Suzuki was the one in charge…and sometimes that was a difficult thing.
He was the President of Claw. He was the one in charge. He said jump and everyone else asked how high. He said sing and everyone else asked what song. He said walk off a cliff and, like lemmings, they would all walk off the nearest cliff. He didn't know of any nearby cliffs…and also he had no desire to send anyone to their death today…but he could have done so if he'd wanted to. He could have made anyone do anything…or stop doing anything….or just…he gave the orders. He was the man in charge and he gave the orders and all of Claw had to obey him. Everyone in Claw had to obey him….
Everyone but one person.
He was not referring to the person next to him. He knew that Hatori would never disobey him. They were friends, well he had decided that they were friends, but that didn't change the fact that Suzuki was the one in charge. He could have told Hatori to do literally anything and he would have had to do it. Not that he was going to do tell Hatori to do anything. He was hard at work. He wasn't going to disturb him. He didn't have any reason to disturb him. He just…had no reason to disturb him. He was the one who was worried, not him.
No.
First of all he had no idea what Hatori's emotional state was. He seemed fine. He was sitting there sharing Suzuki's desk with him clicking away at his laptop. This was normal. He seemed normal. He wasn't acting like anything was bothering him. His aura wasn't doing anything like trying to hide…and his aura seemed fine….so Suzuki could be reasonably assured of his emotional state. Suzuki knew, reasonably, that he was not worried…..and also Suzuki was not worried. He was not worried about Daughter and the state that she was in…and the state that she regularly got herself in….and the state that she just….had no problem getting herself in….
The state that she had gotten him in.
He couldn't believe that she would have….that she would have gotten him in that state. She had…she hadn't warned him. She hadn't warned him and…and also she had been acting like it was even something to warn him about. She had been doing that for a while, she had been smoking for a while, and he had given her permission…and he could not resind permission after it had been given….well he could because he was the President of Claw…and he was her father….
But he also didn't want to alienate her.
She was old enough to make her own choices and…and he had to respect that. Even if she was making choices that he REALLY did not agree with. He wished that Masami had been there. She would have known what to do…well she would have stopped Shigeko, obviously, but…well he couldn't stop her. She was…she was someone he trusted. Shigeko knew how to take care of herself. She knew how to take care of her brother. Hell, she knew how to take care of him. She knew what she was doing and…and he had to have faith in her…..
He had faith in her.
Even if he wanted to pick her up and shake her and tell her never to smoke anything ever again for as long as she lived. Even if he wanted to tell her that she was going to lose control and…and maybe kill another seventeen people…if that was even what was bothering him. He had no idea. He didn't know what was wrong even…well that he didn't want her to smoke…but he had no idea what to tell her…or even if he could tell her anything and….
And he just did not know….
"Hey Suzuki, you ok?" asked Hatori. Suzuki ignored the fact that Hatori had failed to address him properly. He was a child, first of all, and also they were on somewhat friendly terms. Even Fukuda didn't call him President…and he had never been good about that. Even when they had been the only two members of Claw….and he sort of wished that he could go back to those times…
Because Fukuda would have known what to do in this situation.
Fukuda always knew what to do. He just…always knew what to do. He was good at these things, these interpersonal things, better than Suzuki would ever be anyway. He had no children of his own but he must have known something. He had known Shigeko for most of her life after all and that wasn't even mentioning the care he gave to Son. Anyone who could stand to care for Son for more than ten minutes knew more about parenting that Suzuki did….not that this was a parenting problem…or maybe it was…or maybe he just had a personal preference against smoking…
He didn't know.
"Fine, why? Is something the matter?" asked Suzuki. He looked over at Hatori. He seemed….well his aura seemed fine….but he hardly had any kind of an aura to speak of and what little aura he had was mostly spread throughout the room. In the wiring in the walls, the computes on the desk, the phones in their pockets. He seemed fine but…well Suzuki could barely access his own mental state right now let alone another person's.
"No, your aura was just being all….stabby." said Hatori. Suzuki….oh. That was what he had been doing. Right. He pulled his aura in close and did his best to force himself to calm down. He hadn't even been upset just…absent minded. He had been so absent minded lately even after the brain fog had been long gone. He didn't know if he was being ridiculous or he had some residual effects or…something. He didn't know.
"Oh. I apologize. I have a lot on my mind." Said Suzuki. He was the one in the wrong so he had to apologize. There. Daughter….Shigeko…she liked it when he apologized. She liked it when he apologized and she would have been happy if she had been there…and what she wanted mattered….but what about what he wanted? She told him what to do all the time but…well he knew what was in his power to do and ordering her around was in his power….but he knew that he couldn't. They were partners but they were also parent and child. He could tell her that he hated that she smoked but….well he would have hated it even more if she felt so alienated that she left him…
And he had no idea what he would do if she ever wanted to leave him.
"If it's about the Osaka thing I bet we could make a deal with them and, you know, not move everyone." Said Hatori. Suzuki hadn't even been thinking about that….but that was not a worry. Rival espers groups were easy to deal with. Raising children….raising children was difficult.
"No, it's not about that….and we don't make deals if we don't have. We can acquire their group by any means necessary. I'm not worried about that…and I'm not worried." Said Suzuki. He wasn't even worried, no, he was bothered. He was bothered and…and he had no idea if he could even talk about this.
"Oh. Well if you ever were worried then you could tell me. I mean I don't know if there's anything that I can do to help but you can tell me." Said Hatori. Suzuki…did not like to admit weakness…and he had no idea if this was weakness. He was…not worried but…concerned? Yes, he was concerned for his Daughter. She was young. She was not a child, Son was a child and if Suzuki had caught him smoking he would have slapped him across the face, but she was so young…and also she just…should not have been smoking. She was just…
She was his Daughter and he abhorred smoking.
It just…wasn't a good habit. Smoking cigarettes and…and whatever the hell else she smoked…was not a good habit for an adult let alone a child. It caused cancer…though that was what Fukuda was for…and it was unbecoming for a woman….though women smoked these days….and also she should not have been getting herself into that state. It ruined her control…it ruined his control…and he was not her. She was not him. She was not even a part of him. She was his child but…but she was not a part of him. His blood did not flow through her veins and…
And was that what was bothering him?
That they were so physiologically different? That she was not his child, not really, that he did not father her? That she was not birthed by Masami? That she was, instead, little more than any other esper that he had acquired….but she was so much more than that. He had raised her. He had raised her into the person that she was today. He had known her for nine years now, almost a decade, and he was going spend another nine…well longer since he had no intention of dying in his fifties…..with her. She was his Daughter and his partner and…and he loved her….but she was not his and…
And he would not be telling Hatori any of that, no, because then the truth could get to Daughter…and the truth could never be allowed to get to Daughter…ever…but he had to say…something…or something…or not. He didn't know…..
But Hatori might have known. He was close friends with Daughter and also he was very close to her age. They could have been siblings, really, they were that close in age. They were the same generation. Maybe he would be able to just…explain what even possessed her to do that. When he had been a child, well when he had been Shigeko's age, people just…did not smoke. Well she had been vaping…and that had not been invented yet….but people just did not…do that. But she had and…well things were different for people her age…so many it was…a generation gap? Maybe that was why she seemed to think that it was normal and ok….he didn't know…
But Hatori might have known.
"I…my Daughter smokes…vapes…and I have no idea what to do with this information. Do you have any thoughts?" asked Suzuki. He trusted Hatori's judgement. He always trusted the judgement of someone who knew something that he didn't know. That was how you learned new things. It was sheer arrogance to walk through the world thinking that you knew everything. If Suzuki had thought that he knew better than everyone else then Claw would never have gotten off the ground. So of course he would ask Hatori's advice…and of course he would do whatever Hatori said. He was a child, well little more than a child, but he knew what he was talking about when it came to certain things.
"Mob? Yeah, she's been doing that for a while now. I don't really have any thoughts. I mean she's not my kid." Said Hatori. He shrugged when he said that…and none of that was of any help to Suzuki…but that made sense. Hatori thought that he was asking parenting advice, which he wasn't since Hatori had no children and never would with that attitude, and also Suzuki did not need parenting advice for Daughter….most of the time. She mostly took care of herself.
"But…if she were?" asked Suzuki. Hatori went quiet for a moment. He was thinking. Suzuki could tell by his aura that he was thinking. His aura always looked terrified when he was thinking. Well he always looked at least somewhat terrified…but he seemed especially terrified when he was thinking.
"I'd….well she has a good reason to do what she does. I mean she has a lot of trouble controlling her powers…so it's like medicine or something…I guess. I mean if she were just a normal kid then I would tell her no but she's not a normal kid, she's Mob." Said Hatori
"Shigeko." said Suzuki reflectively. He knew to whom Hatori referred to…but her name was not Mob. Daughter was not Mob. Daughter was Shigeko. He knew her name. He knew Son's name too. Son thought that he didn't know their names but he did. Daughter was named Shigeko and….and she was his Daughter….but she was also Shigeko.
"Right. Shigeko. Well she's not a normal kid so….well it's like medicine for her…and I've heard that people use it as medicine." Said Hatori. Suzuki nodded. That made sense. Daughter…Shigeko was just as powerful as he had been at her age and…and he would have been happy to have had some way to control his powers then. He had been going through growth spurt after growth spurt then and…yes. He would have done anything to control his powers and….and people took medicine for…for things all the time…
So this was ok. He was ok with this.
"Thank you very much for your views on this subject. I feel much better now." Said Suzuki. There. Well not that he understood why Daughter did what she did he could get back to work…his very important work that could be done only by him. There was the move to Osaka…he had just had the house painted but duty called….and also he had to figure out what to do with this latest batch of Awakened…they were all wearing blue for some reason….and also Son had been impossible lately….but Daughter would deal with him when she got over…what was happening to her…yes. Now he could deal with everything.
"You were seriously bothered? She's been smoking since I met her." said Hatori. Suzuki…well he had been in the mood to deal with everything…and he was going to stay in that mood. Even though he didn't like it when things were kept from him…well no, things were not kept from him. For Shigeko's generation what she had been doing was normal…so he could not fault her…and he would not fault her…or anyone else for not telling him.
"I…well I had no idea what she was smoking, vaping, she's vaping…and I really had no idea what vaping even was. Your generation made everything more complicated than it ever needed to be. When I was your age we just…smoked." Said Suzuki. He wasn't afraid to admit that he was wrong…somewhat wrong…and it was the younger people's fault anyway. Why did they have to go and make the world so needlessly complicated? When he took over he was going to make everything simple again…or something. He honestly wasn't sure yet. There were things he liked and things he didn't….and right now he did not like the way Hatori was looking at him.
He wasn't the best at reading facial expressions but he could read auras and he knew that Hatori was shocked right now.
"You smoked? Seriously?" asked Hatori. Suzuki…well not regularly…but he had been young and stupid…and was it so hard to believe that he had been Hatori's age, once? And just as stupid as Hatori probably was now? Well he didn't want to be thought of as stupid but…well sometimes it was best to do what all the people around you were doing. Fukuda had taught him that and Fukuda had never once steered him wrong on purpose.
"I tried. I didn't much enjoy it…any of it. I am not a fan of the brain fog that comes with it." Said Suzuki. There. The truth. He had tried it and he was not a fan…even though he had felt very…at peace…it had been a peace that had come with the loss of control…and the loss of control led to the loss of life…and he hated when that happened.
"Yeah, I hate it too. Also you start to hear things…sometimes. Like the world is way too loud." Said Hatori with a shake of his head. Suzuki….he remembered. There had been one time…and he had told Fukuda that he hated sweet foods…but he had eaten the cookie anyway and…well he could remember the world being very loud…and then not a lot after that but whatever had happened must have been eventful because the next thing he knew he was laying down under the kitchen table wearing Fukuda's clothes covered in flour with Fukuda telling him that he needed a week off from their friendship.
"Yes, I remember that too. Well not the most recent time but when I was young I could barely hear myself think over….well the world. There was this fan going and I kept on telling Fukuda to speak up…but I think that I was just very focused on it…and that had not been a pleasant time at all." said Suzuki. From what he could remember it had not been a pleasant time….and he never wanted Daughter to have experiences like that….but she was not him. She was not even his. She was her own person and she responded to things differently than him…and also she used it as medicine and he could not compare her using this as medicine to him being young and stupid and wanting to see what all the fuss was about.
"Wow just….sorry. I can't get over the fact that you used to do….that. Well I mean you are Mob's dad." Said Hatori. Suzuki….was not Daughter's father…well he was and he wasn't…but nobody needed to know about that. The only person who knew was Fukuda and he was good at keeping quiet. Well about things that he had to keep quiet about. Suzuki could feel his aura getting closer…and he so hoped that this was either good news or a social call…because he could not deal with any bad news today.
"It…does not agree with me. I am frightened to think, actually, of what I would have done if Fukuda had not been there." said Suzuki. He really had no idea what he ever would have done without Fukuda. He had been there and…and he was still there. Daughter was always on him to thank people…and he had thanked Fukuda…and he got the feeling that maybe he should thank him more. He was a founding member of Claw, well the only founding member, and he did a lot more than everyone else. Even now. He could have gone and participated in…whatever insanity was probably happening with that cluster of Awakened he could feel…or he could have just…well taken a break….but he never did. He picked up the slack, even, when Suzuki got into one of his moods…and he was always there when Suzuki needed him…
And even when he didn't.
"What about me?" asked Fukuda. He didn't knock, he didn't need to knock, he knew that he had an open invitation. He knew that he could just come in whenever he wanted, that he was always wanted, even when he wasn't. Even when Suzuki needed someone to knock some sense into him…not that he needed that, now, but still. It was nice to have someone like that around. Someone to keep him grounded when he needed it.
"Nothing. I was just talking to Hatori and you came up. Why are you here?" asked Suzuki. There was something that passed between Hatori and Fukuda…and Suzuki had no idea what that was. Fukuda was widely disliked and had always been…but so had he. That had been one of the things which brought them together. They had no other close companions. Fukuda had other friends but, well, Suzuki had always been his closest friend. Because they were both espers.
"Another threat from that group in Osaka. Their leader said, in not so nice words, to get the hell out of Osaka….and also more of the Awakened are wearing blue." Said Fukuda. Those were…..both articles of bad news. The Awakened…well he had no idea what the thing with the blue was but they all wore different shades of red or black for a reason…well for his own aesthetic color choices but…still. If everyone just wore whatever they wanted whenever they wanted the whole system would collapse.
"Tell the Awakened to get back into their uniforms and make plans to make the leader of the Osaka group an offer that he can't refuse." Said Suzuki. There. He could trust Fukuda to carry out his orders without too much micromanaging. He was smart like that...or maybe because they had just established a good rapport with each other over the years. Fukuda always knew just what he meant.
Join us or die.
The usual join us or die offer. They could act as the base for a new cell in Osaska…well he had one in Osaka but everyone from that cell had moved to Tokyo…and he was still cleaning up the mess that Daughter had made last year…but he had been meaning to establish a new cell or even a proper HQ. Claw was growing again. There were more espers in the world, it felt like, or at least more people open about what they could do…and more people making themselves easy to find. People were always recording themselves using their powers, doing things which to the average person was amazing but to Suzuki was nothing, and Hatori was good at finding who those people were. He was good at a lot of things, Hatori, and he was glad to have him by his side.
Even though he did have kind of a problem with interrupting.
"She." Said Hatori. Fukuda had been about to say something else when Hatori had interrupted him. Fukuda hated being interrupted, he always had, and Suzuki knew that Hatori had just made whatever there was between him and Fukuda worse. Suzuki so wished that they would just work out whatever it was already. Things would have been so much easier if they had just been able to get along. Like now. Hatori, apparently, knew something about this other group. That was good and…wait. What? She?
As in a female 'she'?
As in a female esper 'she'?
"What?" asked Suzuki. He…gender was weird these days. When he had been growing up men were men and women were women but now…now everyone was everything and some people were nothing and he had no idea what to make of anything anymore. He had no idea what to make of this. A female esper…one powerful enough to lead a group…and a natural esper on top of all of that. This was…rare. Very rare. There were so few female espers…and the only ones of skill he knew were Shigeko and Minegishi…though he wasn't entirely sure what was going on with Minegishi…and this was….
This was certainly an exciting development.
"She. That group's leader is a woman. Her name is Sakata Shiori. She's forty, no kids, used to work as an accountant for what I suspect is a yakuza family-" said Hatori. He was reading off of his laptop and…well this was one of the reasons why he was kept around. The internet was truly a 1984 fever dream…but one which worked in his favor…and also he would have to warn the children about standing under security cameras and having any presence on the internet at all.
"That doesn't matter. Want me to make her the same offer that we make everyone?" asked Fukuda with a wave of his hand. That meant that he wanted Hatori to stop talking, he was being dismissive, when he really should not have been. Hatori knew what he was doing and it would have made more sense for Fukuda to admit that instead of being dismissive. This was a massive development and…and maybe join us or die wouldn't be…good…in this scenario. A female esper….he wanted to meet her…for work reasons….and also….well also this was momentous and…and she would be an asset to Claw…but maybe she could be enticed with something other than death threats…
Hatori could figure it out.
"Fukuda, have Hatori help draft a new offer. We don't usually make offers to women…this is the first time actually. Have Hatori help you. No death threats…none towards her at least. Offer her something that she wants." Said Suzuki. When he had been young finding out what women, well girls because he had been little more than a boy back then, had been difficult. It involved a lot of following them around, eavesdropping on their conversations, watching them through telescopes and binoculars…now everything was in the internet. It made figuring out women much easier…though this would only be for work reasons….he felt his wedding ring. This was just for work reasons.
"But I don't….ok. Fine." Said Fukuda. He had been protesting….and Suzuki had no idea why. Hatori was good company, Fukuda was good company. Hatori liked Nintendo, Fukuda liked Nintendo…God only knew why…it didn't matter. Hatori liked soft wool sweaters and Fukuda liked soft wool sweaters. Hatori liked games in three dimensions and Fukuda liked games in three dimensions. Hatori liked the children, Fukuda liked the children. They had a lot of things in common…and they should have been friends…but for some reason they didn't get along…and it would have been so much easier if they just got along.
"Sure…I can help. If you want me to." Said Hatori. Suzuki nodded. Of course he wanted Hatori to assist Fukuda…he was Fukuda's assistant after all. Also this would be good for them. Maybe the conflict was just on Fukuda's side, he had been the only one protesting too, and maybe this could fix it. Yes. He felt good about this…he felt very good about this.
"I do. I think that the two of you will work together nicely. This will go well." Said Suzuki. Yes. He felt….good about this. He felt good that whatever had been happening with Shigeko was resolved, he felt good about whatever was with Fukuda and Hatori was on it's way to being resolved, and he felt very good about this new female esper….
Who he would be working with and nothing more.
He was…this was exciting for the simple fact that female espers were rare. That was all. There was no other reason to be excited about any of this. He was married and…well he had been unfaithful to Masami but he would never have been unfaithful to Shigeko. No, he had meant that, his promise to her, and this time he was going to be more careful. He loved her, even though she did things that he did not approve of, and he would never be unfaithful to her. But she did do things which he did not approve of…but he had to approve of them. To keep his relationship with her, to keep feeling this good, he had to approve of whatever it was that she did. He was the one in charge, true, and he could have ordered her to stop…but that would not have been worth it. He loved her too much to alienate her like that…
He had the power to order her to stop…..but he didn't want to use it.