Hatori wasn't any happier with this situation than Fukuda was.
Well he was happy that he didn't have to live and work with the Awakened anymore, at least, and he at least got his own dedicated workspace too. No more tech room. Just him and his desk and…well Fukuda was there too. Hatori had managed, mostly, to drown him out. He had spent the whole day typing and sighing to himself and just being….well Fukuda…so Hatori had done the only sensible thing. He did his work while destroying his hearing blasting the same song over and over again…because it helped him concentrate…and also he really liked this song.
Hey Japan, Japan I love you. Hey Japan, Koichiwa.
Shimazaki actually did have good taste in music. He had been singing this nonstop on a loop the other day, because it fit since they were finally back in Japan, and Hatori…well he liked it. He would never tell Shimazaki that he liked it, of course, because that guy was such an asshole….but even Shimazaki had his good points. He was nice to the kids, he had good taste in music, and…well that was about it. He also acted like more of a ten year old than the actual ten year old…and the thing with the worms was getting old…but at least he was honest about how he felt. He didn't just sit there and sigh and stew in his own negativity. At least he wasn't Fukuda.
As unhappy as he was with his living situation living with Shimazaki was still infinitely better than working with Fukuda.
Because, really, who would be happy working with Fukuda? Fukuda was Fukuda. His entire…self…was just…negativity. Auras said more than words ever could…not that Fukuda spoke more than five words to him that whole day…but his aura said more than enough. He was sitting there at his desk working like normal but his aura just oozed negativity and resentment….and it was just….Hatori would rather have been hanging out with Suzuki.
And he was probably the only person in the world to ever have had that thought.
Suzuki could be scary, and he could be kind of an asshole sometimes, but at least he was a pretty positive guy all things considered. Well he didn't look it, obviously, but in general he was pretty upbeat. He was always talking about, well when you got him to talking about, how great it would be when Claw ruled the world and what it would be like and also how awesome his daughter was….he didn't really seem to like Sho all that much which was weird…but at least he never really said bad things about the kid. He always just said things like he was annoying and tiresome and quarrelsome, which honestly Sho was and Shimazaki hanging out with him all the time just made him worse, but he never said anything really negative about him.
Fukuda and Mob on the other hand….
For some strange reason Fukuda thought that she was just, like, a really short adult or something. Like she was a little person posing as a child…which she wasn't by the way. She was an eleven year old kid who liked to put on makeup and watch Disney movies and drink strawberry milk. Also she did not have a crush on him and they never went out and Hatori would take a lie detector test if it meant Fukuda coming off of all of that. Seriously. If Fukuda hadn't been his direct superior, and also if Hatori had been a braver man, he would have told Fukuda to go and fuck himself with all of that. So what if Sho thought that they were going out? Sho was ten. Fukuda had taken the word of a ten year old…and he had done NOTHING about what should have been some very troubling information. That was his best friend's daughter and he just…sat on that information. It wasn't true, obviously, and also of course Mob didn't have a crush on him….but STILL. You said something when you thought….stuff like that. Especially when it was your best friend's kid.
How a guy like Suzuki had a friend like Fukuda Hatori would never know.
Not that Suzuki was all that great. Really it was amazing that a guy like Suzuki had made a kid like Mob. Suzuki was kind of an asshole. The whole leaving traitors to rot in holes and also….well he did tell Hatori to shut up a lot…and told him that he was annoying….but that may have just been him being blunt. After all he was his boss and he could talk however he wanted. That might have even just been the way that he talked to everyone in his life….not that Hatori knew of anyone else in his life besides his kids who he talked to regularly. He didn't really seem to have any other friends besides him and Fukuda and he didn't seem to have much of a life outside of Claw and his daughter….
Maybe he'd like to go to the summer comics market?
There was one coming up soon and Hatori was going if they were still in Tokyo for it. He had been planning on going alone, or maybe taking Shibata with him since he was a good friend and he could carry a lot, but Suzuki might have liked to come. They probably had some of that retro stuff he liked. There were games, too, which he'd like…and also weird doujinshi….but Hatori wouldn't be buying any of that. Even if he hadn't been planning on going to this thing with his boss he still wasn't buying that kind of stuff. Not when he could get anything on the internet. Uncensored stuff. Why they censored the best parts he would never know….
Not that he would be brining that up to Suzuki. No way, that was not going to be one of their debates.
Still, though, he would have had a good time. Well maybe. He didn't really know. He had never seen Suzuki just…out and about with people…and it was hard to imagine. He must have been out in the world with people, before, since he hadn't been born the President of Claw. He'd been friends with Fukuda when they had been kids. Suzuki told him stories about that time in his life, mostly the game marathons he and Fukuda had, and Hatori still could not imagine Fukuda and Suzuki as kids. Still, they must have been kids and Suzuki must have hung out with other people….right? He only ever talked about Fukuda but…well he'd been married before and that must have meant that he had at least talked to another human being…and also gotten her to marry him….
Which was better than Hatori had done.
He accepted the fact that this was his life. Suzuki thought that he was gay and he would have to live this lie…but it was whatever. Girls had never liked him when he had been a kid and women didn't like him now that he was an adult. Whatever. This was his life now and he accepted it. Even the fact that Suzuki was more successful than him when it came to all of that…and how that worked Hatori would never understand. But it was what it was….even though Suzuki being as weird as he was….but it was what it was. He didn't think that some girl would just fall out of the sky and drag him off to her world….and other such day dreams. Nope. This was his life and he was living this life and he didn't even want a girlfriend anyway because of….time…..or whatever. He was fine.
Really.
What did he need a girlfriend for anyway? So Suzuki would know that he'd lied to him? Yeah, no, not going to happen. He could be alone for the rest of his life if it meant not knowing what Suzuki did to people who lied to him. It must have been worse than what he did to people who talked during meetings or tried to defect. Yeah, no, not breaking Suzuki's trust….and he did have Suzuki's trust. Huh. That was…wow. Suzuki trusted him and was his friend and…and that was….that had finally dawned on him. He and Suzuki were friends….as weird as Suzuki was they were still friends….even though he could be really weird sometimes. He had said, four times now, that if he hadn't been married and if Hatori had been born a girl, that he would have asked him out….which was not something that he liked to think about…
Suzuki was kind of a weird guy.
But maybe that was because he only had the one friend…and his one friend was kind of a weirdo. Not like in the same socially stunted and kind of assholish way Suzuki was….well Fukuda was an asshole in his own way…but more of a 'thinks that it's ok for a guy in his twenties to go out with an eleven year old girl'…and Hatori was not letting that go. No way. Not going to happen. No wonder Suzuki was so weird if he had spent most of his life hanging out with that guy….huh. Hatori was protective of Suzuki…because they were friends…that was….interesting. Well whatever then. Suzuki was his friend, his boss, a weird guy….and also the guy he was going to go to the comics market with…
And maybe he'd bring his kids, too.
Mob would have fun. She liked games and manga…and also she loved cosplay. Cosplay and they probably had some Frozen doujinshi and she'd get a kick out of that…and her brother would like it, too. He had his stuff that he liked, Hatori wasn't sure exactly what the kid was into but there was doujinshi for everything, and also he might get into manga creation. He was a pretty good artist, even Suzuki said so, so maybe he'd have a good time. Yeah, it would be fun. Just him and the whole Suzuki family….
It was amazing how fast a person's life could change.
Last year he never would have thought that he ever would have seen President Suzuki let alone planned on asking him to come with, and bring his kids, to the summer comics market with him. Last year he never would have imagined that he would have made it to the upper echelons of Claw just because he had made friend with a lonely kid he had met by absolute chance. Last year he never would have imagined that he would have had a spot in the upper echelon alongside, well, the most powerful espers in all of Claw. Last year he never would have imagined that he would be high enough up in Claw to have been…well…here….
Not that he particularly wanted to be here in particular.
"Hey!" Hatori could hear….well he might have been hearing Fukuda and he might not have been. He didn't know. He had no way of knowing. Well he could always take off his headphones…but then his headphones would be off. His headphones would be off and then Fukuda, well if he was trying to get his attention, would have his attention and he just….did not want to have Fukuda's attention….
That is if Fukuda was even trying to talk to him…and it wasn't like he had any way of knowing.
"Hey? Hey! Hatori!?" Hatori took out his headphones. Ok, Fukuda was yelling at him now. What? He was working. He could work and listen to music and drink Monster and eat Doritos. He could multitask! If Fukuda was about to get on him about how he worked then…well he didn't know what he could do. He wasn't a brave man, far from it, and Fukuda may have been an asshole but he was still the best friend of the President…and also Hatori's direct superior. Work sucked sometimes…..
Maybe if his life had worked out differently he would have ended up a salaryman or something….then his life could have sucked in a whole different way.
Not that his life sucked that much. Well, ok, one of his roommates/coworkers was an asshole, one he would be awkward around until the end of time, and the other one…well Shibata was the nicest guy alive, actually. His boss, well the guy he shared and office with and took orders from, was kind of an asshole….but everyone's boss was an asshole. Hatori was sort of lucky, actually, since he mostly just spent his days dicking around playing games and hanging out with people….so really his life wasn't so bad…
Even if he had to deal with whatever it was that Fukuda wanted.
"What's up?" asked Hatori. He tried to sound a little less like he wanted to tell Fukuda to go fuck himself…not that he ever would. He wasn't Shimazaki, he wasn't brave enough or stupid enough to say something like that, so his only alternative was to try and be nice…even though he would rather have been sitting and listening to Suzuki's latest very long monologue about how his daughter was the greatest little girl who ever lived.
"Can you turn that down? I can hear it from this side of the room." Said Fukuda. Hatori covered his ears…yup. Ringing. Well maybe that had been too loud.
"Yeah, I can do that." Said Hatori. He turned the volume down with his powers and then clasped his hands over his ears. The ringing after using headphones was normal. That was just what happened when you wore headphones….or at least what happened to him. He was fine. This was not going to be the time that he got tinnitus. This was not going to be a permanent ringing that would keep him up for the rest of his life. He had enough things keeping him up all night. Games he had to play, nightmares about that day….the one he'd rather not think about, Suzuki wanting to hang out until dawn, Shimazaki and Minegishi having inconsiderately loud sex, the way that sometimes his ears would start ringing after he laid down and then he thought, on those nights, that he had finally given himself tinnitus and-
The ringing stopped.
Hatori took his hands from his ears. He could hear…well he could hear his laptop fan going…and he had never heard it like this before….but the ringing was done with. What had….oh. Right. Fukuda was a healer. Did this mean that he was in his debt now? He didn't want to be in that guy's debt. He had fixed him, that was nice of him, but he was also a jerk to Mob and she was just a lonely little kid. Doing one nice thing didn't make up for being an asshole. Hatori knew that first hand…and if he was never going to live that party down then…then Fukuda didn't get to live that last plane ride down…or the one when he made fun of Minegishi…and it was amazing that they had allowed Fukuda to live after that…
One right didn't make everything right…but maybe he had fucked his hearing up, before, if he hadn't been able to hear his laptop fan.
"Uh….thanks." said Hatori. He still had to say thank you. Something nice had been done for him and he still had to be polite…even though he didn't want to. He wasn't brave enough to tell Fukuda off for anything….and he wasn't brave enough to be impolite. He wasn't brave at all. If anything, Hatori suspected, he was something of a coward. That would have made sense. He didn't know when he had become a coward, he didn't know how to stop being a coward, and he didn't even know how he felt about being a coward. Just that he was a coward and he would never tell Fukuda off for….for anything.
"You're welcome. Maybe next time don't turn the volume up so high…and maybe drink fewer of those, too. Your pancreas and liver aren't doing so well. I fixed those too, well to the best of my ability, but you might want to take better care of yourself. President Suzuki wouldn't be happy with me at all if I let anything happen to you." Said Fukuda. He had a tone there when he mentioned the President…a sort of tone like he had caught Hatori going to town on his wife right there on his desk. What was he so jealous of? Suzuki had been his friend for longer and would probably be his friend until they were old people feeding the fish at the park and complaining about young people or whatever it was that old people did.
He really had nothing to be jealous of.
Seriously. Being Suzuki's friend was….ok. Being friends with the President of Claw wasn't all that you would think that it would be. Hatori didn't have any extra power or privileges, at least he hadn't been informed of any, and people were more afraid of him than respectful….and also Suzuki could be kind of an asshole. God help you if you ever beat him at anything…and God help you if you ever even implied that playing retro games and retro looking games was for anything other than serious work reasons…and also the questions. Suzuki…he either didn't know that he was asking personal questions or he just didn't care…and the whole thing might have just gone back to the fact that he had not really ben socialized…and Hatori would have to help him with that….
Being friends with Suzuki Touichirou was not all that it was cracked up to be…and he had no idea what Fukuda was so pissed off about.
"Yeah, he'd be pissed but he's pissed a lot of the time so….yeah. Anyway wow, it's getting late. Think I'll have lunch now." Said Hatori as yawned, stretched, and pretended to look at his watch. He wasn't wearing a watch since he was twenty but hopefully Fukuda wasn't looking too closely at him.
"It's eleven thirty in the morning." Said Fukuda. Hatori, if he had been a braver man, would have told him to shut his mouth and mind his own business….but his name was Hatori, not Shimazaki or Minegishi, and he knew that he didn't even have it in him to try and say something like that to anyone.
"Brunch then." Said Hatori. He pretended to check his nonexistent watch and then got up. He just…needed a minute. He'd go down and get some snacks, maybe stop by the tech room to see what everyone was up to, and then maybe stop off and see what Suzuki was up to. Maybe he was feeling lonely and chatty. Maybe Mob had done something amazing and Suzuki needed to tell him in great detail. Maybe someone else had tried to kill him and now Suzuki needed someone to vent to. He didn't know. Anywhere was better than here. Even going back home and dealing with whatever mean, childish, or bizarre thing Shimazaki felt like doing to him today was better than sitting here in this office with Fukuda.
"You aren't even wearing a watch." Said Fukuda. Hatori wanted to tell him to get a clue already. If he had been anyone else he could have told him off. Even Shibata would have said something and he was the nicest guy in Claw. Well he was taking the lead informal upper echelon poll. It was a tie between him and Mob….and at they'd know who the winner was at the end of the year party….that he would not be attending for obvious reasons…..but he would rather have gone to a million work parties and gotten so drunk that he pissed in the chocolate fountain, and Mob was probably going to have another one just because kids loved chocolate, and he was shunned from society instead of standing there dealing with Fukuda.
God, why was Suzuki even friends with this guy?
"I don't need a watch to tell me that I'm hungry." Said Hatori. He didn't know what Fukuda was trying to get him to stay for. It wasn't like Fukuda even wanted him there. Fukuda was, well, someone who did best alone it seemed. He didn't like Hatori and Hatori didn't like him so why not just let him go away….FAR away?
"Fine, whatever. Give my best to Touichirou." Said Fukuda after a moment. There was a way he said Touichirou…and why did he say…oh. Right. Suzuki's given name…and that was just…weird. He had never once even presumed to use Suzuki's given name. Nobody used his given name. Hatori imagined that his parents had called him Suzuki growing up. He imagined that his wife had called him Suzuki, too, and that she hadn't even known his given name.
Hatori knew that he and Suzuki were not on a given name basis….and that was fine.
He liked that guy, he really did, but he didn't care if they were on a given name basis. He was happy being Hatori. He knew that Suzuki was happy being Suzuki. He had never wanted to take their relationship to that level….he had no idea what that level would entail but he knew that he didn't want to do any relationship upgrades….especially since Suzuki did say…a lot….that he would have gone out with Hatori if he hadn't been married and Hatori had been a girl….so maybe it was best not to upgrade their relationship…
Especially not to whatever his and Fukuda's relationship was…whatever there was that made Fukuda so weirdly jealous.
"I'll tell President Suzuki that you said 'hi'." Said Hatori as he got up. He didn't want to get into a fight over the President. He was Suzuki's friend and that was ok for him…and it should have been ok with Fukuda, too. Suzuki's friendship wasn't limited to just one person…and Hatori wasn't even trying to steal him! They were just a couple of guys who hung out sometimes, that was all, and it wasn't like he was trying to make Suzuki not be friends with Fukuda. Fukuda was just kind of an asshole. That was not Hatori's fault. He was not the one who whispered into Fukuda's ear every night 'be an asshole' that came from within!
Seriously.
He never thought that he would ever end up fighting for someone, anyone's, let alone the President's friendship…but here he was. He was fighting with Fukuda, and he hadn't even wanted to, for Suzuki's friendship….did Suzuki even know? Maybe he could talk to Fukuda, they were friends after all, and tell him that they would always be best friends or whatever. That way Fukuda could stop acting like he had caught Hatori in bed with his wife!
Because there was nothing to be jealous of.
Being friends with Suzuki was ok. He could be a real asshole sometimes but at the end of the day he was just…a guy. A guy who liked old games and wouldn't admit it. A guy who was super lonely and wouldn't admit it. A guy who was weirdly close with his daughter, he played favorites too which didn't seem like it was ok, and he was just…a guy. A dad. He was a guy and a dad and…..stuff. He was also the most powerful esper in the whole world and the President of Claw….but he was still just a guy.
And he was a guy who liked coffee.
Black coffee. No cream, no sugar, just coffee. That was how he took his. Hatori took his with mostly cream and sugar and enough coffee to turn the water brown. Suzuki had told him, before, that he had no idea what made a good cup of coffee….but then Hatori had told him, in a rare moment of bravery, that maybe he was the one who didn't know what made a good cup of coffee…and then they had spent the next hour and a half talking about coffee….
And it had been ok.
Suzuki was ok. He was…well he could be an asshole but he was ok…and you never knew who you were going to get….and Hatori hoped that he got the normal, slightly short tempered, slightly weird guy. He was going to spend as much time as he could at Suzuki's side…because Fukuda's weirdness was weirder than anything Suzuki had thrown at him so far…and he came bearing coffee so Suzuki might have been in a good mood…well it depended on who had tried to kill him that day…and if he was busy…well he was always busy….so it really depended on how busy Suzuki was….
He wasn't very busy…it seemed.
"Hatori. Hello. Do you need something?" asked Suzuki from behind his desk. He wasn't as tense as normal. That meant that he wasn't that busy. He wasn't that hard to read once you got used to him. When his aura was more…out…like this he was sort of chill. When he sat and let his shoulder slump down and let his aura spread out then he was really chill….
He was ok now.
"Nothing, just wanted to see if you wanted some coffee." Said Hatori as he crossed the office. He had, at this point, open door privileges…or at least he figured he did since Suzuki had gotten pissed at him, before, for lurking in his doorway.
"It's not even noon yet." Said Suzuki as a coffee was put down on his desk next to the empty tea cups. Hatori, if he had been a braver man, would have rolled his eyes. He would have said something like 'I didn't know that you had made a no coffee before noon law' or something like that. But he wasn't that brave, and he had no idea if they were even such good friends, so he would not be saying anything like that.
"Well if you don't want it then I can just have both." Said Hatori. He played like he was going to take the cup from his desk. Suzuki pulled the cup away with his powers. He could play around like this, they were good enough friends to mess around like this, and Hatori was ok with the level of friendship that they were at. Fukuda could be on a given name basis or whatever. Hatori was happy with this.
"No, I want it. Come here to the side and bring a chair." Said Suzuki. Hatori didn't have to be told twice. If it was a choice between hanging out with Suzuki and getting back to work with Fukuda then he, of course, was going to pick Suzuki…and he never thought that he would ever have found himself wanting to be near the President…and wanting to be his friend….and he was struck with the feeling that his twenties were going to be…weird. Ok. He could deal with that. He pulled a chair over and sat down beside Suzuki.
And his aura immediately latched onto him.
That could have meant anything. Maybe he was mad or bothered or maybe his aura was just being weird. Hatori….Suzuki had never told him as much but he got the feeling that he didn't have full control over his powers. Sometimes when he was really tired things started to float…or break…and he knew that Mob had that problem. She must have gotten it from him. That was why she drank and smoked all the time even though she was only eleven years old. Suzuki didn't do anything like that, as far as Hatori knew, but maybe he should have…
Since controlling powers that big must have been hard…and something that hard would have made anyone into an asshole.
"Something wrong, boss?" asked Hatori as he sat down. Maybe Suzuki would tell him and maybe he wouldn't. He didn't know. It was hard to tell with him…but if he was pissed off about something or something had been bothering him then Hatori would have liked he heads up. That way he would have known to treat him with kid gloves….well with an extra pair of kid gloves.
"No, I just find your company enjoyable." Said Suzuki. Hatori relaxed. Ok, he was just happy to see him. Cool. Hatori leaned back in his chair and took a long sip of coffee. Not the best drink but, hey, he was twenty and he was an adult and adults drank coffee. Suzuki took a sip of his, too, and then put it down with his powers. He was using his powers a lot…something wrong? Or just feeling lazy? Or was it more effort to use telekinesis to lift things? He didn't know, he wasn't telekinetic, and he wasn't sure if it was ok to ask Suzuki about that right now.
"So….President Suzuki, how's your day going?" asked Hatori. He hadn't heard anything about any attempts on his life…but then again those happened all the time. Maybe it was just not news anymore, people trying to kill him, that would have made sense…in a sad sort of way. Ok, yeah, he was trying to take over the world but he had two kids and they were all alone in the world aside from him. There was nothing worse than waking up one day with parents and then coming home one day and turning into an orphan….
There was nothing worse than winding up an orphan….at least nothing worse that Hatori had experienced.
"It's fine. There haven't been any attempts on my life yet. Yours?" asked Suzuki. Hatori….well that was good. He felt good. He knew that Suzuki was a powerful man and he couldn't be killed….well he wasn't immortal but he had Shibata to protect him…when Suzuki could stand to have him around….and also if anything were ever to happen then he had probable made arrangements for his kids. They wouldn't end up in a group home…those places were hell on Earth…and if he hadn't made arrangements than Hatori would have took them in if he had to. Well he got the feeling that Minegishi and Shimazaki would probably end up taking those kids in, he was ninety nine percent sure that they were a couple now and he had heard Shimazaki talking about them having kids so obviously they were going to adopt since as far as the Claw records had said Minegishi still had a copper thing to keep from having kids and theirs would be good for the next five years, so Mob and Sho would be in good…ok….competent hands. They would be loved and that was more than a group home could give them.
Hopefully Suzuki would live a good long time, though, even if he wasn't exactly super dad he was still a dad and Hatori…well he would have given anything to have seen his mom and dad again.
"Decent. Got some work done, excited for the summer comic market." Said Hatori. He shrugged and tried to look as calm and chill as he could. He didn't like to think about it, his life, the parts of his life that hurt…so he was going to talk about something that he was looking forward too. Something that…that he knew that Suzuki would have gotten a kick out of. That the two of them could have had gotten a kick out of…and the kids…they would have had fun too…yeah. He was fine.
He took another drink of coffee. He was fine.
"Comiket?" asked Suzuki. Hatori almost spat out his coffee. How in the hell had Suzuki even HEARD of Comiket? He didn't think that Suzuki would have wanted to go on his own…or maybe he had just heard about it in his life or something.
"You know it?" asked Hatori. He tried not to sound shocked, not that he would even be able to tell if he was shocked, but on the off chance that he had figured out tones he would rather Suzuki not think that he was insulting him. He was forty four. He'd had a life and in his life he'd done things….apparently things like go out in the world and do….fun stuff. Huh. Well you thought that you knew a person. Well then.
"Yes. I went once with Fukuda when we were children." Said Suzuki. That was…ok then. When had they started…well obviously back when Suzuki and Fukuda had been kids. They had been kids and gone to Comiket…and he could not imagine….either of them in the summer comic market. Suzuki didn't seem like he would have wanted to go on his own and Fukuda…well he just could not begin to imagine Fukuda out there in the world doing things that were fun…or even knowing about how fun things even worked. Huh.
Well you thought that you knew a person.
This could be great! Suzuki had gone before, well in the eighties, but that meant that he would maybe want to go again….and he could bring the kids…and they would have the best time. They deserved to have a good time. They were both sort of lonely, it seemed like, well at least Mob was. Her brother…well he had his own issues it seemed like he was working on…trying to work on. Would work on later when he got old enough.
Poor kids. They deserved to have fun.
"So…did you have fun?" asked Hatori. He couldn't imagine Suzuki being a kid and stuff but…well…yeah. He must have been a kid and he just…he just…this was incomprehensible. Suzuki as a kid at the summer comics market. Him being there buying comics…or weird doujinshi…and he didn't want to think about the weird doujinshi….and now he was about to start laughing…because that was hilarious. The thought of the President…and now he was going to think about…literally anything else.
"I…found a lot of Galaxy Express doujinshi…which was enjoyable….but the crowds were not." Said Suzuki. Hatori didn't think too far into the doujinshi and focused on the fact that he didn't like crowds. Damn. They could have had a good time together but if he didn't like crowds…wait, Hatori had seen him address crowds tons of times before…but that was addressing people and not, you know, existing with them...huh. Well that was just…that made no sense. What did he have to be afraid of? He was the most powerful esper alive…not that he would ask. No, he didn't think that Suzuki would have been itching to get into his deep emotional shit right now….or ever. He could be a really cagey guy sometimes….most of the times.
"Oh. Well I was going to ask if you wanted to go with me." said Hatori. Well he could always go with Shibata. He liked crowds and he could carry a lot…and fuck travelling light he had people to pack his stuff up these days…not that he was going to go full packrat…or maybe he would. He didn't know. He didn't even know if Shibata would want to go. He sort of wished that Suzuki had wanted to go…because it could have been nice hearing about what it had been like before…and Suzuki really did have a lot of interesting stuff to say…when he wasn't being a weirdo or an asshole….
"Why?" asked Suzuki. Hatori…well he didn't fully know. He hadn't thought too deeply into it. He just wanted to go with his friend because he was an interesting guy and they had fun together…and also Suzuki maybe needed to learn how to socialize and stuff with other people….and also it would have been cool to see him out in the world with other people…and stuff. Was that enough of a reason? Suzuki….he asked 'why' a lot…and stuff. He just…wanted to go with him. No deep reason.
"Because we're friends and I figured you might like it and you could bring your kids with. They'd like it." Said Hatori with a shrug. He hoped that Suzuki wouldn't start up asking 'why' because…well there wasn't a 'why' beyond that.
"I….do not like crowds…but the children you like to accompany you…or just Daughter. Son…I have no idea if Son would like to go but I've seen Daughter reading manga before." Said Suzuki. Sho would probably have liked to come too, there were plenty of games and Sho played games, and going with the kids….that would have been fun. Yeah, he never hung out with Sho and he hadn't been hanging out with Mob that often lately either. Yeah, this could be fun.
"Can do, boss." Said Hatori. He'd ask the kids if they wanted to come later. They probably would have…and maybe Shibata would want to come too. He always wanted to hang out with the kids…and hopefully Shimazaki wouldn't want to come…but he did go wherever Sho went….and Minegishi did go wherever Mob went….and things were going to be awkward for the end of time…because he had been an idiot….but this would be…
This would be ok.
"If you do bring Son then watch him carefully. He tends to disappear…at least he did this morning…and I just cannot understand that child sometimes." Said Suzuki. Hatori, if he had been a braver man, would have told him that Sho didn't like him because he could be…sort of strict…and kind of an asshole…but Hatori was not a brave man so he said nothing.
"Sure thing, Su-President Suzuki." Said Hatori. He had been about to call him just Suzuki…and they were not that close. They weren't on a given name basis or a plain family name basis…well he and Hatori were but it only went one way…and that was ok. He wasn't Fukuda. He wasn't going to get into some contest for Suzuki's friendship. If Fukuda wanted to be Suzuki's best friend forever then he could have the title. Hell, Hatori would go out and get them matching friendship bracelets, he wondered where Minegishi and Mob had gotten theirs, if it meant that Fukuda came off of…whatever bullshit he was on about. Hatori just…was sick of this jealousy….
"Also be sure to tell me if Daughter enjoys herself. I do enjoy it when she's happy." Said Suzuki. Hatori nodded. Right. Suzuki would want a full report…on one of his kids. He wondered what it was with him and Sho. He could be a lot, all kids could be a lot but Sho could be A LOT, but he was still a good…an ok kid. When nobody was going along with his ideas…or giving him ideas….and Hatori was sick of finding worms everywhere….but he wasn't going to get mad at a kid.
He would get mad at the adult who let him dig up worms and leave them in Hatori's bed.
He would get mad but…but he wouldn't get into it with Shimazaki. He was terrifying. He was terrifying even when he didn't try to be. He could have easily killed him at any time and…and that was terrifying. It would do no good to fight with Shimazaki even if he did teach Sho some terrible stuff….nope. He wasn't that kind of person, the confrontational kind, and maybe that made him a coward but he wasn't powerful enough not to be. He was who he was and he couldn't hurt anyone, in a fight he was little better than one of the awakened. He couldn't even stand up to Fukuda let alone Shimazaki…and he was who he was and this was what it was. He just…he was who he was.
And who he was, right now, was Suzuki's friend...and also the guy who listened to him talk about the amazing breakfast his Daughter had made…and he was happy to be this person to him.
He was just as happy with this situation as Suzuki was.