he was not being drowned in an Awakening Chamber. Also as a last resort, that had been written in red pen with a lot of underlining, he could get in the bath with him…but he would not be doing that because Sho was not his kid…and also he was ten and old enough to take a bath by himself. Shigeko had written that she hadn't had to do that in almost a year hence why it was a last resort….of course if it got to that point then Fukuda would rather just chase him around with a bucket of water and a bar of soap.

Because he needed a bath. Badly.

The soles of his feet were black and his hair was droopy with grease….he needed some soap and water and he needed them NOW. Fukuda…he was supposed to be taking care of Sho….and it was hard. So hard. Well more like truly exhausting. How one human being could be so contrary and obstinate was beyond him…but that was ok because he loved Sho and he would do anything for him…though he had no idea how Masami did it…

Probably the same way Shigeko did it.

He forgot, sometimes, that she was Masami's child too. Well not really, she had been adopted, but she had spent a lot of her formative years with Masami. She had picked up a thing or two about taking care of Sho. She had picked up enough to practically write Fukuda an instruction manual…which made him feel more like a babysitter than…whatever he was to Sho…but still contained useful information. If he could acknowledge that Suzuki was a, book smart, genius then he could acknowledge that Shigeko had picked up a thing or two from Masami.

Skills that Fukuda was still honing.

"….I'll eat but I don't want to take a bath. Ok? Please? I don't want to take a bath and I don't see why I have to take a bath in the first place. Dad and big sis aren't here and they're the only ones who care if I'm clean or dirty." Said Sho as he poked un-tossed salad with his fork.

"Sho…how about….I know what you've been through, believe me I know, and I know that you don't like water. Pretty much all of the Awakened hate water for the same reason…but they also take baths…or showers…most of them…anyway you have to be clean for your health. For your health and also nobody wants to hang out with someone who doesn't bathe. Like your sister's boyfriend. People tease him all the time for not bathing. Do you want to be teased like Hatori?" asked Fukuda. If he didn't get Sho to see the important of regularly bathing now then he was going to end up spending his teen years putting on can after can of body spray in lieu of bathing….and nobody needed that.

"No…but I also don't want to take a bath." Said Sho. He really didn't want to end up like Hatori. He had bad skin and everyone made fun of him for it. Well not big sis. She was in love with him. That had been nice of her, falling in love with the guy everyone made fun of, she was a nice person like that. That was why she would never like Shimazaki like that…well he would never like her like that. She was too nice and it was boring and he didn't like boring people. He liked Sho just the way he was, he had said, and nothing would ever stop them from being friends and hanging out and throwing sticks into people's bike wheels and stuff.

"What about that girlfriend of yours? I doubt that she'll want to be with someone who doesn't bathe. Girls are very clean people. They like things to be clean and neat and orderly." Said Fukuda

"Emmy hates baths too. She only takes one bath a week and her mom has to chase her and catch her." said Sho. Fukuda's left eye twitched a little for some reason. Sho didn't get it. He thought that Emmy was pretty fucking lucky. She only had to take a bath once a week and also she had a mom. That was pretty fucking lucky in Sho's book. Maybe Fukuda was jealous because he was an adult and adults had to take baths every day or else they stank and also both of his parents had died a long time ago.

"Well then what about your…your best friend. Would Shimazaki like hanging around you if you stopped bathing? I know that's why he drowns himself in cologne every single day, because the world smells bad to him, and I know that you wouldn't want him to stop hanging out with you." Said Fukuda. He would have to add this to Shigeko's Sho sitting manual. That was the true last resort right there. He hated it, the crush that Sho'd had on Shimazaki for the past he didn't even know how long, but if it got Sho motivated to take a bath then…then it was time to use the nuclear option.

"He said that?" asked Sho. He pulled his shirt up and smelled himself. Ok…not great…but he hadn't seen Shimazaki in weeks…but he wanted to see him again. Sho wanted to see him again and to hang out with him and…and he didn't know what he would do if Shimazaki stopped wanting to be his friend….

"No but he might so how about you finish eating and then take a bath and then we'll play for a little bit before I put you to bed and read to you….in the same room as you? How about that?" asked Fukuda. For some reason Sho didn't want to be told that he was being read to. Instead he just had to believe that you just happened to be reading aloud in the same room as him…and Fukuda didn't get it but, hey, whatever got him to bed before midnight.

"Fine….I guess…but do I have to wash my hair? I hate getting water on my head or my hair or my eyes…for reasons….and I don't like to be in the water for too long…so can I just do the rinse off with soap and water thing and not the bath part?" asked Sho. The rag on a stick had been a good idea. He didn't mind getting clean, he just minded the water. It was like being in a swimming pool but worse because he had to be in a smaller place an also his face got wet and he hated that. It made him feel like….like stuff that he should have been over. Stuff that had happened years ago. He was ten now.

"That's…that's fine…but how about you soap up a rag and at least run that through your hair. It's starting to get oily." Said Fukuda. He knew that he should have had Sho take a full bath…and not because it was in the Sho sitting manual that Shigeko had written. He was going to take what she had written under consideration but he was still an adult and he was the one who ultimately called the shots. She knew why he hated water…and maybe instead of the whole production she had thought up maybe…maybe concessions should have been made. It wasn't as good as a full bath….

But it was better than nothing.

Fukuda did not take orders from a little girl but….but he would acknowledge that she knew what she was doing. Well so did he. Despite never having had watching Sho for this long he knew what he was doing. Well he was figuring it out. He wasn't going to put Sho through that, being in water, if he didn't like it. Even though a proper bath would have been better…his feelings were more important. Making Sho feel safe and happy was the most important thing.

Fukuda may not have been Sho's father but he at least knew that making sure that he was safe and happy was the most important thing.