Daughter's favorite color was blue.
Seventy nine percent of her wardrobe consisted of clothing which was blue. Light blue, dark blue, and all shades of blue in between. She loved blue. She looked so much better in yellow but she loved blue. So therefore he would give her blue. Well things which were blue, of course, he wasn't going to take the color blue from the world and bottle it for her…though he would have if he could. If he had the power to remove a color from the world, any and all shades of blue, and give them to her then he would have. That…that would have been easier….than dealing with….
All of this.
This…thing….that was happening to her. That she was going through. She was…she was going through something that was incomprehensible to him. She was…well Minegishi had been VERY graphic in what Daughter was going through….but still. He could only imagine….and he didn't want to imagine. He didn't want to think about this. He just…he wanted his Daughter to just be alright. He wanted her to be…to be back to normal….but that would not happen. This was…this was something that was happening to her…and that was…the whole of it…
And maybe he had overreacted just a bit.
He was an idiot. He was the biggest idiot. He…he knew what happened to women. He knew that Masami had gone through this. He had been there when Masami had laid on the couch with a hot water bottle pressed to her stomach….he made a mental note to get one for Daughter in case she didn't have one….and he…he just…he didn't want Daughter to go through that. Masami…he had known what had happened to Masami in the most academic sense of it. The biological fact of it. Not the….graphics….of it….and Minegishi….well they were very blunt. He liked that about them, he decided, because as disturbed as he was…it was good that he knew what was happening to Daughter now. He knew what was happening and now…now he knew what to do.
He was painting the house blue.
The inside of the house, the walls and carpeting and furniture and appliances, would be blue. That was…something which would make her happy. Minegishi had told him to make her happy. They had told him to wait on her hand and foot, let her drink and smoke to her heart's content, and not hold her to any of her household chores…and he could do all of that. He didn't like receiving orders….but he also didn't like not knowing what to do. A subordinate had told him what to do…but that subordinate was also an expert in the field of….all of this. So he would listen. He wanted to make this easy for Daughter.
She was….she was his everything.
She was his everything and she…for a few moments he had been sure that she had been dying. He had opened the door and seen the blood on her…and Masami hadn't told him that there was so much blood…and he had been shocked and terrified because…because she was his everything. She was his everything and she….she could go. Die. She was mortal and…and he knew that he had been overreacting. He had been so focused on the thought of losing her that….well he had forgotten the simplest explanation for all of it…
And he had been a moron.
He was still being a moron. He was sitting at his desk with the door to his office closed and locked. He needed to be alone. He left Shibata to care for Son, Daughter was going through so much and she didn't need to deal with him right now, and he had left Hatori too because…well he was not in the mood to spend time with anyone. Even someone as pleasant as Hatori. He just….he was getting nothing done, like a moron, but he just…he had to be here…
Because this was a work day and this was where he should have been….at work.
He was sitting at his desk in his office and…and he had so much work piled up…but he could not focus. His mind was elsewhere and it had taken his powers with him. His desk was rising up off the ground, the lights had been turned off for his own safety, and every time he tried to get up from his chair the building shook. He didn't know what was wrong with him. She was fine, she was normal, this was normal. This was normal for women…female human beings…and she was a female human being and…and he was not ready for her to grow up…not ready for her to….to become a woman…
He just…was not ready.
She was eleven years old. Nine years ago he had brought her home from the orphan prison. Nine years ago she had clung to his leg and begged him to stay with her. Nine years ago she had come to him carrying the book about the white cat and her friends and said 'daddy, read' and he had…well he had been working so he had told Masami to read to her…and…and he should have read her the damn book. He should have just read her the damn book because…because now he would never have the chance to read to her again. She was…she was…older…she was eleven but….was she a woman now? He had no idea…he had heard that…that being reproductively mature was the marker of adulthood….but she was only eleven. She was eleven and…and she could have a child and….and she was still eleven! She…she played with dolls and…and watched animated movies…and sang the ice queens mountain song at the top of her lungs when she took baths…and she…well she used to wear costumes as clothes…but now she didn't…
She was…all grown up….
But…she was so small. She was so small and…and he was not ready for her to go. She was reproductively mature but…but she was tiny. She was small enough that he could have lifted her. She was a year, less than actually, older than Son and Son was such a child….and Daughter….she was a child. She was his child. She was his child and…and she was…she was his everything. She was the very breath that he breathed. She was….she was his will to succeed. He was making a better world for her, for the two of them, and…and hadn't built her that world yet. He hadn't even built her a house yet, the house she deserved, let alone the world that she deserved….and she was…she was….
He was not ready for this.
Any of this. He was not ready for his Daughter to grow up….and he was not ready for the knock at his door, either. He took a deep breath and forced everything back down to the ground. He felt….oh. If it had been anyone else he would have sent them away. He had been sending people away all day, some of those people had come bearing important news, and he had no intention of seeing anyone….aside from him. Fukuda…well he had seen Suzuki at his worst time and time and time again. Fukuda had picked him up from the deepest holes he had ever been in…and he could pull him out of this. He was a healer, that was what he did, he made Suzuki better. That had been his job for the past thirty years.
Thirty one years, actually, and soon to be thirty two.
They had known each other for over thirty years. In that time he had seen Suzuki lose control of his powers and emotions in ways worse than…than what had happened back there at the house. He had also seen Suzuki being much more of an idiot over the years, too, than he had been back there. Fukuda…was the only person he would see right now. Fukuda always made him feel better. Even if he tended to overstep sometimes he was…he was good at fixing things. Healing things. Healing him. He had been there for so much….
And he would be there, here, for him right now.
He waved his hand and the door opened. Fukuda took a moment to step through the doorway. His aura recoiled…and Suzuki did not blame him. He was everywhere today…and he needed to stop. He needed to stop this and just…regain control. Everyone must have noticed by now…everyone here anyway this was a very popular posting…and he just…he was setting a terrible example and…and he just needed to calm down…so he did his best. His desk hit the ground, the lights went back on, and his aura came back as close as he could pull it in. All of this was done before Fukuda even made it to his desk.
"Fukuda. Do you need something?" asked Suzuki. He straightened his tie and sat up…a little too quickly…and he'd pay for that one later. Not that he had any right to complain. Daughter was going through pain that he couldn't even comprehend right now. She…she had so much happening to her and…and he was not ready…and if he was not ready then she certainly was not ready and….and he needed to stop thinking about this….
Not that it mattered if he lost control in front of Fukuda. It was nothing that he hadn't seen before.
"Just checking in, Suzuki. This morning was….a scare." Said Fukuda. He hadn't gotten anything done. A large portion of the day had been spent focusing on Suzuki's aura…and he had not been alright. The Awakened were steering clear of this place. Apparently Suzuki was in a 'traitor hole' mood. Fukuda hadn't bothered to correct them.
Nobody needed to know the truth.
Suzuki was well and truly shook. He had seen him like this before. After his parents died…well no, it had been worse then. This was more like…like after Masami had left. His aura was all painful barbs and…and it wavered, too, along with his control. He was shook and…and Fukuda didn't blame him. He loved Shigeko and seeing her covered in blood like that…well even he had been shook. She had seemed so young then…well she was young…but she had seemed her age. Eleven and scared. Normally she looked like a short, oddly dressed, adult. That morning she had been well and truly…a child…
He was loathe to even think this but…poor Shigeko…and poor Suzuki too…
But especially poor Sho. He didn't need to know about all of this….and Fukuda still wasn't sure what he knew. How aware he was of the situation. He had gone back for Sho after he had gotten dressed and calmed down…and the house had been empty. He was off doing God knows what with Shimazaki and the others….and Fukuda was not looking forward to when he came back. He was going to have to have a talk with Sho that he knew Suzuki wouldn't be able to. Unless he was caring for Shigeko…well nothing else mattered. Not even his own Son. Not even his actual blood child and heir. Sho…this had been a lot for him and…and he hadn't needed any of this…
But he had seen Shigeko, he had gotten freaked out, and as soon as Fukuda saw him again he was going to set him straight….which would be after he figured how close Suzuki was to an explosion.
"I'm fine. Yourself?" asked Suzuki. He tried to sound normal. He tried to keep any and all emotion out of his voice…and there had been a waver there. He wanted…he found himself craving human contact…which was odd. Normally….well holding Daughter was a preview of heaven….but normally he confined these feelings to her. It was alright to hold her, to be with her, because she was his. She was his and if he wanted to hold her close then that was alright. Being with her didn't make him any less of a full and complete person.
Being with Fukuda on the other hand did.
"Fine. A little embarrassed. I can't believe I panicked like that." Said Fukuda as he pulled a chair close and sat down. Suzuki…he knew that look. Suzuki actually was capable of emoting, somewhat, and Fukuda was one of the few people who got to see it. Masami hadn't even gotten the so called privilege of seeing this face, any of his faces really, but especially his scared face. His vulnerable face. He hadn't looked like this since Masami…no. Since the baby. Since the baby and the woman that he had cheated on Masami with. He had been just as shaken and vulnerable then as he was now…and Fukuda….well he would do his best to deal with this. To manage it.
Because, really, what else could he do?
"Don't be upset with yourself. We both panicked." Said Suzuki after swallowing the myriad of other words that had threatened to rise up from his throat. Words like 'Tadashi. Explain' and it's variations. He wasn't even sure what he wanted Tadashi, what he wanted Fukuda, to explain to him. If Daughter was still a child? If she was still his? If being with her…if having her and holding her and loving her…if it was all still…alright. He had always imagined their lives being forever intertwined, especially as she entered her adult years, but now…now he had no idea what he even imagined….besides being alone. Besides her being gone. Besides her just…leaving….
People left all the time.
"Yeah, well, I panicked more." Said Fukuda with a shrug. He was lying. Suzuki had been five seconds from taking out the whole block. Still, though, best not to just come out and tell Suzuki that he had completely overreacted. He didn't take criticism well. He never had and he never would…even though it was completely warranted in this situation. He had been the one to take a bad situation and make it worse…and then there was the matter of what he had done to Sho….
Stay. Calm. Tadashi.
"You did….but I should have stayed calm." Said Suzuki. He didn't like to admit when he was wrong…but he was also capable of it…and he had made the whole situation worse. Daughter…she had been frightened…and he had been frightened….and then…well thank God for Minegishi being a woman and knowing what to do because Suzuki was a man so his mind went straight to massive internal hemorrhaging…which in some ways could have been preferable to…well massive internal hemorrhaging could be easily fixed. This…Minegishi had said that there was no fixing this…because this was not something to fix. This was just….a biological inevitability that…that he should not have been upset about because Daughter was the one dealing with it. She was the one this was happening to and he…well he was a man about to maybe lose his Daughter….losing her to time…to growing up….but she was still so small and….
Calm. Down. Touichirou.
"Yeah, you really did a number on the house…and Sho." said Fukuda. Sho…he had no idea how Sho was doing. He wasn't answering his phone…but that was normal for him. He could have been in the middle of freaking out or he could have been chasing ducks at the park. Fukuda had no way of knowing and…and he had no way of knowing how Sho was coping with this. He had thought that his sister was dying….and now he had to learn the horrible truth…and he knew Sho. He would not let this go. He would ask and ask…and hopefully he hadn't asked those four anything….because God only knew what kind of nonsense they would be filling his head with….and God only knew what misconceptions Fukuda would have to fix and….and this really was a job for his father….
But Sho didn't have one of those now did he?
"I don't care about that. I care that I frightened Daughter. She was already terrified and I made it worse." Said Suzuki. He sighed as he said that. Mostly just to get the tension out of his body and his aura. Masami had told him time and time again that he overreacted, that he was ridiculous, and he would have given anything for Masami to appear and just…tell him again. Tell him that he had been ridiculous and then…well then she could help Daughter through this. This was something that he could not guide her through. This was so far beyond his area of experience that….well she had someone to help her. Minegishi may not have looked like a woman, not really, but they were…even if for some reason they did not want to be seen as such…and they would help Daughter. They were her best friend. That was what best friends did, they helped you through things. Minegishi was like Daughter's Fukuda. Good. Everyone needed a Fukuda in their lives. A person who could pull you back when you were on the brink of losing it, a person who could help you through all the parts of life that you just could not navigate on your own, and a person who was fiercely loyal no matter what….and there had been, when it came to him and Fukuda, a lot of 'what' over the years.
He was happy for Daughter, having someone like that in her life, truly he was…and grateful too because even the actual Fukuda had been at a complete and total loss.
"You also hurt Sho." said Fukuda. He knew that he had a tone there and he knew that Suzuki wouldn't notice. He never noticed. As long as he kept his aura still and calm Suzuki would not notice. He was too wrapped up in himself, himself and his Daughter, to notice the contempt there….and to notice or care about what he had put his son through. God…how many broken bones had Fukuda knitted back together for that child over the years? Thousands, probably, because he had been doing this since Sho had been a toddler….
That had not been a good day.
Suzuki liked to think of himself as a patient man. He wasn't. He was, possibly, the most irritable and least patient man in all of Japan. He had no patience for anyone, especially his own son, and it had always been that way. Ever since Sho had gotten big enough to walk. If he could walk then he could climb and if he could climb then all the baby gates in the world meant nothing. Baby gates couldn't contain him and Suzuki, well originally the plan had been to put Sho on a leash and then tie him to things but, thankfully, Masami had managed to knock some sense into him. Sho was a human being, not a dog, and it was normal for a baby to be curious about the world around him. It was also normal for a baby to be curious, climb onto his father's desk, and ruin some very important work that he'd been doing. What had not bene normal, however, was that fact that Suzuki had thrown a one year old out of his office. Literally. He had picked Sho up and thrown him…
And Fukuda had fixed him.
Not only that but Fukuda had covered for Suzuki. He knew that Masami…well she would not have stayed if she knew…and at the time she had been good for Suzuki. He had been very….vindictive….back then. After he had met Masami and had Sho he had calmed down considerably. No new traitor holes had been built since his marriage after all. She had been….well he hadn't known her then…but he knew that she had been good for him so he told her that Sho was fine and that he had fallen. He had told her over and over again, when he had come to heal Sho, that he was fine…and now he regretted it. It would have been easier for her, far easier, to escape with a baby than a child. To escape with one child instead of two…
But that was then and this was now.
"He's fine." Said Suzuki. Son hadn't even been bleeding…and he had brought it on himself, anyway. Son always brought it on himself. Sometimes people brought things on themselves and when you brought something on yourself like that then the best thing to do was just to admit your fault. Like Suzuki was willing to admit, now, that he had panicked and ben ridiculous and…and that he was an idiot when it came to this part of Daughter's life. That he had made this whole thing worse for her. That…that he would throw himself to her feet and beg her forgiveness if she asked that of him. That he would do anything to make this better….to make THEM better…
Maybe painting the house blue would help.
"You broke his arm. He came to me with a broken arm and I fixed it." Said Fukuda. He kept his aura calm. He tried to keep calm. How could Suzuki just…not care? He needed to be calm. He knew for a fact that Suzuki did not care about Sho and…and that was the way that it had always been. Since he had been a baby. Since the day he had been born. He had been terrified that day because he had almost lost Masami…even though he hadn't. He had always been so over dramatic. Women had C-sections all the time, Fukuda had been there in case anything went wrong, and nobody had told Suzuki to look over the god damned curtain in the first place. In fact everyone had told him NOT to look over the curtain. But he had and then he had seen Sho being born and then, once Sho had been cleaned up and safe to hold, all he could say was…God…what had he said? Masami had told him…something along the lines of 'I am your father. This is your mother. Your name is Sho. You almost killed your mother' or something like that. He had acted like it had been Sho's fault, that he'd purposely wrapped the umbilical cord around his neck,
"Oh. Well he was being a moron. Arms break, it's what they do, and if he hadn't been useless then I wouldn't have broken it…and that hadn't been my intention anyway." Said Suzuki. Honestly. Son was fine. Fukuda treated him like he was made of glass. Arms broke, bones broke, but they could be easily healed. Fukuda knew. That was his job. He had always babied Son like that. Maybe it was because his own parents had been so over indulgent. Mother and Father had never struck him because he'd never done anything worth being struck over. Never like Son had. He had spoken when spoken too, did well in school, never answered back or sassed, always kept his room clean, been fastidious about his appearance, and always treated his parents with the utmost respect. Mother and father, mostly father, had been very clear about their expectations for him and if he misbehaved, if he broke his side of their bargain as a family, then they would break theirs. All that they gave him would be taken away. No more pocket money, no more games, no more books, no more television, even his very existence would be ignored….though things almost never got that bad. Only when he lost control of his powers…but that was fine…
He had just learned never to lose control.
Unlike Son Suzuki could learn from his actions. Son….no matter how many times Suzuki corrected him he just…carried on the same way he always had. He was so tiresome. He had always been tiresome even back when he had bene small. Daughter had never been so tiresome. She had been so much like him that, if he hadn't known any better, he would have thought that he had fathered her himself. That wasn't possible as he was married to Masami at the time of her conception and also he very rarely if ever set foot in Seasoning City. Daughter…she had been so much like him though. She had been clean and quiet and intelligent and…and he loved her so. He loved and cared for her and….and she just made it so easy. Not like Son. Since the day he had been born it had felt like he had done everything in his power to drive his mother and father insane. Now he was….well easier to deal with because Daughter had taken over raising him….but now Daughter would be out of commission until all of…this….passed…so Suzuki would be in charge again….
Great. Just great.
"Well I don't know if that'll come as any comfort to Sho." said Fukuda. It didn't matter that Suzuki hadn't intended to break Sho's arm….it had still been broken. He had always said that, ever since they had been kids, that whatever terrible thing he had done hadn't been his intention. It hadn't been his intention to stab Fukuda down to the bone with a compass, just to break the skin. It hadn't been his intention to get them banned from the arcade for staying there at the same machine for five to seven hours a day without putting a single yen in. it wasn't his intention to give Fukuda a concussion with that damn shinai…he had just been practicing….
Even now nothing was ever his intention.
It hadn't been his intention to drive Masami away. Fukuda knew that, if the subject of why Masami had left ever came up, Suzuki would spin some story about how he had never intended to make her leave. How he had never intended to say cruel things to her. How he had never intended to trap her in a house all on her own with two small children. How he had never intended to drive her away by bringing home a child who was so powerful that only he could control her. If they had ever sat down and talked about what had happened, unlikely unless Fukuda felt like getting killed, Suzuki would have said that he had never intended any of that….
Like intentions even mattered.
"You don't think so? My father said those exact words to me when he broke my arm. You remember, you were there….and I believe that recording might still exist if the tape hasn't degraded yet." Said Suzuki. He didn't understand how telling Son that this was his own fault wasn't a comfort to him. Mother and father, well mostly father, had never shied away from telling him when he had been a complete and utter disappointment of a human being. Those times hadn't come often, though, only when Suzuki lost control of himself. His powers or his emotions. Father had always told him that he was wrong to act the way he acted and wrong to feel the way he felt and he had believed him because, well, a son was supposed to believe his father. Father had only wanted the best for him just like he only wanted the best for Son.
So if it had come to it, yes, he would have hit Son with a shinai with his full strength.
If it ever came to that, though, but it wouldn't. First of all there was no point in teaching Son kendo because he would have been terrible at it. He did not have even the barest sense of discipline to him. No. He wouldn't have landed one legal hit and would, instead, have embarrassed him in ways that Suzuki couldn't even imagine. Even Suzuki had fallen to emotion a few times on the mat….and father had only had to hit him once, at full strength, before he learned to keep a level head and to be fully aware of his opponent.
He had no idea how many times he would have had to hit Son and, really, he did not have the time to deal with the Boy's nonsense.
"….that was an accident. You and your dad…that was a kendo accident." Said Fukuda. There was no way that Suzuki was going to equate what had happened between him and his dad with what he did to Sho regularly. Suzuki's parents were nothing like him. They were the nicest people that Fukuda had ever met. His mom was always so open and loving, not like is mom, and his dad gave him whatever he wanted. Hell, Fukuda had never seen his dad give him less than ten thousand yen spending money…and this was ten thousand yen in the eighties. His parents had been good people, nice people, and Fukuda…could not believe that he would ever compare himself to his parents. That was just…this was just….the first time he speaks about them in years and he's dragging their names through the mud.
Even Suzuki must have realized that what had happened that day had been an accident.
They had been kids then. God…thirteen about…maybe fourteen. It didn't matter. Suzuki and his dad had been really into kendo and sometimes they practiced together. That was just something they did on Sundays, Sundays were his days with his parents a lot of the time since that was the only day they got off school. Well Fukuda had been over and he'd carried that stupid camera that they had been messing around with for a while all the way from his house for the purposes of….well he had no idea what they'd set out to record. Probably just the minutes from their two person meetings or something. Anyway Suzuki had been in the backyard practicing with his dad because he had let someone get a point on him last kendo meet…that girl he'd been into…and they had been practicing without armor, which was dangerous, and his dad had gotten him in the arm so hard that it had broken. The whole thing was a terrible accident and he was not going to let Suzuki paint that as…as something that his dad had done on purpose….and he did not get to excuse his own behavior just because of a terrible accident that had happened thirty years ago.
He didn't get to make excuses for himself like that.
"It was on his part. I was being an idiot and left myself opened so, of course, he landed a hit on me. He was right to tell me that it was my own fault for being useless and an idiot." Said Suzuki. Fukuda had always been strange about things like that. Probably because his parents had let him do whatever he wanted. They had let him talk any way he wanted and act any way he wanted and even let him bring home terrible grades, too. If Suzuki had been at anything less than the top of his class and mother and father would have been so upset with him…upset enough not to speak to him for at least a week. It had mattered, then, when they had stopped speaking to him because he hadn't yet known how to be a full and complete person on his own. They had just been trying to teach him that lesson. That was the job of parents, to both provide for you and to teach you how to become a proper adult. Fukuda's parents…well they hadn't even had him bow and greet them when they came home….they had always been an odd family….
So, of course, his family would have seemed odd to Fukuda.
"…right. Well I just think that maybe there's a difference between a kendo accident and purposely hitting your son." Said Fukuda. He forced his aura to stay calm. What he had done to Sho, what he had been doing to Sho for years, had been no accident and Fukuda….years and years of this could take a toll on anyone.
"I didn't hit him. I threw him down the stairs. Somebody had to get you and he runs quickly so I sent him to get you." Said Suzuki. He hadn't set out to hurt Son, not seriously, but if he had just…been better…then none of that would have happened. Besides, he had lived. It wasn't as though Suzuki had been trying to hurt him seriously or anything like that. Son was fine now. What did it matter if his arm had been broken or not?
"Right. Well his arm is good as new so you don't have to worry." Said Fukuda. He knew that sarcasm was lost on Suzuki. Whatever was wrong with him, and he knew that something was wrong with him, had left him immune to sarcasm….either that or he was just so self-absorbed that he couldn't hear it. Fukuda would have believed either option.
"I was never worried about him." said Suzuki. If Son had been hurt enough to bleed then, yes, he would have been worried…but he wasn't. He seldom worried about Son. He would be fine no matter what. He wasn't fragile like Daughter was. He was made of stronger material. That was his biological child, his Son, after all. Aside from a few worries he'd had here and there, which had been remedied, he had confidence in Son's ability to live to adulthood, inherit the world, and then in turn have his own Son and continue their bloodline.
"You never do." Said Fukuda. Sho could have been lying dead in the streets and Suzuki wouldn't have given a damn about him. Since the day he had brought Shigeko home from the orphanage it had been all about her. The prodigy that he had found. Sho…he had been excited when Masami had been pregnant with him. He had gone on….and on…and on about what is Son would be like. All the things he would teach him. How he would be the ruler of the world someday. Well he had spent so much time planning out who he thought Sho was going to be that he hadn't managed his expectations and learned to accept Sho for the person that he was….and now the only person who would pay for that was Sho…and he had been paying for this for the past ten, almost eleven now, years.
"You're right, I don't. I don't have to. He's a very resilient person. I have complete faith in him." said Suzuki. He had faith in Son because Son was….his Son. He was half of him and half of Masami. In some ways he was the best of the both of them. He was just as driven as Suzuki was…though he was driven to the stupidest things…and he was just as kind as Masami was…though that kindness, particularly towards animals, was more of a weakness when it came down to it….son was like an omelet served over plain unsweetened cheesecake. Both were good but together….well together they were terrible. Son…he had the best of him and Masami…and maybe a bit of his own mother in there too now that he thought about it…and as tiresome and annoying as he could be Suzuki had complete faith in him…that was his only Son after all….
So unless he either had another Son or left the world to his Daughter, not that he would be leaving the world to someone with no blood relation to himself, Son was the only candidate so Suzuki had no choice but to have complete and total faith in the Boy.
"You just called him a useless moron." Said Fukuda. Suzuki knew what words meant. He had been the one to help Fukuda with their vocab homework, not the other way around, and he even knew so many words that he'd gotten an award for it. He knew what the words 'useless' and 'moron' meant…and he knew that they were unkind. For all of his social difficulties he knew that those were unkind words to say to someone…and he knew that they weren't true.
Sho was neither useless or a moron.
Sho was a bright, helpful, wonderful kid. He knew more about art than anyone Fukuda had ever met in his life. He had managed to learn four languages, one of them being English which was beyond hard to learn. He knew how to play these incredibly complicated videogames, even at this point Fukuda still needed to be walked through Minecraft, and he just…he was a bright kid. A helpful one, too. He was always…well he used to help out Fukuda more when he'd been little…but now he spent all of his days with the guy he had the mother of all crushes on…
And Fukuda would have to do something about that at some point.
"That's true but then again most people are." Said Suzuki simply.
"But not Shigeko." said Fukuda. No, never his precious Shigeko. Sho…Sho was his Son and he treated him like…like nothing. Like less than nothing. Like an annoyance. Like…he wasn't even a person half the time. Like he was just an annoyance that he had to deal with. If Sho had been Fukuda's son…but there was no point in thinking about what he would have done if Sho had been his Son. Sho…he had the cards that he was dealt, the family he had been born into, the father he had been born to….and Fukuda…well he would do what he could to make this whole thing better for him.
"Of course not. My Daughter is the most intelligent person ever to live….and she is not useless just because she's going to be out of commission for a little while so she can get through….this." said Suzuki. He had no idea what he would do without her. The Awakened were useless, Masami was gone, and he…well he knew how to care for himself in the most basic sense, he had lost mother when he had been eighteen after all, but he just…he didn't know how to do all the things that she did. He didn't know how to fold his clothes the way Daughter folded them, he didn't know how to make the perfect omelet with just the right amount of butter, he had no idea in what quantity to order the family's food for the week…or even fully what to order….and then dealing with Son…well he had no idea how to even begin to deal with his Son…
But he had to do his best…he had to ease the stress that Daughter was under.
He could not contribute to this. Minegishi had been very clear about the pain and stress Daughter was under….and also now he would never be able to look at a ping pong ball again….and he could not make this any worse on her than it was now. She was in pain…and she was frightened maybe still…and he would take care of himself…and her. He would care for her in whatever way that she needed caring…for now and whenever else she would need it, too. She was his Daughter and it was his job to care for her.
And also he loved her.
"I can't believe she didn't know this was coming." Said Fukuda shaking his head. Masami must have told her something. She must have because….well that was the sort of thing that mothers were supposed to teach their Daughters. Masami….well even if she hadn't taught Shigeko anything she could have figured it out on her own…or something. Or her only female friend could have told her something, what to expect, how to deal with this…and he didn't give a damn what Minegishi thought about him…and it was unfair, anyway, to think that he would have been able to help Shigeko in any meaningful way. He was a man, he wasn't married, and he didn't have any children. Of course he would have had no idea what to do!
"Me neither…but then again she doesn't have…well Masami has been gone for some time….and she is mother to Son but…well I suppose that she needs someone to be mother to her." said Suzuki. He sighed again…it was a good release of tension. He just….he hated feeling this powerless. Daughter was a child and…and she was good at raising Son….but she still needed help with things…and eleven was still a child. She could have a child now….and he didn't even want to get into that yet…..but she was still eleven and…and still small enough for him to pick up and…and she still needed his guidance sometimes and…and also he just…he didn't know everything. He wasn't a woman. There were probably more woman things that she would need to know about….
But at least she had a woman in her life to help her with these things.
Minegishi…well he didn't understand Minegishi. Why they were a 'they'….and he would have to remind himself that they were a 'they' because, well, they had a short temper and they, also, had done him a great service today. She…they…were there for Daughter. They were Daughter's closest friend and they had knowledge that he had never even been privy to, he hadn't had to be because he had never been anything other than male, and he would be forever grateful to them for caring for Daughter in her time of need…in any and all future times of need…
Because she didn't have anyone else to help her through this time of need…any of her futures times of…female…need…..
"…right." Said Fukuda. She had a mother, her name was Masami, and it was Suzuki's fault that she and her brother didn't have a mother…and honestly Minegishi was no kind of mother to her. They were the ones, them and the others, who had taught Shigeko how to drink and smoke. She…they…were the reason Shigeko was…who she was now. If Masami had been there, if she hadn't been driven away, then Shigeko….never would have gotten involved in any of that. She would have been better off. Both of those kids would have been.
Especially Sho.
Sho…he would have at least had one parent in his corner. Shigeko was not mother to him. She was eleven years old. She was a year…not even! Those kids had been born half a year apart. Shigeko should never have had to have been put in the role of Sho's mother. It didn't matter how much she liked it, being an adult at not even twelve, she still wasn't his mother. She was his sister. Sho….he needed an actual mother but thanks to his father the best that he had was his older sister…..and thanks to Suzuki the best that Shigeko had was Minegishi….
And Suzuki would never be able to see his part in all of this.
He was just…incapable of it. Seeing that so much of this was his fault. Not just freaking Shigeko out, no, putting Shigeko into that position in the first place. Masami had been able to teach Shigeko all the things that she should have known because Suzuki had made it impossible for her to be there to teach her Daughter what she needed to know. Sho acted up because he didn't have his mother there to raise him...and he had gotten hurt because he hadn't had his mother there to protect him. Masami was gone and….and it was Suzuki's fault and…and he would never realize his part in this…
Hell, he barely realized that his own phone was chiming.
He jumped, almost, when he heard his phone chime…and that could have been good or bad. The only people who actually spoke to him were…well his daughter and Fukuda….and Fukuda was right there…and he assumed that Shigeko would have still been upset at her father for upsetting her…and it wasn't a mass Claw message because then Fukuda would have gotten it too. Suzuki…well maybe it was one of his super secret President of Claw things that Fukuda would have to deal with later…
Or not…judging by the way his eyebrows were coming together.
"What's up?" asked Fukuda
"I've been invited to a party." Said Suzuki simply. That was….well nobody ever messaged him directly aside from Fukuda and Daughter….well and Hatori…and that was who it had been. Apparently Daughter's friends were throwing her a party to cheer her up…which was a good idea since she adored parties…but he would not be in attendance. He loathed parties. Crowds, even small ones, where he would be expected to socialize….no thank you.
"Want me to go in your place?" asked Fukuda. Suzuki got invited to things all the time. The backers, investors, and cultists thought that they could gain his favor that way….even though he either outright declined or sent Fukuda in his place. Honestly. People never learned now did they?
"I'll ask right now….and no. You're specifically not invited." Said Suzuki. How Hatori could type so fast he would never know…well there was the matter of his powers. Yes, that was it. He told Hatori, these automatic words on his phone were a godsend, to give Daughter his best. This was….good. If Daughter was feeling well enough to attend a party, if her friends thought that a surprise was something that she was up to attending, then….then she was doing better…and that was just wonderful.
"I'm specifically NOT invited? Who the hell is throwing this party? Cultists? Because if it's them they should be grateful to get anyone at all. Those parties are just…weird and unpleasant." Said Fukuda. He didn't really want to go to a cultist's party but, well, he also didn't not want to go. Just…it would have been nice to have had the invitation extended to him.
"Their parties are more than unpleasant and weird…but no. This party is being thrown by Daughter's friends. They're throwing her a surprise party to cheer her up and Hatori has extended me an invitation…and also he's sent a picture of Son all wrapped up in pink streamers….I think he may be trapped. See?" asked Suzuki. He turned his phone so Fukuda could see it. This was…well Son was silly like that…and Fukuda had always been amused by Son's antics. His phone chimed again. He didn't take it back, though, not until Fukuda said that he was done. This reminded him a bit of those times when they had been young and they had shared manga. Fukuda had always said that he turned the pages too fast and he never took in the picture…not that he was sure what there was to take in….it was just Son being silly. That was normal for him.
"What the hell is he on about….'I make her uncomfortable'…what a load of….I have no idea what she's on and I have no idea what he's on either." Said Fukuda. Hatori had the nerve to sit there and tell Suzuki that he had been looking at Shigeko….and he HADN'T BEEN! She was a child! There was nothing there to even look at! The only reason Shigeko even had that idea in her head was because of the company that she kept. If Masami had been there then…then she would have only kept company with people her own age….and then the idea that a grown man could have looked at her would never have even crossed her mind! God!
"What are you on about?" asked Suzuki. Fukuda sounded so young there. Suzuki was not good with tones but he knew that one. That was the tone that Fukuda had taken back when they had been children and Suzuki had informed him of what others said about him. He had been widely disliked when they had been in school…but, paradoxically, he had also been more social and included in more things…well there seemed to be an expiration date of about two months on any new friendships which he had made….and Suzuki had never understood that….but it wasn't his life so he didn't have to care or understand. Fukuda, throughout everything, had remained loyal to him and that was what mattered.
"Hatori. Check your messages. He just said not to even tell me about this party because I make Shigeko uncomfortable….and also he's making some wild accusations there which aren't true in the slightest by the way." said Fukuda. How could that…that…that upstart little KID…that CHILD…how could he just…think that he could sit there and just whisper poison into Suzuki's ear about him? Shigeko…he and Shigeko had their problems…but there was no reason to go and tell Suzuki things that just…we not TRUE!
"Oh. He says that Daughter says that you look at her…well of course that's not true. If it were then I would have to gouge your eyes out." Said Suzuki. Daughter was getting older….this morning had made that ABUNDANTLY clear to him…and in getting older, in becoming a woman, she would become interested in men…and she already was. She had been very taken with Hatori…which he could understand. Hatori was intelligent and good for conversation and pleasant to be around and his eyes were a very nice shade of brown, too, when they could be seen. Actually he would have looked so much better if he hadn't had such large glasses…though the square lenses were fascinating….yes. Daughter had done well to choose Hatori despite his complexion and possible panic disorder…but Hatori was a homosexual so he didn't have to worry about that. He was better, a lot better, than the last man that Daughter had been interested in….
Any man would have been better than he womanizing, self-defiling, slave to his own joy that was Shimazaki Ryou.
Even Fukuda….though the thought disturbs him. Well the thought of any man trying to take his Daughter from his is disturbing. She would choose someone, that only vaguely bothered him, but to have a man chasing after her…trying to take her away…well then that man would have to die. Daughter did the choosing, that was less not ok, but any man who dared steal his Daughter from him….and any man who dared look at her…because she was still so young….well he knew that he didn't have to worry about that when it came to Fukuda. He could trust Fukuda.
And if not, well, his eyes would grow back so that would be a good warning to him and anyone else who dared to look at his Daughter.
"I'm pretty sure they'd grow back." Said Fukuda with levity he did not feel. Suzuki was serious…as he should have been…but why towards him? Why not towards the man who had actually….well Shimazaki was already blind so….yeah. There was that…but still! Of course he would never look at Shigeko like that! Even if she grew up to be a supermodel or something! That was Shigeko! For the love of God, he had known her since she had been two years old!
"Yes, but you still feel pain and the pain of having your eyes gouged out would be enough to teach you not to look at Daughter…unless she wanted you to….but I don't think that she does. She has said, before, that you are greatly disliked amongst her friends…and also it seems that she dislikes you too…and I have no idea why you are so widely disliked." Said Suzuki. Fukuda had always been both widely disliked and more socially acceptable than him…and normal people were so hard to understand. Espers too. Pretty much he whole world, when it came to socializing, was incomprehensible to him. Fukuda was a pleasant person to be around. He was loyal, thoughtful, and not a moron. What more could you ask for in a friend?
"Yeah, well, I don't need to be liked by…all of them. Any of them. I don't give a damn if they like me or not." Said Fukuda. He really didn't. What did he care if a group of murders, assholes, drug users, and misanthropes disliked him? He didn't. He didn't give a damn about them, their opinion of him, and he never would.
"You always say that." Said Suzuki. He nodded to himself. Yes. Fukuda had said that time after time after time. It was a strength of his, not caring that much what others thought of him, but it also made no sense. Why people didn't accept him made no sense. He was Fukuda. He was a good person to have around. He was useful as a healer and also he was good company. People were just…odd…sometimes.
"What do you mean?" asked Fukuda. He had never vocalized how he felt about…all of them…before. He didn't need that getting back to Shigeko. She didn't need anything else to twist into reasons to dislike him.
"You always say that you don't want to be disliked by the people who dislike you. You've been saying that since we were children. I remember. You said those exact words back when we were in middle school." Said Suzuki. Yes. He remembered. Fukuda had been very popular at the beginning of the year but by the end of it he came to Suzuki saying those exact words. Every single year. Middle school, high school, even university.
"Well…yeah. There were a lot of assholes back in middle school. It was middle school. We were all terrible." Said Fukuda. He could admit that he had been something of an asshole in middle school…but so was everyone at that age. Whoever thought that putting a bunch of hormonal thirteen through fifteen year olds in one room for seven hours a day six days a week was good idea was a sadist.
"You said the same thing in high school, too." Said Suzuki. High school…had been better than middle school. They had spent less time together but, well, there had been girls. Less time to plan world domination but more time for the opposite sex…well while they stuck around. Fukuda had always taken that same sort of attitude when whatever girl he had been seeing tired of him. Suzuki had never understood why girls hadn't seemed taken with Fukuda. He was a nice person, he was thoughtful, he was pleasant to be around, and by high school he had become a much better kisser. People were very difficult to understand sometimes.
"Well high school was full of assholes too." Said Fukuda with a wave of his hand. That was part of being a kid, being surrounded by assholes all day, and that was the good thing about being grown men. They didn't have to deal with…well they did…but at least something good would come from conquering the world. Fewer assholes to deal with.
"And university as well." Said Suzuki. He decided to ignore the cursing because Fukuda's assessment of their peers was correct. He was so glad that as an adult he could decide who he had to interact with for the most part…and it would only get better when he ruled the world.
"You spend all of university working on three majors, one of which came with a concurrent graduate degree, and also you were building up Claw for those years." Said Fukuda. Suzuki had been a ghost for their university years. He had been the perfect roommate, really, since he hardly saw him. He had either been in class, the library, or with that woman he had been seeing. What did he remember about their university years?
"What's your point?" asked Suzuki. He had been busy but, really, it wasn't as though he and Fukuda had stopped being friends in that time. On the contrary. They'd gotten an apartment together and spent more time than ever before together…which was why they were never living together ever again. He needed peace to work…and also for some reason any woman that had come home with him had greatly disliked Fukuda for some reason. Either that or they just stopped talking to him all together after he brought them home…well after they had met him….and Suzuki….well people were confusing.
"What's yours, Suzuki?" asked Fukuda. Ok, so he hadn't had the best….any of his school years….but there was only so much he could do with Suzuki 'the biggest weirdo in Japan' Touichirou glued to his side. He had been even weirder when they had been kids than he was now. He had always worn the exact same thing every single day even when they weren't in uniform, he'd either done none of the talking or he'd gone on the longest of monologues, emotionally he could go from zero to a hundred and back down to zero in a minute, and the less said about him and girls the better. Maybe Fukuda would have been able to associate with other people, non asshole people, if he'd been able to socialize outside of school. No matter where he looked there'd been Suzuki. School, after school, even cram school….and Suzuki was a genius! He hadn't even needed to go to cram school! He got into Tokyo University and that was after staying up all night playing Space Invaders before the test! Suzuki…it had been a fulltime job being his friend….back then…
And then, well, it had turned into his actual fulltime job.
"I don't have one. I was just making an observation. You've been saying those exact words for the entire time which I have known you." Said Suzuki. He didn't think that he had a point, anyway, but maybe he did. He didn't know. He was a bit distracted. Hatori had asked him if he wanted to have any cake saved for him. He replied to the effect of 'you know I hate sweet foods' and then Hatori had sent him the little yellow happy face person shrugging and then one of his picture jokes that he would have to explain later.
"Well…so what? We've never been popular. It's been us against the world since the beginning, right?" asked Fukuda. Who's fault was that? Them against the world. They were the only two espers in each other's world for so long…and Suzuki had been the one to keep it that way. He'd fought everyone, and beaten them, and then those espers wanted nothing to do with them. If it hadn't been for Fukuda teaching him what to say and how to say it then this insanity never would have gotten off the ground…so why did it even matter if their school years sucked? What, was Suzuki feeling nostalgic all of a sudden for those times? Back when it had been them against the world? Back when it had felt like they had been each other's world? Because nobody else wanted to be? Because nobody else wanted to share a planet with someone as weird, off putting, cold, and violent as Suzuki Touichirou?
"Yes….well yes and no. You were always more socially successful than me in the sense that you always had more friends…and you understand people better….so it's odd to me that you've always been so greatly disliked. I don't know. It just seems odd to see history repeating itself like this." said Suzuki. Fukuda's aura was flaring then….and he had no idea why. Fukuda was even more confusing to him, now, then why this caption was funny when paired with this picture…and this would drive him crazy for the rest of the day…but better a picture to ruminate on than Daughter's…condition. No, he would just…try not to think about that for the rest of the day. There was nothing he could do for her besides create a stress free environment and wait on her hand and foot so, yes, when the time came he would do that. But right now he needed to be distracted…and Fukuda was a very good distraction. He was still very good conversation even after all of these years.
"What do you mean?" asked Fukuda. History was not repeating its self. He was still liked. He had friends, people he spoke to from time to time, which was more than Suzuki had…so maybe in that case history was repeating itself. He didn't know. Maybe he needed Suzuki to repeat himself, again, without being buried in his phone. God. And he had the nerve to complain when the kids were buried in their phones?
"Nothing. I was just thinking that this is similar to something that happened back in middle school, that's all." said Suzuki. He had been….fourteen. Yes, it had been the end of the year party and he had been invited by….how had he forgotten her name? The sun had risen and set with her, well his sun anyway, and he couldn't recall her name. Just that she had been a big Pink Lady fan….and that she had worn glasses with pink frames….God, what had her name been? Well that wasn't important. The important part had been that he had been invited to the end of the year party but not Fukuda. He had been told not to even tell him that there was a party.
But of course he had declined.
He had liked her, loved her even, but he had hated parties. Also he could never have been so disloyal to Fukuda as to not have informed him that there had been a party. He also hadn't informed him not to have been disloyal but also not to have had to go. Fukuda would have wanted to have gone invitation or not and Suzuki….well he would rather have spent the last day of school, the night after the last day of school, doing anything other than going to a party. Even if it meant not being near the girl who he had been so taken with that he had…well he'd done a lot…but that didn't matter now. It had been thirty years since that day.
"What? The trip to Okinawa? If none of the other guys wanted to bunk with us then that was fine. Your parents paid for us to have our own room anyway…and who the hell wants to sit in a hot spring with their entire class anyway?" asked Fukuda. That had kind of sucked….being voted out of the room…every room…even though they weren't supposed to have been voting anyway! It had been a random system…but Suzuki's parents had saved them. He hadn't even wanted to go but Fukuda had insisted. He'd needed to get out of his comfort zone…and also Fukuda had wanted to have someone he could stand for the duration of their trip. Besides, if he had to sit naked in outside in a hot spring then he had might as well sit around outside naked with his best friend.
"That's true, the trip was more enjoyable just the two of us…though you do tend to sit too close in hot springs I feel like…but that's not the event I was referring to." Said Suzuki. He hadn't even wanted to go. If he wanted to go to a hot spring then he would have gone with mother and father. Fukuda had insisted that he come with, that it would have been good for him, and it had been an enjoyable trip. Things in general were more enjoyable with good company.
"Well then what were you referring to?" asked Fukuda. He did not like to talk about that time in his life. That had not been a good time. Middle school was a bad time for everyone. Being a kid, being a teenager, it sucked. He was a grown man now and life…well life was….his life now was exactly what he had pictured it when he had been a middle schooler. He and Suzuki were taking over the world…and they spent every single day together….yup. Little Tadashi would have been over the freaking moon.
"The end of the year party when we were fourteen. I was invited, you were not, and I was specifically told not to inform you that there ever was a party." Said Suzuki. It had been thirty years. It was alright to inform Fukuda of what he had missed out on. It was better, actually, that they had spent that time together. They had stayed up all night planning after all and those plans had turned into the second division. The look of it, what it did, all of that. They had planned it on being the first division but revisions to the divisions had been made. He had been happy to have gotten so much work done, a little upset at having missed his shot with the girl he loved, especially since everyone had been talking about playing that hiding in a closet game….but he had gotten over it. Fukuda had helped. At the end of the day kiss was a kiss.
"….there was a party?" asked Fukuda. So that was why everyone had been avoiding him. God. Middle school…that was the one good thing about the way Suzuki made those kids live. They would never have to live through the hell that was middle school.
"Yes. I would not lie to you…well I don't lie…but never to you. There was and I just didn't tell you. I had been told not to tell you because you would have come. The invitation was extended to me by…well I forget her name which is odd because at the time I wanted to spend my life with her…but I was told not to tell you. I felt that it would have been disloyal to exclude you….and also I knew that if I had told you then you would have insisted on going….so I said nothing until this day." Said Suzuki
"Wait…what? You….well you hate parties but….I remember her, you loved her, and you had a chance with her…but you gave that whole thing up to…have a sleepover with me? Seriously?" asked Fukuda. That was…something. Well he had known Suzuki for years, knew how much he valued loyalty, and of course he could have wanted to cling to his only friend….but still. That was…he had loved that girl. Well back then he'd loved every girl but he had especially loved her. She liked the planetarium, he'd liked the planetarium, and they had run into each other there…and also she had hung out with him in their fort, too, and….well he'd actually had a shot with that girl. If he hadn't been so terminally weird and awkward. Still that had just…he knew what happened at middle school parties and…wow. Suzuki had given all of that up, and with a girl who might have liked him back, just to have a sleepover with him. Just to stay up all night eating garbage, playing videogames, trying to take over the world, and…well other things that had stopped being a feature of their friendship…
Things which, now, made a hell of a lot more sense now.
They had used to…well about once or twice a year. Never with any preamble. Just Suzuki looking at him and saying 'Fukuda, I'm going to kiss you now' and then he did what he said that he was going to do…and thank God they weren't those kinds of friends anymore….and hopefully Suzuki didn't feel like bringing that up. Hopefully that was not going to be a stop on their little stroll down memory lane. He didn't need to…well think about all of that…he had enough on his mind….
Like…this weird feeling…he had right now.
"Yes." said Suzuki simply. Obviously he had. Obviously he had chosen his best friend, one companion, and the only other esper he had known at the time. Fukuda seemed to not believe him…and he didn't understand why…just like he did not understand why any of what Hatori had sent him was supposed to be funny. He clicked his phone off. He was being rude, he decided, so he would stop now. He would only look down at his phone if something important came up.
"….why?" asked Fukuda. He knew that Suzuki valued loyalty but….well they had been fourteen and he'd had a chance with a girl. Fukuda…well that had been the only time that he had ever dropped Suzuki…when he'd had a chance with a girl….but that was just how these things went. Suzuki had actually…..well then that was just….sometimes it felt like Suzuki didn't care but…well he just…Suzuki never gave a damn about him and….it didn't make any sense.
"Because you're my best friend. Why else?" asked Suzuki with a shrug. That was how Fukuda had defined their relationship and neither of them had initiated a breakup…if friends could even break up…and if they even were friends at this point. They had spent more time together….like he and Hatori spent together….when they had been younger. They were in their forties now and they had all of Claw to run…but maybe they were still best friends. Neither of them had wanted to break up so….they were still together.
"OK…but then…ok. Cool." Said Fukuda. He felt vaguely…guilty. It was pointless to feel like this. He was…it didn't matter if he felt…guilty. Like he had done something wrong and….and he had, to the outside observer, but the outside observer…he was not there. It was just him and Suzuki in the cloistered world that was this office. He had done….he had been by Suzuki's side for thirty years and that was…the hell of it. He knew that, from the outside perspective, he had slept with his best friend's wife….but there was no outside perspective. There was just…what had happened. Objectively. Suzuki had been cruel to Masami, he hadn't realized what he'd had when he'd had her, and she had fallen out of love with Suzuki and in love with him…and they had been in love and…and then she had left….and now here he was. Now here Suzuki was. Now here they were together….
And a tiny bit of loyalty thirty years ago did not make up for what had happened in the three decades that succeeded it.
"I don't know why there's so much pink, here, in what they're doing. Daughter's favorite color is blue." Said Suzuki as he checked his phone again. Hatori was trying to get him to reconsider. He would not be reconsidering. He loved Daughter but hated parties. He loved her so much and he would be there for her, at home, which should have been completely blue by now.
"Maybe it's in honor of…today." Said Fukuda with a dry laugh. HE was the one who made her uncomfortable? Here they were, her friends, throwing what looked like the world's worst party for her and HE was the one who made her uncomfortable? Born or adopted Suzuki's were a weird bunch.
"What's today?" asked Suzuki. If he forgot another holiday….well it was Daughter's job to tell him when holidays came up…but she was currently indisposed. He'd have to have someone else tell him when holidays came around….along with doing the weekly shop and the cooking and cleaning and laundry and minding Son…she did a lot. He'd have to do something nice for her when all of this was over…but he didn't know what yet….maybe after he was done waiting on her hand and foot.
"Nothing. Anyway I was just checking in. If you don't need me here then I'll just get going." said Fukuda. He got up. He just…he suddenly felt…not so good. He was just…he was…he had a lot to do. The less Suzuki the worked the more he had to and also…also he had to figure out what to tell Sho…maybe get him a book of some kind and just…Suzuki didn't need him so he would just go.
"I don't, you may go….but…just…thank you. For earlier. For keeping me calm when Daughter…when I was being ridiculous…and thank you for trying to help even though you were no wiser than I was. Thank you. That's all. You're dismissed." Said Suzuki. He really was grateful to Fukuda for what he had done. If Fukuda hadn't been there to keep him calm, and heal the gash on his head, then everything could have been a lot worse. He had…he had made an idiot out of himself and…well thank God for Minegishi. She…no, they, would be rewarded….as would Fukuda….he didn't know how but he would do something…he had to do something. People needed to be rewarded when they did good, that was good management, and they'd be rewarded….
After he was done painting the house blue for Daughter.