Fukuda did not need an assistant.

He could manage just fine on his own and had managed just fine on his own since Claw had become something other than a game he and Suzuki played in the woods as kids. He could do all of that administrative work that Suzuki hated just fine on his own. He could manage. His days were long but he could manage just fine. He didn't need an assistant, any assistant at all, but he mostly did not need Hatori Nozomu as his assistant.

But he had Hatori as his assistant.

Hatori fucking Nozomu was his assistant. Hatori fucking Nozomu was in his office. Hatori Nozomu….Hatori with more spots on his skin than actual skin Nozomu…there he was. In his office. There, against the far wall, was a second desk…and why they had to share an office Fukuda would never know. They were sharing this office at the rapidly growing Tokyo branch of Claw, this was shaping up to be a long assignment, with Hatori Nozomu of all people. Shigeko's ex-boyfriend….or ex-crush…or current crush. He didn't know. Sho said that the two of them had been going out but, like Suzuki said, Sho was a child. He maybe didn't have all the information…and what information he had gotten from Sho was very dated these days considering the fact that Sho hadn't so much as had dinner with him in weeks and weeks….

And weeks.

Fukuda….he knew that Sho was a child. He knew that Sho was way too young to see the big picture. He just saw Fukuda telling Suzuki about his little girlfriend as an act of betrayal, not protecting, and he had no idea how he was going to get Sho to see the truth. His dad…he didn't care for normal people so he would leave that little girl alone….but he did care if his son was anything other than what he had been imagining him as since he first decided that he wanted to have a Son. Sho could not disappoint Suzuki….bad things happened to people who disappointed Suzuki….and also…well Suzuki was not Sho's biggest fan. This…whatever he had for Shimazaki…might be the thing that finally pushed Suzuki over the edge…

And nobody wanted that.

So Fukuda had made the pragmatic choice…one of many that he'd had to make over the years. Stay Suzuki's friend or let the rest of the world deal with his craziness. Help Masami escape or let Suzuki turn her into a ghost. Help run Claw or let Suzuki do…all of the terrible things he planned on doing. Be there for Sho or be there for Shigeko. Cut his losses and move on from Shigeko or try to honor his promise to Masami. Leave Masami alone wherever she had ended up in this world or go out and actively look for her because he loved her so much….

There were a lot of pragmatic choices to be made.

Like now. Either he could let Sho cool down on his own and come back or he could force the issue and risk alienating Sho further. He was going to let Sho cool down on his own. Sho…he was a good boy…and he could come back on his own. They were just going through something like a rough patch, that was all, and pretty soon everything would be right as rain between them again. He could go back to spending time with Sho and they would have fun just like the old times…and things would be great…they'd play Minecraft and watch Zooptopia and draw pictures…and maybe even watch those scary movies Sho liked and play those violent games…and things…they could be great. They would be back to normal and they would be great.

They had to be.

They had to be great and they had to be better than…than whatever this was. This new chapter in his life when Suzuki sent him an assistant that he hadn't asked for or gave any indication that he needed. An assistant that wasn't even doing anything to assist. So far he was just sitting up at his desk with his feet braced against it…for some reason….and cursing under his breath at whatever it was that he was doing. Fukuda knew that he could have just told the kid to get lost, he had that kind of power, but Suzuki…he had done this for a reason….

He had sent Hatori there for a reason.

To watch him, maybe….or not. Suzuki trusted him completely. If he even suspected that Fukuda had done even a tenth of what he had been responsible for then he would have been dead a long time ago. There were would have been no watching him for whatever reason. He would have just woken up one day in a traitor hole and that would be that. Suzuki wouldn't have cared about their friendship or whatever. He would not even let Fukuda get a word in for his own defense if he knew about Masami…or anything.

Friendship be damned Suzuki would end his life in a heartbeat if he knew the traitor that Fukuda was.

If they were even friends at this point. Fukuda couldn't remember the last time they'd spent time together outside of work. Not that he cared. He just….had no clue where they stood. He had assumed, over the years, that Suzuki has just grown out of what they'd had before. Grown out of playing games together, having sleepovers, talking about nothing of importance for hours on end, all of it. He had just assumed that Suzuki was…this person…now….and that was the way that things were. But then just because Fukuda left for a few weeks suddenly he needed a friend and this…this twenty year old CHILD had replaced him….

Hatori fucking Nozomu.

"Um…you need me to do something….or….something?" asked Hatori. He could feel Fukuda's aura on him…and he could see Fukuda glaring at him…and he had no clue what any of this was about. Maybe Fukuda didn't want him there…and Hatori would have left if he could have…but Suzuki had promoted him to Fukuda's assistant so that was what he was here to do…assist…and also get back to Warcraft since he hadn't logged on in so fucking long…and the rest of the tech support team had moved on….but they would move back once they realized what they'd lost…

Maybe Suzuki would like Warcraft.

He needed to socialize more, that was a given, and he liked games. He could be really cold and standoffish a lot of the time unless they were talking about games…or his daughter…or he was asking really intrusive questions. He was so weird…but that was because he just didn't know how to socialize. Not that Hatori was the master of socializing either. He was pretty weird….but not as weird as Suzuki…but that was ok. Suzuki was…well not a super nice guy…but he was, at the end of the day, a guy…and a lonely one, too. He only had his kids, just one of his kids actually, Hatori, and then Fukuda…who didn't seem like the best friend Suzuki had made him out to be. He was kind of….standoffish…and a prick…and a weirdo…a real weirdo. That shit with Mob…thinking that he and Mob had been going out….and doing NOTHING about it…like…what the hell even was that!? If he thought that some guy, some ADULT guy, was messing around with his best friend's ELEVEN year old daughter then he should have done SOMETHING about that instead of just making comments….and….yeah….

Fukuda kind of….sucked as a human being…sort of.

But that didn't change the fact that Fukuda was his boss, his direct superior, and also Suzuki's best friend from childhood. Hatori had to be nice, and he was always nice, but he couldn't just tell this guy to fuck off…not that he had it in him to tell anyone to fuck off. He was, at the end of the day, fairly weak as far as espers went. He couldn't have hurt anyone let alone the guy with super healing powers…and this was Claw. Everything that could be settled with violence was settled with violence and everything that could not be settled with violence…well you weren't trying hard enough if you couldn't settle it with violence…well…then you weren't trying hard enough. If Hatori had been born with some useful powers, beyond the power to get into Netflix without a password and go through anyone's search history…and Fukuda was REALLY into domestic husband wife stuff…to a weird degree and this was coming from Hatori…..aside from Netflix and knowing everyone's preferred genres of adult entertainment really he was useless.

So he would not be fighting his new boss….even though he deserved it.

"Do you know how to do anything?" asked Fukuda. This was a child…well a man but…but really he was nothing more than a child. Why had Suzuki decided that this kid….this overgrown kid….was someone who…who he needed…or whatever. Fukuda didn't care. Suzuki could spend time with whoever he wanted. Suzuki could even…was he planning on replacing him? After all of this time? Did he know? Did he…no. He didn't know. There was no way that he knew. If he knew then Fukuda would have been long dead….but still….

Why this kid?

This kid…he was young enough to be Suzuki's son…and he already had a son! He had a son who's life he seemed devoted to making a living hell. Really. He had Sho and he could have been spending time with Sho…positive time….but instead he just…what? He would rather spend it with Hatori, someone who probably just agreed with everything he said and that was why he kept him around, and Shigeko, someone who was more his child than his own son…than both of his children put together. Suzuki…Fukuda just…he could not begin to understand Suzuki…and he had never been able to understand him…not even when they had been kids…

Things had been so much simpler back then.

"Yeah, I can do stuff. What do you need done?" asked Hatori trying to sound as pleasant as possible. He wanted to go up and smack Fukuda across the face and hide under his desk at the same time. Being pissed off…this was Claw. There was no point in being pissed off at your superior unless you were prepared to kick his ass…and Hatori…well he was younger but Fukuda was an ageless healer….so no. That wasn't a good idea…but what was a good idea was keeping his head down and just…trying not to piss anyone off. Especially not Suzuki's best friend and right hand man. That would have been suicide…maybe. Suzuki seemed to like him, he had even said that if Hatori had been a woman and if he hadn't been married then he would have considered pursing a relationship with him….something that Hatori was going to unpack later, so he wouldn't kill him…but it was amazing what a person could live through.

"Can you work out a budget? Or did you not get that far in school?" asked Fukuda. He could feel Hatori glaring at him. He didn't have much of an aura to speak of, and he could feel him in the circuits of the walls and his computer, but the affect was there. He was pissing off a powerful esper. Why couldn't he have been born a hundred years ago? At least then he could have been useless…but no. Now he was there and he was alive and he could bring the modern world to it's knees…

Was that why Suzuki kept him so close?

Because he was that powerful? Or was that Shigeko's reason…well he knew Shigeko's reason for keeping him around. Even if they hadn't been seeing each other she was still very young, going through puberty it looked like, and she had her vices…and men twice her age seemed like one of her vices. The word was father issues….or something. He didn't like to speculate on this part of her life…or admit that she even had that part of her life…and that was hard because that part of Shigeko's life was sharing an office with him…

And Fukuda had no idea why.

Seriously. Suzuki had given him Hatori….or maybe he had given Hatori a…promotion? But…why? Why would he have just…promoted Hatori? For what reason? And why were they spending so much time together. They stayed up all night playing videogames together…and Suzuki had declared on the first day of their first year of university that they were grown men now and much too old for games…but now he was playing games all night with this overgrown kid….this overgrown kid who could get into any computer system and…

And Fukuda was going to delete any email that he and Masami had ever exchanged….well he was going to print them out and then delete them.

"The budget for what?" asked Hatori. He was going to stay calm. He was not going to hide under his desk…and he was not going to say anything that he was going to regret. He was….he really wished that he were back at the house…or with Suzuki. Suzuki was at least mostly pleasant to be around. The guy was good for conversation, and always up to play just about anything, and even though he loved asking personal questions he could be a pretty ok friend….and honestly Hatori would have sat through hours of Suzuki's weird questions rather than sat there with Fukuda dealing with this dislike…

That he didn't even understand.

What had he ever done to Fukuda? He couldn't think of anything…well there had been the Christmas party…had he done something to Fukuda TOO? For the love of…he was going to be paying for that party for the rest of his life. What did he have to do? Steal a skywriting plane? Write a message in the sky for everyone to see? 'To everyone who I wronged on the Claw Christmas party 2015 I am truly sorry' or something like that? Seriously? This had better not have been about the party….but what else could it be? What else had he done to Fukuda? All he did was hang around on his own or with the kids or Shibata or Suzuki or…

Oh. Was he….jealous?

Wow. Hatori had never had anyone jealous of him before….it was…weird. So weird. He had no idea that anyone would ever be jealous of him for any reason…so maybe Fukuda wasn't….but it would have made sense. Suzuki and Fukuda had been friends for a while, longer than Hatori had even been alive, so it would have made sense that Fukuda would have been jealous….huh. Hatori…he felt sort of like…the other woman or something in this…and it was….

Huh.

"The food budget. Our second in command has decided that everyone gets unlimited desserts now…and you can see how well that's been working out….and now he food budget is a complete and total mess. There's also the funds for the Ninth Division, the salvage from the Eighth Division, checking over payroll, so take your pick." Said Fukuda with a shrug. Fine. He wanted to help then he could help. He could slough through all of this administrative shit. He wanted to be his assistant, he wanted Suzuki to think that he was capable, then fine. He could dive right the hell in.

"Well which would you like me to work on…boss?" asked Hatori. Well Fukuda was pissed…and he had no way of asking why. It was either about the Christmas party…..hopefully not…or he was just jealous that his best friend had a new friend…and that was just…not how friendship worked. Not that Hatori had ever had that many friends but still. They could all be friends together. Fukuda needed to stop acting like he had caught Hatori in bed with his wife or whatever.

"Here. Help me make sense of the mess Shigeko made." Said Fukuda. God. He did not need this. He did not need an assistant and he did not need a reminder of…of how he had failed Shigeko. She had her vices and one of those vices was men twice or even thrice her age…and Masami would have…she would have left him again if she could have seen what he had let happen to that little girl who loved Hello Kitty, strawberry milk, and being pushed on the swings. God. Fukuda did not want to think about this. He wanted to think about…about something else. About work. He wanted to work until he couldn't even see anymore and then he wanted to go home, go through his evening ritual, and then start it out again until either he died or Suzuki died or they both took the cyanide pills like they had planned if the Soviet Union ever invaded and they found themselves powerless….that had been a weird time in their lives…

They'd had a hell of a lot of weird times in their lives.

Suzuki remembered. He knew that Suzuki remembered. The things they'd get up to. The sweltering summers they'd spent in their fort in the woods. The long day trips they snuck off to take so they could look for espers. Trying to exhume Mogami Keiji. Trying to fly to the moon. Their massive heist plan to get to the adult section of the manga store. Those long days they'd spend in the arcade from sunup to sundown. The endless sleepovers. The time they got lost in Tokyo on that ill-fated day trip. The time Suzuki got his heart ripped out and tried to sequester himself in his room with his stupid 7800 that he'd woken Fukuda's whole house up at eleven at night calling over and over and over again to tell him about….and maybe he should have just let Suzuki lock himself in his room playing Space Invaders nonstop and living on the omelets and ketchup bread his mother had left outside of his door….it certainly would have saved a hell of a lot of people a hell of a lot of headache…but no. Fukuda had been there. Fukuda had been there to give him the pep talk to end all pep talks. Fukuda had been there to put on a dress and a hat and go through every conceivable date scenario…..including things they had vowed never to speak of again….so his best friend could get his confidence back…and he had. Suzuki had come back and Fukuda had been the one to set up that double date with those second years….and he had been the one to hide all the weird stuff in their stupid fort including Suzuki's SIZEABLE collection of doujinshi that he, supposedly, read for the plot…and he had been the one to go over literally EVERY sign that a girl could give you that she was into you….and he had been the one that Suzuki called over and over again all night, enough times that mom and dad unplugged the phone, and he had been the one who's window Suzuki climbed in through at one in the morning and he had been the one to hear about, in GRAPHIC detail, the details of Suzuki's first time…and he had been there to pick up the pieces after Suzuki fucked up his first real relationship because he was his own worst enemy…and Fukuda had been there for everything…

And some kid thought that he could waltz right in, play Minecraft or whatever for a couple hours, and just replace Fukuda? No.

"Hey, Little Sister-sama is doing her best. She's only eleven after all." said Hatori brushing off an old nickname. She was his little sister, well not literally because that would have been weird as all else, but she was that person to him. Not whatever Fukuda seemed to think that she was capable of…that he was capable of….and Hatori…he was not going to be able to get over this anytime soon. How did someone just 'get over' being accused of the unthinkable? They didn't. They really didn't. They just swallowed all of their bad feelings until they developed high blood pressure. There. That was Hatori's life. High blood pressure, stress, ulcers, and then an early death.

"Don't let her age fool you." Said Fukuda. He knew Shigeko's age. He had been to most of her birthday presents back when she had been a child. He knew Shigeko…he had known Shigeko….since she was two years old. She was two and….and she was so small…and now she wasn't small. She was eleven going on twenty. She was who she was and there…there was nothing that he could do…so he just…made the pragmatic choice.

"Right….yeah. You know what? I'm going to go to lunch now. You can just email me whatever you want me to do or you can just leave it on my desk or whatever." Said Hatori. He couldn't stay in that room for another moment. That was…she was a kid. She was a kid who had a drinking problem and a smoking problem and she wore too much makeup but she was still just a kid…and it was worrying that Fukuda didn't think of her as a kid. He talked about her like she was…like she was his enemy or something…and that was weird…and also he talked about her like she was an adult…and Fukuda had been weirdly ok with the idea that Hatori had been DATING her…even though she was just a kid and…

And Hatori did not want to be in the room anymore.

He was going to go away now. Maybe to have lunch, maybe to hide in the bathroom, or maybe to see if Suzuki needed help with something….or also if he wanted to play Adventure for the 2600. He'd had a 2600 when he'd been a kid and he seemed like he would have liked Adventure…and also he at least didn't talk about his kid like she was…well he did talk about her like she was a grown adult but also sort of…endearing? Less creepy. Well he could be creepy but in an overprotective dad sort of way. Sort of a 'no boy will ever be good enough for my precious angel and I will keep her by my side to protect her from the horny boys of the world' instead of Fukuda's 'I don't like this kid and I think that her sleeping with grown men is normal and ok' and honestly he would rather deal with Suzuki's creepiness with his daughter and his creepy questions about how gay people worked, Hatori would have to teach him Google again, than whatever the hell was wrong with Fukuda.

Minegishi'd had a point when they'd called him a human weak stringed, off brand, scented, hotel tampon….and Hatori had never even had a period, or was entirely sure what one entailed besides hemorrhaging for a week every month, before but he fully agreed with them on all counts.

"Fine." Said Fukuda. There. At least he could be alone for a little bit. However long it took the kid to have lunch…and now he wanted lunch….but he didn't want to go and have lunch while the kid was having lunch. That would have been too much. This whole thing was too much. The kid, Hatori fucking Nozomu, there in his office with him…and he would be there every single day…day in and day out…for…whatever reason that Suzuki had sent him….

Whatever reason.

Fukuda…he didn't know what the reason was…and it was driving him insane. He had no idea what the kid was in his office for…and he had no idea what this kid was in Suzuki's life for…and he needed to find out. He needed to find out because he had gotten nothing done all day and he knew that he would just end up sitting at this desk chewing on this all day and letting his work pile up…and if he just….if he let it pile up then he would never be able to reach the end of it…not that there was an end to it and if he ended up swamped then he wouldn't be there for Sho when he needed him…and Sho was the most important thing in his life…and he had to be there for Sho….

And that meant making pragmatic choices.

The pragmatic choice there was talking to Suzuki. Prying information out of him. Why he had sent him Hatori, why he had Hatori in his life, and what he was planning on doing with the kid. That was all. He would have to sit there and pry this information from him…and he would pry the information from him…and tea would help. Tea and coffee, one of each, and then they'd just sit and talk…and he couldn't even remember the last time they had really talked….and then he'd figure out everything. He would figure out what was happening and what he would do from here…

Or that had been the plan, anyway.

The plan that went out the window as soon as he went through the door to Suzuki's office. He had gotten one foot through the door…and had been greeted with a sight that he had never thought that he would have ever had to see. Suzuki was sitting at his desk eating lunch, that was normal, but what was abnormal was the fact that he had company….he had company that was sitting on the SAME side of the desk as him…leaning in close….and eating….Suzuki hated sugar but Hatori was sitting there eating a big pile of cookies, chips, and one of those neon colored drinks he was slowly killing himself with…and at some point Fukuda would do something about his struggling pancreas. As soon as he figured out what the fuck was going on….

Because something was going on.

"Fukuda. Hello. Do you need something?" asked Suzuki. Well now this was a surprise. Once again he was struck with the thought that Hatori should have been born a generation earlier. Fukuda would have loved this. Hatori had found Adventure of all the things on the internet. He and Fukuda had almost destroyed his Atari trying to puzzle that game out. Hatori seemed to have an instinctive understanding for this game and Suzuki…well this was work. Keeping mentally sharp by taking breaks was work…and socializing was work, too. It was important to practice….

Not that he was accusing Fukuda of questioning him.

He had no idea what Fukuda was doing there but he did hope that he stayed. Usually he didn't care about the presence of others aside from Daughter…but it would have been nice with Fukuda with them. Hatori could show him that they had fixed that error in Pacman where it could only make two hundred and fifty six levels. That had been Fukuda's game when they had been younger. Hatori could show him that new version of Space Invaders as well. He had always been a fan of three dimensional graphics even back when they had been in the days of vectors and isometric views.

Hatori and Fukuda would get on like a house fire, he just knew it…and Suzuki was glad. It was good for Claw that everyone got on well.

"Um….just wanted to see if you wanted a tea…or a coffee….but I can see that you already have one." said Fukuda. There were cups of tea on the desk already…two of them…and Hatori's lunch was barely touched…had he been here the whole time? Some assistant he was.

"Give me the tea, too. I have to wash something out of my mouth." Said Suzuki. He shuddered, physically, at the memory of trying…whatever that blue drink was. Hatori had warned him that it would be sweet but….but he had no idea what something so neon colored could taste like….and now he knew. It tasted like sugar. It tasted like what sugar ate if sugar had been given the ability to eat. It was a taste that stuck to his teeth and tongue…and he did not understand Hatori one bit.

Fukuda might, though, he had always like sweet foods.

"Hey, I warned you that it would be sweet." Said Hatori. Suzuki was so weird sometimes. He knew that he hated sugar but he had to go and try his energy drink. He was such a weirdo…but he was preferable to the weirdo who was lurking over in the doorway.

"That was a level of sweetness that I wasn't away that food science had reached." Said Suzuki as Fukuda put the tea on his desk. He lingered, there, craning his neck over to see the screen. Suzuki dragged a chair over with the flick of his finger….and Hatori's aura pulled in close…and he jumped. Suzuki suspected that he had some sort of anxiety disorder. No normal man was that fearful over nothing all the time. Maybe Fukuda could fix it. He had fixed that irrational fear that Suzuki used to have of tiny little people coming to kill him in his sleep…mostly. He had forgotten about that, actually….

"You…want me to…stay?" asked Fukuda. Well that was…he always just ordered people, him, to sit. He never just pulled up a chair. Huh. That was downright….polite of him.

"Yes. Hatori found adventure and we found and kept the first key. He avoided the bird." Said Suzuki as Fukuda sat down slowly. He felt…crushed….between the two of them…and he wondered if Hatori knew how to do the thing with two monitors. That would be better. But later. They had more keys to find.

"That damn bird." Said Fukuda. He remembered that bird. That bird had made Suzuki blow the power to the whole neighborhood…during high summer.

"Yes. But Hatori avoided it. Also he found a version of Pacman that can generate more than two hundred and fifty six levels. I remember that you were very angry when the game crashed. You had the same reaction when Galaga crashed. I think that Hatori could find that for you too. He can find anything." Said Suzuki. Hatori really was useful…and also very good company. He and Fukuda would get along well…but then why was he in the middle? He wished that Daughter had been there. She would have been able to explain this to him. Why they didn't seem to be getting along. They weren't talking or looking at each other…and that was not good. Hatori was a fascinating conversationalist.

"So….are you going to keep him here for the rest of the day, then? While you do…this?" asked Fukuda. Well now this meant more work for him….and now he knew why there had been so much work piled up for him. They were expanding this HQ into a full division, maybe, and they were building another division in the Australian desert….and the budget…and Sho had his issues…and Suzuki was back to all of this….and Hatori was encouraging him. Why? Did he know…no. He didn't know. He had no idea how bad Suzuki's tunnel vision could get. He had no idea why Suzuki had stopped playing games in university. He knew that he would not be able to both play games and finish university….and Hatori didn't know about that….

He didn't know Suzuki one bit.

"You can stay as well. You two seem like you would get on pretty well." Said Suzuki. Fukuda could use some companionship. He had been the one to teach Suzuki that people needed to speak with other people at least once a week or they started to lose their minds. Fukuda had been…different…lately….in the times when he had noticed him. Maybe he needed to socialize more. Well that was what Hatori was for. He was good company. Daughter had good taste it seemed. Hatori was good company and if he had been a woman, or if he and Suzuki had been compatible, and also if Suzuki had not been married then, yes, he would have pursued a relationship with Hatori…if the age gap wasn't too much. He'd ask later.

"If you want me to, boss, I'll get along with him." said Hatori. As nice of a guy as Suzuki could be…he could still be Suzuki. He was Suzuki and he just…did terrible stuff sometimes…and he did not like to be deliberately disobeyed…so Hatori would be friends with whoever Suzuki told him to be friends with. Even a guy who accused him of trying to get with an eleven year old girl.

"He's alright I suppose." Said Fukuda. He….was not understanding any of this. Suzuki letting someone he barely knew getting into his personal space. Suzuki playing a game that he had vowed never to touch again when they had been thirteen years old. Suzuki just…speaking nicely about someone…and to someone. The whole thing was….strange…and Fukuda…he didn't know what he was supposed to do.

For thirty years he had been Suzuki's only friend.

But now there was this kid. There was this kid here and…and this was happening and…and he was…he was fine. He was just trying to understand. He was just trying to understand and that was why he felt so very off kilter with this. Because there was some kid sitting there trying to be friends with Suzuki. Why? Did he just…what? Did he think that he could handle being friends with Suzuki Touichirou? Well Fukuda would like to see him put up with just one year of it. Dealing with him. His mood swings, his social problems, keeping him from fully going over the edge into madness….

Yeah. Fine. Let Hatori try. He wouldn't last a year.

"Good. You're friends now." Said Suzuki. That had been painless. Good. Now his friends…and that was always such an odd word to say even in his mind…were friends with each other. This was perfect. Now he had two people who were good company and good for conversation. Perfect.

"That's…good." Said Fukuda. Well now…now he had no idea what he was going to do. The original plan had been to sit down and listen to Suzuki talk about whatever he felt like talking about, probably Shigeko, and then he would let it 'slip' that he was having trouble working with an 'assistant' underfoot and then add that Hatori would have been happier back in tech support where his powers would be useful…or at Shigeko's side since he was supposedly gay and Suzuki could trust him with Shigeko…even though did not seem gay at all…but then again neither did Sho and he was….whatever he was….and then once this problem had been solved he could have gotten back to the normal malaise of life….

But now he had no clue what he was even supposed to do.

Suzuki was…he had another friend…and he had never had another friend. Not even when they had been kids…and Fukuda had no idea what he was going to do…what Suzuki was going to do…what there even was to be done. He just…he didn't have a clue…but he had to try and get a clue. He had to try and figure this whole thing out because…..because….because this should not have been. Suzuki did not make friends. Suzuki did not voluntarily spend time with people….and he did not let his work fall by the wayside…but he had and Fukuda…he had no idea what he was supposed to do about….any of this.

If there was even anything that he could do.

He felt powerless….weirdly powerless…as he sat beside Suzuki and watched Hatori play Adventure…and as he listened to Hatori and Suzuki debate what flavor blue was supposed to be. Hatori said that it was electric blue raspberry and Suzuki was poking hole in that. Electric was not a flavor and raspberries were not blue…and Fukuda….they'd had this discussion about what flavor neon green was supposed to be…sour green apple vs pure diabetes in a bottle….and that had been their debate and…and he felt….he had no idea what he felt…so he just…said nothing. He said nothing and he just let whatever was happening happen.

He hadn't need an assistant….not at all. He needed an assistant like Suzuki needed another friend….which was not at all.