Mob had never seen her dad so tired before.
Really, she hadn't. Not even when they stayed up all night together. She had never once seen her dad be so tired that the spent the entire day in bed. She knew that this wasn't a good sign, mom had been like this, and everyone knew how that ended. Mom had gotten sick and then she ran away…and she knew that dad would never run away, he promised, but he had also promised that he would take over the world and…well it was hard to take over the world while you'd been lying in bed all day doing nothing…well that wasn't fair…dad must have been doing something….
Dad was always doing something.
But not now. Not lately. He mostly just stayed in his room. He didn't even come out for meals. He didn't even come out to bathe…that Mob had noticed. She wasn't home during the day, and neither was Sho, so she couldn't say for sure what it was that he did all day but his soap had been dry for a while and he wasn't out of razors yet. He should have been almost out of razors by now but he wasn't…which meant that he hadn't been shaving much either. This was…not normal for dad….
But it was normal for mom.
But dad was not mom. Mom had gotten sick and Mob had done nothing. Part of her, the mean part, shouted that she had been little and nobody had told her that she was supposed to be doing stuff to make her mom better. Her mom was the grown up and she had been the kid back then and mom was the one who was supposed to take care of her…those were mean thoughts to have. She was young but she was not a child. She was young but she was also the only person who could take care of her family. Mom was gone, Sho was too little, and dad was too busy…well he had been busy…before he went to bed….and never came back and….
And Mob needed to take care of her dad.
"Dad? Hey dad, do you want to come out and bring me your plate so I can wash it?" asked Mob as she knocked on the door. She wanted to do something fun with dad. She wanted to play one of his boring games or make him middle of the night dinner, but she had just made him normal dinner, and she wanted…she would ever have watched Galaxy Express from beginning to end with him again. She just…she wanted her dad back. She wanted dad to come back and…and she would do anything to get him back.
She couldn't let him leave, too.
There were only three Suzukis left. If dad left then it would be her and Sho. One day Sho would marry Emmy and they'd want to have their own house and she'd be the last Suzuki. She'd…well she'd always have her friends and stuff…but maybe they would want to go with Sho and…and she didn't want to be alone. She had no idea what she would do if she was all alone. She just….she knew that dad had promised her, before, that he would never leave her…and he had been in his room and not leaving the house or anything like that but….
She just wanted her dad back.
But she didn't get him back. He just opened the door with his powers and his plate went flying out. She caught it with her powers and held it in her hands. She had the plate…and now she needed another excuse to talk to him. She knew that she could always talk to him, she had heard him loud and clear when he said that she was always welcome to speak to him, but also…also she knew that he didn't like to be bothered. He liked to be left alone when he…well when he wanted to work and stuff…but he hadn't been working. She had been working and….and maybe he was never planning on working again and….and she would be the President of Claw…and stuff.
Well Sho would be the President when he grew up…but he was only ten years old still…and stuff….
Mob knocked again. She…well she could talk to him and…and he was still the President of Claw so maybe she should tell him about Claw stuff…and stuff. She didn't have a plan. She didn't have a plan for what she would do. She just…well she had come for the plate and now she was here because she was worried. She had never seen him this tired before…and he had said he was tired….but he had been in his room for a long time now…
She knocked a little bit louder.
"Shigeko, what is it? I'm very tired." Said dad. Mob had no idea what he was so tired from. She had been the one going into HQ each and every day. She had been the one moving people around and accepting new people and finding new talent and a million other things…not that she was mad at him. Not that she was ever mad at him. Sometimes people got tired. Sometimes people got so tired that they went to sleep for days and days…and then they left their families….but dad had promised that he would never leave….
She had to think something up and she had to think it up quick.
"Do you want to hang out? I know that it's not Sunday but you…you've been in your room for a while. We can watch Galaxy Express again if you want. All the episodes from beginning to end again if you want." Said Mob. She thought that maybe she should have talked louder. It was late now, Sho's bedtime, and she had to be heard without waking her brother up….but it was hard. Especially with how quiet dad was being.
Like he was going for a world record or something.
Was there a world record for being quiet? Was there a world's quietest man? Well a mute person would have won that….so maybe it wasn't a fair record. She didn't know. She would look it up later. She wondered if she and Sho still had their world record books. Maybe dad would like looking through them too. He liked reading about interesting things…well things that were interesting to him…and he had interesting ideas about what was interesting….but if dad wanted to watch the show about Japan even though they were Japanese or if he wanted to watch one of his long documentaries about outer space then she would.
She would have done anything to get her dad back.
"Are you still awake? I can feel your aura and it feels like you're awake." Said Mob. It felt like he was…all pulled in. Like something was making him…sad? But what could have made him sad? She didn't know. She didn't know what could have made dad sad. They had a fight free flight to Tokyo and Mob had been doing a good job. She was doing the best job ever…well that was just something that she had said to herself to make herself feel good with how things had been going but…well she hadn't messed up. She would have noticed if she had messed up…and dad would have been mad if she had messed up. Not at her, no, he said that he could never be mad at her again. He just…well he would have taken it out on Sho…and Mob didn't want that….
But she did just…she wanted to know what was the matter with him.
"Shigeko….I'm awake. I am awake and…and we can spend time together later." Said Dad. He said that like…like normal…but that was just his normal tone that he had. She had the same tone for everything too, she was his kid after all, so she just…she watched his aura. She watched her aura and he was still sad. He was sad and…and she didn't know why her dad was sad…..
And it was weird that he was sad too.
She knew that he had feelings. He had a lot of feelings and he was always trying to keep them inside….and she could tell that he was trying to do that again. She could feel him choking down all of his feelings like Sho choked down his salad at dinner. She could see him and feel him and…and was it really so bad if he was to just tell her that truth? Would it have been so bad if he just came out of his room, told her what was bothering to him, and then she fixed it for him. Then he would be happy and she would be able to figure out why he was so tired, too, and then…and then she could have her dad back.
She couldn't lose him.
"But…I want to spend time with you now." Said Mob. She knew that, if she had been little, dad would have used his powers to push her down. She had done this when she had been little and he had done that…but that was before he had decided that he loved her. He had always loved her but now he really loved her…and since he really loved her he should have just let her in.
"No." said dad. That was all he said, one word, and she knew what that word meant. It meant go away. It meant that he didn't want to talk to her. It meant that he would spend his whole life in his room until he got like mom and…and she couldn't let that happen.
"Do you want to smoke with me again? I have some really good stuff, the real stuff not the hash oil, and you had fun the last time we did….well you brushed my hair a lot….and you can brush my hair again. You can brush my hair and tell me how soft and pretty it is." Said Mob. She needed to smoke something. She needed to smoke and…and smoking with dad…it had been kind of weird…kind of very weird….but if it made him feel better then she would do it. She loved him after all and if you loved someone then you did whatever you could to make them happy.
"No…and I wish that you wouldn't either." Said dad. Mob…well he had said that she could and he couldn't just take it back…but having the power to take things back went with being a dad…but she had his power now and….and she wasn't giving up smoking! Even if he ordered her to. She didn't think that she could. She had to control her powers. If she had smoked earlier that day then she would not have been able to control her powers as well as she was right now.
"I want to….but you don't have to smoke with me. We can just watch TV or play a game or something. You'd like that, right?" asked Mob. Good, he wasn't going to try and make her stop…and she didn't want to get into that with him right now. She had to stay calm right now….and she had to get dad out of his room. She had to do for him what she hadn't been able to do for her mom. What she hadn't even known that she had to do for her mom. What she hadn't even known that she could have done for her mom. Mom…she wasn't like dad. Mom was normal, and not just because she had powers, she was normal about feelings and stuff. She had to help dad with his feelings. She had to help him act like a person and now a jerk. Mom…she knew how to take care of herself in ways that dad couldn't and…and dad….well at least dad had told her to her face that she had to take care of him!
And that was what she was doing.
"Shigeko…Daughter. This is…not a good time. Please leave me. I am…very tired." Said dad. Mob checked the time on her phone. It was nine seventeen at night. This was early for him. He usually went to bed around eleven. This wasn't a bad time. This was a time when he should have been awake and…and he shouldn't have been tired this early and…and she knew that if she left then he would stay in there for the rest of his life.
Mom had said the same thing to her.
Mom had told her 'I'm tired, Shigeko' and then mom had sent her away. Mom….mom and dad were…well they weren't the same person but…but they were still both her parents. They were her parents and…and dad might have caught this from mom. She knew that sometimes things could be caught years after you were exposed to them, she knew from the weird medical stories that Emmy kept on sending Sho…they were a weird couple sometimes, and she just….she didn't know if she could handle it if dad….
She had this. She had to have this.
"It's not even nine thirty at night, dad." Said Mob. She felt his aura move. She heard his bed creak.
"So it is…but this is still a bad time. Please. Leave me." Said dad. Mob…she wanted to bang on the door and tell him that she would never leave him. She wanted to open the door herself and tell dad, right in his face, that no matter how mean he got or how weird he got or how…how much like this he got she would never stop loving him and she would never leave him. She was his daughter, she was Suzuki Shigeko, and she did not leave her family no matter what…even if it was just to go to a different part of the house.
"But…I want to talk to you about….stuff." said Mob. There. She had bought herself some time. She just…had to think of what it was that she wanted to say to dad. She just…she could tell him about the jello wars….he wouldn't care about that. Maybe she could tell him about how she had found a pancake under his desk that morning….she really hoped that Sho and Shimazaki weren't having food fights in there….dad wouldn't have wanted to hear about that. Maybe…about the new talent?
Dad did like it when they found new talent.
Not Awakened, no, actual talent. That was a mean way of saying a natural esper. Naturals were more powerful than artificial espers. That was mean but it was the way things worked. His mother, Mrs. Serizawa, had said that she had been thrown a few times…and if he could lift something as heavy as a person, and on accident too, then he was very powerful. That was good. Dad would be so happy to hear about this.
He had to be…otherwise she had nothing.
"Daughter…Shigeko…what is it? You know that you have full power and I trust your judgement." Said dad. It felt good, being trusted like that, and she loved him for that…but that wasn't enough. He was still in his room. He was in his room and…and if telling him about a new esper that she had found didn't get him out of there then she had no clue what would.
"Um…I found some new talent…and I think that he's really powerful." Said Mob. She heard his bed creak again…and she felt his aura flare….and she knew that she had his attention now. His aura was focused on her. His aura was focused on her and…and that was good. Maybe he would stop being sad and then he could stop being tired too. That was….well that was very good. Even if she had no idea what it was that had made him so upset in the first place.
"Shigeko. Explain." Said dad. That was…progress. He was focused on her and…and that was good. She had his interest which was more than what she'd had since they got back to Tokyo.
"I don't really know much else but his mom emailed, well someone told her to email, and now I have to go and meet him as soon as his mom tells me that it's ok…and if it's ok that I meet him myself. I know that you have people for that and stuff…and maybe you would have wanted to do it yourself." Said Mob. She wanted…well if dad told her that she had to get out of his office and back into the house so she could do Mob stuff and he could do dad stuff, doing both made her kind of tired, and then….well then everything could get back to the way that it was supposed to be.
"No. I trust you…and I think that you would be best for this. You're very good with people. Do you have any idea when you'll have the chance to make contact?" Said dad. Mob….it would have been nice if dad had gone with her. Just the two of them hanging out….they hadn't had those times again.
"I don't know yet. He's scared of people and his mom has to get him ready to meet me." Said Mob. She didn't know how long it would take but she hoped that it happened soon. Then they could become friends faster and then he could make friends with everyone else, if he wanted to be part of their group, and then he could go to the Halloween party with them…if he wasn't afraid of people anymore…she'd see how it went.
This was so exciting! Well to her…dad was normal….well a little sad…but just normal too.
"I have no idea why anyone would be frightened of you." Said dad.
"I don't know either….but if you did want to come with then I would like that." Said Mob. She was telling him what she wanted…and he must have known how much she missed him. He had done this before, disappeared, and she didn't want that…and he knew she didn't…..
"I just said that I trusted your judgement." Said dad. How could he not get it? She wanted to be with him and…well she couldn't get a clue at the best of times and she was his kid so it all made sense. She just…she had to be open and honest with him…not that she wasn't always but…but she would have to be extra open about her feelings…but also in a way that he could understand since he was so bad at feelings all the time…and stuff…
"I know what you said but….I miss you." Said Mob. There was some silence, there, a lot of silence…and she just…she wondered if she had gone too far. She had no idea how she could have gone too far but if she made him sad or scared or…she didn't know. She just wanted him to talk to her. Even if it was to tell her to go away again.
She just wanted her dad back.
"Dad….daddy. I miss you a lot. You've been in your room for a while and…and it scares me. I think that you might never come out and…and that scares me. I don't even know what's making you stay in there. I mean we used to be best friends...well you used to love me….but now you're in there and I just wish that you would tell me why. Daddy…if you tell me why then maybe I can fix it and then…and then things can go back to normal." Said Mob. She knew, from what Minori had taught her, that if you called your dad 'daddy' like you were little it made him do anything for you. Well almost anything. Mob didn't need him to do anything for her, she just needed him to not live in his room, that was all. She didn't care if he came out to tell her to go away. She just wanted her dad back, that was all.
That wasn't that much to ask….at least Mob didn't think so.
She heard the bed creak and she felt his aura move and the next thig she knew the door was opened and she was being held. Dad…needed a bath. He had needed one for a while, it smelled like, and also he hadn't shaved in a while either. He was all scratchy….but at least he was out of his room….so that was good….
She really wished that he would have put her down, though.
"Shigeko…I love you. There is nothing in this world that could ever make me stop loving you…and I can't tell you why I've been…indisposed. If I told you why then it would shatter your image of me and ruin our relationship as parent and child. Just know that I love you and that I will never do anything….anything more to hurt you. Do you understand?" asked Dad. He was still holding her super close like he was trying to squeeze the life out of her. She…well he was out of his room, a step out of his room, and that was good. Even though he had grabbed her and held her so suddenly that his plate would have hit the ground and shattered if she hadn't had her powers…if he was going to talk about stuff shattering…and she still had no idea what it was that had been bothering him….
But at least she had her dad back.
"I love you too, dad, and I know that you love me." Said Mob. He was out of his room and….and he was still being kind of like mom. Mom had gone for days without bathing too. Bathing or brushing her hair or putting on makeup or shaving her legs….and Mob knew that she wasn't done with….whatever this was yet…but she was trying her best. She had do something. She hadn't done anything for mom but…but she could at least try and do something to help her dad.
She had never seen him this tired before, this sad, and this….messy…and she knew that there must have been something that she could do to help. She just didn't know what it was yet.