President Suzuki had eyebrows.

Eyebrows were weird. They were these things above your eyes that were just…there. They were there and they must have served some purpose but Hatori didn't know it. Well he had known it but now knowing things was kind of like…like when you named a bunch of files stupid stuff that made sense to you at the time but when you to to reading the names you had no idea which one was which so when you went to open up your stupid project for…whatever class that project had been for…and then you opened you folder up and inside was all of that weird shit that you knew you were going to go to hell for looking at and then everyone laughed at you and your parents got called and you got suspended and then your mom said that you couldn't switch schools….

Eyebrows were like that.

Or their meaning was, anyway. There had to have been a meaning to them. Everything had a meaning, he could feel it, and he could feel himself losing the sense of that meaning. He could feel any and all sense of meaning just slipping away from him…and he didn't like it one bit. He wanted…well he wanted a lot of things….like eyebrows. Well he had eyebrows. He had mom's eyebrows. She had said so. She had said so that one time when they had been in her room and she had been messing with hers and he had wanted to know what she was doing and then she had been all 'you have my eyebrows' and then he had worried about them but he wasn't a girl so he didn't have to worry about that stuff and stuff.

Mom was dead now so she didn't have to worry about anything ever again.

"No…no….no…." said Hatori. He closed his eyes. It didn't help. He took off his glasses. That didn't help. He couldn't stop himself from seeing because he had already seen it…he had seen it and now it was in his head…and he wanted it to be out of his head. He wanted it all to be out of his head and he wanted it all to end but it wouldn't end and him closing his eyes made him just see it better so he opened and closed his eyes but all of the blinking didn't help and-

Something hit him over the head.

"Stop that or go away." said Suzuki. Suzuki had hit him over the head. Suzuki had knocked those thoughts out of his head. Suzuki had knocked the picture out of his head. His house….there had been smoke and…and mom had been….and dad had been…but now he couldn't bring that picture back up in his mind. Suzuki had knocked it out of his head like knocking on an old CRT TV to fix the picture…like he was a TV….but he wasn't. That was a TV and on that TV was stuff that was not real but he was real and he was there and his head hurt.

It was good that his head hurt.

His head hurt and his head hurting like that just meant that he was there and he was real. He was real and his head hurt and his nose was running,….he blew his nose into his sleeve…and now he was even more real because now he could feel his sleeve. He was real and he was there and the pictures in his head were gone and now he was with someone and that was good….that was good that he had been with someone…he wanted to be with people….he loved people. He loved them all and he wanted nothing more than to just love them and hold them because you never knew when you were going to come home from school and see that your entire family had burned to death because you had put way too many plugs in one outlet….dad had warned you but then you put too many plugs in and that must have been what did it…and you know….you know that you did it and…and you can't feel anything…and you can't breathe…but you must be because you're screaming and to scream you need to be able to breathe and…and you know that mom and dad hate it when you make a lot of noise like that, how you scream at the screen when you get really into what you're doing, but they aren't here anymore and…and you need them to be here so many you scream louder and-

And there's a hand over his mouth.

"Be quiet. You're acting like my son…and I can barely stand my son." Said Suzuki. He had his hand right there so Hatori couldn't say anything…and he wanted to say something. He wanted to tell Suzuki not to say 'son' because Hatori was someone's son but now he wasn't anyone's son and he loved Suki and all of his friends because he had to. He had to love his friends because without them, without the people who were around him day in and day out, he would be all alone in the world...and he never wanted to be all alone again. He wanted…he wanted to love his friends and he wanted them to know that he loved them and…and he didn't want to lose anyone ever again.

He couldn't lose anyone ever again.

"Can I hug you?" asked Hatori. Suzuki's hand was still over his mouth. Suzuki made a face and then took his hand and wiped it on his shirt. He was wearing a white undershirt. He always wore white undershirts. Suzuki wore the same thing every single day like he was an anime character or something…but this was not an anime and they were not anime characters. If this had been an anime then he would have been the protagonist and he would have gone into the world of a game or something because that was what happened to guys like him. They lost their parents and then were pulled into the world of their games because of whatever reason the show said and then they had to save the world and hey got massively OP superpowers…and well he did have superpowers but he wasn't massively OP. Suzuki was…so maybe he was the protagonist? Maybe Hatori was just a supporting character and Suzuki was the protagonist….or maybe Mob was because she was the cutest…or maybe there was no protagonist and this was one of those experimental shows…or maybe….

Maybe he just needed a hug….just so that he knew that he was there and he was real and…and he just….he needed a hug.

"No. Stay on your side." Said Suzuki. He went back to what he had been doing. Something with numbers that spun and swam if Hatori stared at them for too long. He had no idea how long too long was but he did know that numbers did not want to be looked at, he knew this to be true. He knew because Suzuki had written those numbers and Suzuki didn't like to be looked at.

Even though he was an easy guy to look at.

He was a dad but he was not Hatori's dad. Dads all looked different. Hatori thought so, anyway, but what did he know? He wasn't a dad. He would never be anyone's dad. He didn't want to be anyone's dad. That was a lot, making a human, and then having to take care of that human. He had been a human that someone had made and had been responsible for taking care of. The people who had made him had left him before he could take care of himself. They had left him all alone and now he was alone and…and he wasn't alone. Someone was with him. Someone was there and he was with someone and that someone was Suzuki and he was a dad and Hatori wanted his dad but he didn't have one anymore and he was an orphan and he was all alone and he didn't want to be alone and also he wanted…he wanted…he was on his side and…

And he wanted to not be on his side.

But there were sides. His side was on the left of the Frozen blanket. That was the barrier between him and Suzuki. Even though Suzuki could have put up a real barrier that was the barrier between the two of them…and he didn't want there to be a barrier. He wanted…he wanted to be near Suzuki. He wanted to be near someone. He didn't want to be alone. Suzuki did want to be alone…and he wanted to be away from Hatori….but Hatori didn't want to be away from him…because then he would be alone and….and he didn't want that….

He never wanted that.

"Stop staring at me." Said Suzuki. Had Hatori been staring? He hadn't noticed. He had been looking very closely at Suzuki, at the way he was slumped over a piece of paper covered in numbers, at the way his eyebrows came together like angry caterpillars, at all of the freckles he had covering his arms. Did he have those on his back too? And his legs? And his chest? Was he completely covered in freckles and that was why he didn't want Hatori to look at him? His freckles were like a series of connect the dots. What picture did they make? Did Suzuki not want other people to make that picture? What did Suzuki want? He was his own person so he must have wanted things totally different to what Hatori wanted…since they were two separate people after all….and that was….there was a barrier between them and that barrier had to be there….and he knew that everyone had barriers…and he knew that he needed more of them…because he could see his aura and he knew that it was reaching out and…and he wanted….

He knew that he should have stayed on his own side but he didn't want to.

"You're still staring at me." Said Suzuki

"I am." Said Hatori

"Why?" asked Suzuki

"Because you have freckles. You have so many…and they're moving…and they're like a connect the dots picture but moving and I don't know how I would ever manage to connect those dots but I want to just to see what picture they would make…and I bet it would be a cool one…or not…but you just have a million of them and stuff." Said Hatori. Suzuki was staring at him now, his caterpillars were staring at him too, and Hatori…well he stared right back at the caterpillars. They were like the guardians of the freckles or something. They were guarding his freckles from Hatori and Hatori…well it wasn't like he was going to hurt them…he just wanted to see what they made, that was all.

So did Suzuki, apparently.

He was looking down at his arms, now, and staring. His caterpillars were moving too. They were just like…like two caterpillars that he had imprisoned on himself. Like he had glued them to his face….but glue was for paper and not for skin….and also did not go in your soup. Mom had said that. She had said that after he tried to glue red circles on his face like Pikachu….he missed his Pikachu….his name had been Cookie and they had been friends…when he'd been too little to have friends…and he'd died too…and everyone had died….but Hatori was alive. He was alive and he was there with….with his friend and…and his friend had a lot of freckles and they were moving and…and they were all moving around like they wanted to be free…and maybe they did….even though they had no idea how to get away…and what it was to be all alone…and how they would die if they were all alone…

There was nothing worse than being all alone in the world.

"They aren't. All of my freckles, all twenty seven thousand three hundred and three of them, are not moving…and they never have. Youre being strange. Stop." Said Suzuki. Hatori nodded and stared. He had so many…he had counted them all…and they were there. They were there and they were living on his body and Hatori….he had no idea how he could just share his body like that….

"That's a lot of freckles." Said Hatori. He reached over to touch Suzuki's arm but he felt something grab him….Suzuki had grabbed him. Suzuki had grabbed him and now he was touching Suzuki and he could see…he could see a lot of red…and he liked red…and also he didn't…and it didn't matter if he did or did not like red because he knew that red was just a color that happened and red was just…a thing that was in the world and it existed in the word regardless of whether or not Hatori liked it or not.

"Don't touch them. Don't touch me." Said Suzuki

"But you're touching me? How can you tell me not to touch you when you're touching me? If you're touching me then by default I'm touching you…and also you have a lot of freckles." Said Hatori. He was touching Suzuki if Suzuki was touching him. There was no way for him not to be touching Suzuki. If Suzuki was touching him then he was touching Suzuki and there was no way…well now Suzuki had let go of him…so that was one way.

"There. Now stay on your own side and stop touching me and staring at me." Said Suzuki. Hatori nodded….but he couldn't stop staring at Suzuki. He was there. Even when he closed his eyes he knew that Suzuki was there. He could sense him. He could sense him and he knew that he was there and if he knew that he was there, and he was another person, and he was alive then…then how was he supposed to stop staring at Suzuki? How did that even work? It didn't work. If someone was there, with you, and you stared at them then they would keep on being alive. Like they how when people died they lived on in your heart and whatever….and other such funeral things…and he had no idea why he was thinking about that.

He had to think about something else.

He thought about caterpillars and how they turned into butterflies. He thought about how they started off tiny and then grew and then once they were ready they went to sleep in their cocoons and then came out as butterflies. He wondered if that was what was going to happen to Suzuki. He wondered if Suzuki was going to go to sleep one day and wake up with two butterflies instead of caterpillars above his eyes. He wondered if that would be something that would freak him out….did bugs freak him out? Or was that just mice? Probably just mice. If bugs freaked him out then he wouldn't have had caterpillars for eyebrows.

Really angry looking caterpillars.

"Can I touch your eyebrows? Please?" asked Hatori. He reached out a hand again and Suzuki, again, stopped him. This time he stopped him with his powers. This time they weren't touching…but they were. Sort of like overly big hit boxes. Hatori hated those. Well he hated them when the player character had them. When killing bad guys he, of course, wasn't going to complain in that case. When he was the player character…was he? Or was he the bad guy here? Were they the bad guys? Well they were trying to take over the world….so maybe that made Suzuki the boss….and then he was a miniboss?

Cool!

"No. Now stop it. You're acting like a child." Said Suzuki. Hatori….was not a child. He was not a child and…and maybe thinking that he was a mini-boss was childish…but he was not a child. Everyone treated him like he was more of a kid than the actual kids but he was not a kid. He was a grown man. He had a job…sort of…and he lived away from home…because he didn't have a home anymore…and he…well he'd never had a girlfriend and no girl had ever really been interested in him…unless the one time in middle school counted…or Mob asking him out…like he was her age…but he wasn't he age. He was his own age and he was not a kid anymore.

He was Hatori Nozomu and he was twenty years old.

That was something that had happened to him. He had turned twenty years old. He was twenty, not nineteen or eighteen or any of the teens .He wasn't a teenagers anymore. That was a thing that had happened to him He had stopped being a teenager and he hadn't even noticed. Now he was twenty years old and he was a man.

He wasn't a kid anymore.

Time had passed. Time had passed him right by. Time was passing him right by now. H could feel it passing. He could feel himself aging. Every single second that passed made him older and older and older. Soon he'd be dead. He'd get older and older and older until he died…and then what would happen? He'd become a spirit? He'd pass on? Then what? He'd go to hell? MYAYBE HE WOULD. He had done a lot of stuff….not killing people stuff but…well he'd done a lot of stuff and he'd go to hell for hat and then he didn't know what he'd do and…

And he was alive now and maybe that was what mattered…or something. He didn't know.

"I'm not a kid….I'm an adult. I'm twenty…and I think that I might either be the player character or mini boss. I'm not sure yet." Said Hatori

"What are you talking about?" asked Suzuki after staring at him for a while. His eyes were so blue…and his pupils were so tiny…and Hatori….he could see himself in there….a tiny little version of himself. Who was that version of himself that existed in Suzuki's eyes? Was he an NPC? Or the PC? Or maybe Suzuki was the PC…or maybe not because he was the bad guy…right? He was the one trying to take over the world…and Hatori was not only helping him but they were friends…and shit….

"In life. I think that I might either be a player character because I'm kind of like a protagonist or maybe I'm a mini boss since you're the boss and you're the one trying to take over the world." Said Hatori. Did that make him a bad person? Or was he a good person who did bad things? What sort of character was he? Was this a villain protagonist story? Or maybe it was an RPG with a morality system? He wished that he knew how to check his stats menu. Playing as a wandering maniac was fun at all but if you didn't endear yourself to the townspeople then you'd be screwed in later quests…and did he have some quests to do? He forgot how to check his quests or his progress or…or maybe he just wasn't the player character…but then who was? Was he an NPC? Was the PC going to come in and kill him and loot his corpse? What even would he drop? Dorito crumbs and a phone with a cracked screen? What even…maybe this was…a visual novel? Or maybe he was a friendly PC or…or….or….

He didn't know anymore.

He didn't know and…and he needed to know. He needed to know what sort of character he was and…and he needed Suzuki to tell him but Suzuki was staring at him…and he was being stared at…and he just…he didn't know what he needed to do next. He knew that there was a next step to all of this but he had no idea what it even was and…and he needed to know and….and Suzuki would know. Suzuki was really smart. Suzuki knew everything.

He was the smartest person Hatori knew…maybe he had completed the game already.

"Suzuki….what sort of character am I? And what sort of game is this?" asked Hatori

"I…do not like philosophical conversations…so we won't have one. This is real life…but if you want to be philosophical I suppose that I could give it a try. Obviously you're your own player character since you're the one with free will in your own life and I'm the player character in my life…and taking over the world does not make us villains...and stay on your own side. I don't know how many times I've told you that." Said Suzuki. Hatori looked down. He was sitting on the Frozen blanket now. He was sitting on the brown haired one. He would rather have had her sit on him…but he knows that a girl like that would never go for him…and also she's in a different universe and this is not a crossover…and also he knows that he's supposed to be gay. Suzuki thinks that he's gay so he has to try and be…well he doesn't know how to be…but he does know that he has to scoot back to his own side.

Because he has no idea how many times Suzuki told him to go back to his own side.

"A lot of times. You probably know but don't remember. You know about numbers. You can count really high. You could probably get to the end of the numbers if you counted for long enough." Said Hatori. Suzuki was smart like that. He knew how to count. Hatori knew how to count, too, but Suzuki knew better. He always knew better. He was so smart and stuff…and Hatori knew that if he stayed with his friend, if he stayed with someone who had played the game already, then he would be fine. Suzuki was old, forty four, and he had played this game a million times before…so if Hatori stuck with him then he would be fine.

"There is no end to numbers. They grow until they can only be expressed with logarithmic functions. Believe me, I've tried to count to the end of numbers. It doesn't work." Said Suzuki. Hatori…well he didn't like that. It had to work. Suzuki had a bunch of numbers in front of him and if he didn't know how to get to the end of them then…then they were fucked. Suzuki was the guy in charge and he knew how the numbers worked. He knew how everything worked. That was just…he was the PC and Hatori was the NPC and…and maybe then….maybe he was a PC too…or…or…

He didn't know.

"But what if it did? Like….like what if that was your mission? Like you had to count until the end of numbers and then you did and then you switched player characters to like…me…or something?" said Hatori. He didn't know if he was the PC or not. He didn't even know what sort of game he was in. if Hatori wasn't the PC and Suzuki was then…were they in an arcade game? That was all he played…well this and Minecraft and Terraria…and maybe they could go to Stardew Valley. Nothing bad ever happened there…sort of like Harvest Moon but fun. He didn't want to live in Harvest Moon….well the early games….that last game sucked…but he would rather have lived with Suzuki in Stardew Valley…that would have been good…

Suzuki would never leave him…then he wouldn't have anyone to tell him how to play the game.

"I….think that you've had too much to drink…no, I know that you've had too much to drink. You're too drunk." Said Suzuki. That was….well that wasn't true. First of all there was no getting drunk in Stardew Valley…well they hadn't moved to Stardew Valley yet…but he was pretty sure that there wasn't any getting drunk in this game…well even if there was he hadn't. He had taken on poison damage but he hadn't gotten drunk…but getting drunk was poison damage…well not in Fallout…and he really hoped that they weren't in Fallout…well it depended on which Fallout….

They were speaking Japanese. They were not in Fallout.

"I'm not drunk. The only thing I had to drink was tea…and I didn't even want it. Shimazaki is such an asshole….fuck him…" said Hatori. He remembered what had happened. Shimazaki was way OP, that was what happened. He had maxed stealth. He had maxed stealth and…well his powers were OP. He had managed to use his stealth and teleportation to get behind Hatori and poison him and…yeah…that was what had happened…and if Hatori had found some item or something that would give him some kind of shield…or if he hadn't chosen the technomancer class at birth…or whatever his class was….in whatever game this was….

What even was this?

"Don't talk like that…and yes he is. He poisoned you?" asked Suzuki. Hatori nodded. Suzuki would defend him. Suzuki was in his party and…well Shimazaki was in his party too, actually…or guild….yeah. They were like an esper guild…and he kind of wanted to kick Shimazaki out of the guild and off of the server…because really. Poisoning a member of your party was just bad form…and also he was always an asshole…and he needed to be muted if not outright kicked out.

But Hatori didn't have that kind of power…and Suzuki didn't care.

He was in a party with just him and Fukuda…and Hatori…so they were two parties under the same guild…or something. Hatori wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure what they were in, though, but he was sure that he only had one life and would not respawn. That was an important thing to remember. His brain was telling him that. It was like…like his brain told him things and…and he knew them but…but it wasn't talking directly to him? Or like…..

Pop ups?

"I think I'm suffering from poison damage with ongoing effects. He made me drink this tea and it tasted like shit and then I was fine for a little bit but then it was like…everyone was around me…and it's like…now you're around me and it's like…I understand things but I don't…you know?" asked Hatori. Suzuki would know. He knew everything. He was like…like a guy…like the sort of guy who watched lets plays for fun…and he probably would actually…and Suzuki knew everything and Hatori knew that as long as he was with Suzuki then he would be fine. Suzuki was a dad and he was a kid and dads didn't let bad things happen to their kids….but Hatori wasn't a kid, he was twenty, and also Suzuki was a really bad dad in a lot of ways…mainly beating Sho up and letting Mob drink and smoke and do drugs….but Hatori…he needed to be with Suzuki. He needed to be safe. Suzuki loved him and he loved Suzuki and as long as the two of them were together then everything would be alright.

"No…and I don't care too. Whatever it is that you drank I have no interest in ever indulging in. I didn't when I was your age and I certainly do not now." Said Suzuki. Well duh, of course he didn't want to take on poison damage with lingering affects to skill checks…were they playing DnD now? That was pencil and…well he'd played online before…but Suzuki probably wanted to play on pencil and paper because he was old…and he would have been a wizard….since he was one already…and…and Hatori…this was life and in life Suzuki was a wizard and in life he was a technomancer but this wasn't life…but it was and…and in life he had taken poison damage and….

And in life he didn't even know what had happened to him!

"I don't even know what this is! It's like….something and nothing and…and it's like I go into my head and then I'm outside of my head and…and you're here and I'm here and it's like…like I love me and I love you and I don't want to be alone again and-" said Hatori. He didn't know what had happened and he didn't know what this was and he just wanted to be with someone and Suzuki was someone and Hatori….he could have been with Suzuki and…and he wanted to be with Suzuki. He wanted to be with him because he might have been an asshole but he was also the most powerful wizard in the game and in life he was a dad and he had dad powers and Hatori needed a dad and there was a dad and dad's gave hugs and Hatori needed a hug and-

And he was pushed away.

"I don't love you. Don't love me. I don't love you." Said Suzuki. There was a hand on his chest right above his heart. He could feel his heart. He could feel the way it was trying to beat even though he knew that it had gone down by a quarter. He needed to fund another heart. Maybe there was a chest in the woods he could check. Maybe he would have to check alone. He knew he would have to check alone.

Suzuki did love him…so he would have to do everything alone.

"Wh…what?" asked Hatori. He didn't know what he was supposed to say or do to that. Suzuki….Suzuki was….he was a dad and dads loved their kids and Hatori was just a kid and he had no idea what he was supposed to do without a dad to love him and…and he knew that…that Suzuki wasn't a good dad but…but dad loved him…dad had loved him and now he was gone and…and Suzuki was not his dad but he was a dad and…and a dad was a dad but…

But there was no dad like his dad.

There was no other dad in the world who would sit you down on his lap and show you how to play Zelda when you were too little even to read. There was no dad who would make you middle of the night pancakes and eat them with you in the closet because you had a bad dream. There was no other dad who would help you scour the entire house looking for double A batteries because you used them all up playing your Gameboy all night and…and there was no other dad in the world who would get you a tiny light for your Gameboy so you could play all night without your mom knowing…and who would give you a Mew…a shiny Mew….just because you were sad because….he had no idea what he had been so sad about but….but he had gotten a shiny Mew and…

And there was no dad like his dad….and his dad was gone…so he had no dad at all…and it was just him….just Nozomu.

"Don't be like that, you know that the two us are not compatible in that way. If you had been a woman and I hadn't been married then…well there is the age gap to consider…but most likely I would have made an attempt at…and well you would have had me….but that is neither here nor there. You are a homosexual and I am not. It wouldn't work out and I reject your feelings…but try not to be upset. There would be plenty of men happy to have you." Said Suzuki. Hatori wiped his eyes…and he didn't know what he had been crying…and he'd had to take his glasses off to wipe his eyes….and now that they were wiped he knew what Suzuki had meant and…of course that was what he had meant and…and Hatori could not let him think that!

Well he kind of had to….

He had lied and he was a liar and maybe it was better that his own dad wasn't around to see the sort of liar that his only son had become. He'd lied to save his own ass and now he would have to live with his lie for the rest of his life…and now Suzuki even thought that Hatori wanted to be with him which was just….

No way!

"No…no! Not like that! Just…like…like I love everyone. Like I love the world and the world loves me and…and I want to be with you because you like me and I want to be around people who like me…and I don't want to be all alone! It's just…it's like….I'm twenty. I'm twenty years old and I don't have parents and…and it's like…I mean I know that I don't have parents…and it's like….I've known that I've had no parents for a while and-" said Hatori. His thoughts kept on coming and coming and coming. It was like his mind was folders and they were all opening at once and he couldn't make them stop even if he used his powers…and his powers wouldn't work on himself because he was a technomancer…and Suzuki was a wizard but not that kind of wizard…and now the words came and the thoughts came but the words could not come as fast as the thoughts and-

And there was a hand on his chest.

"This will pass. It passed for me and it will pass for you. You're still very young. It took me almost a decade to stop…to stop expecting to see them there in my home when I woke up. Even though I had been away from my childhood home for some time…and even though I had been aware that my childhood home was not around anymore…I still expected to see them. The feeling of their absence will pass once you reach your thirties. It will come back when your own children are born but it will pass until you hardly think of them…until your children bring them up…" said Suzuki. He was talking about how he had lost his own parents….and he was an orphan too…and he was a dad but he was an orphan and…and what was even the point, then? What was even the point of becoming a dad if you were just going to make orphans? If everyone who had ever lived….if they were all going to die then…then what was even the point of having kids? What was even the point of living? If all you were going to get at the end was a 'game over' then why would you invite someone new to play with you?

"I'm never going to have kids. I don't want them. I won't make people just to leave them all alone and stuff…like…like I don't want to make people just to make orphans and….and it's not like anyone likes me anyway…well Mob did but Mob's a kid…" said Hatori. He was going to die alone. It wasn't like he was ever going to get the chance to invite anyone to play with him. No girl had ever liked him…and he had told that lie anyway….and anyway girls did not like him. He had been kissed once in middle school and that was it. He didn't know any girls…well he did…but Mob was a kid and if he ever found himself attracted to her then he was going to have to trigger a premature game over because that wasn't right and…and also she would grow up but…no way. The only other girl he knew was Minegishi and they were non binary, didn't like him like that, and were dating the biggest asshole that he had ever met in his life…

He was going to game over all alone.

"Also you and my Daughter are incompatible in that way. I know that she was taken with you for a time but that has passed….though I do wish that she had waited until she was older for all of this…and part of me does wish that you were compatible in that way." said Suzuki. He was going to game over on his own, he knew this to be true, and he also knew that if he ever tried to game over with Mob Suzuki would kill him. This was a trick. Suzuki was tricking him and he knew better than to fall for it. Suzuki was lying and he knew better.

Never trust a wizard!

"No, you're tricking me. You told me that if I tried anything with your kid, which I won't because I'm into weird stuff but not that weird…and pregnant cat girls aren't that weird…..and anyway she's way too young for me! And you told me that if I was ever into either of your kids you'd kill me! And I don't want to die! I like being alive thank you very much!" said Hatori. He didn't want to game over yet! He had plenty of open world to explore! He had level to grind and…and he had never even had sex before…or sky dived…or own a cat…or seen a live jellyfish…or a million and one other things that he was just thinking of now! No game over! He had to live!

"I…have changed my mind. I didn't know you as well then as I know you now. I would be happy, now, to have you as my son in law…married to my Daughter. I enjoy your company and I know that you're a good person for her. You'd do whatever she asked of you and you can't survive on your own. You are not compatible, though, so it's neither here nor there." said Suzuki. Hatori knew that he had said words but….but he had only heard…well he had heard everything but…but there was one thing that was still ringing in his brain.

"I can't survive on my own…" said Hatori. Suzuki…this was a co-op game….or maybe he wasn't even a player character. Maybe this was an escort quest and he was the person being escorted…and those were always the worst quests in any game….and he was the worst quest in this game. He was the worst quest in the game and he was going to ruin the game and he had…he had to stay with Suzuki…Suzuki was the player character. He was the wizard. He would keep him safe.

"No, you can't." said Suzuki

"Will….will you keep me safe then?" asked Hatori

"…fine. I will so long as you leave my eyebrows alone and stop trying to touch me, hold me, and stop staring at me as well." Said Suzuki

"But then…what do I do?" asked Hatori. He needed to touch Suzuki's eyebrows. He was the player character and….and also his eyebrows were like a couple of angry little caterpillars. He had to touch them because…because they were there and they were angry and there were two of them and he loved Suzuki and Suzuki loved him…well he sort of did…well he had to. He had to…he had a lot to do….well he didn't have a lot to do because he was an NPC but…but the NPC had to be near the PC in the escort quests….right?

Or maybe he was just a really shitty player character.

"Watch television." Said Suzuki. Maybe Suzuki and him were both player characters in the same game and Hatori was just a really shitty player. Maybe Suzuki was the one who was in charge, maybe it was his game, and maybe Hatori was the one…maybe he was Suzuki now. Maybe Suzuki and him had switched places and now…and now he was the one being shown things….

Ok. That made sense.

"What should I watch?" asked Hatori. Suzuki was smart. Suzuki knew the game. Suzuki was at a higher level than him. He had been playing the game since…well since before Hatori had even been born. He was forty four. Hatori was twenty. He had been playing the game for longer than Hatori had been alive. He was the highest ranking wizard in the world and the oldest. He was like that old wizard from that long rings movie…but not as nice. Not as nice but just as skilled….and Hatori….well he would….he needed Suzuki. He couldn't survive on his own.

He was just a kid.

He was just a kid and Suzuki was a dad. Hatori was little and he was sitting on the couch and something was on TV, something about the stars and the planets, and he was little and he could ask about them and then his dad would pull him onto his lap and explain…but his dad was gone…and Suzuki was a dad but not his dad….but Hatori was little and….and Suzuki wasn't little and….

And Hatori wouldn't be able to survive on his own.

"I don't know…can't you decide for yourself?" asked Suzuki. Hatori….he didn't know. He didn't know how his actions would affect the game. He hadn't had a chance to look up all the decision trees online yet and he had no idea how to make a new save file…he didn't get new save files…his brain said so…he didn't get new save files and….and he had to make sure that he didn't mess this one up….and he just….

He had no idea what to even do.

"I don't think that I can right now. It's like…like my brain is all…like someone opened all the files in my brain and they won't close even if I control alt delete….and it's like…like I understand everything and nothing…" said Hatori. Suzuki was looking at him now. His aura was on him and his eyes were on him and it was like…like he was being sized up….but no…they weren't….they weren't enemies and Suzuki was not sizing him up for a fight. That was…there was no way that he would be able to survive a fight with Suzuki…and he only had the one life…one heart…no health potions…no stimpacks….no continues.

"Do you have the urge to run and hide?" asked Suzuki. Hatori….he wanted to now. If Suzuki thought that there was reason to run…but from what? What could make Suzuki run? Or maybe…maybe he just…he didn't know…all he knew was that he needed to get as close to Suzuki as he could…and he couldn't. Suzuki was pushing him away with his powers….damn wizards….why did he have to pick technomancer?

"Well now I do." Said Hatori, his eyes darting around before he could stop them. No enemies around….yet.

"Is the universe speaking to you?" asked Suzuki. Hatori covered his ears. Now he could hear….he could see….he could….well it was more like…it was more like annoying phone popups. Telling him that he was a kid and he was a man and he was…he just…he opened his eyes. He took off his glasses…and now his brain was telling him to put his glasses on…like it was part of the quest…or something…whatever this quest was….if this was even the sort of game with quests.

"Well now it is." Said Hatori shaking his head. He shook his head and his glasses flew off….but then Suzuki caught them with his powers…and handed them back and….and wizard powers were so cool. They were cool and…why did he have to pick technomancer! This power sucked and he wished that he could have been the cool kind of wizard…or something. He just…he didn't know what….he just….

Suzuki was still looking at him.

"Have you ever taken LSD before?" asked Suzuki. Hatori….he had no idea…he had no idea what he was even talking about. He went through all the words he knew and…and those were English characters and…and his English wasn't good and…and he hadn't gone too far into the English skill tree…most of his skills were in first person shooters…..and also Minecraft….why couldn't they have been in Minecraft!? He understood Minecraft and Suzuki like Minecraft and…and maybe they could have played Minecraft….

"No…what even is that? And also can we play Minecraft?" asked Hatori

"No…maybe….I'm working….and also you're not in any state to play Minecraft. I suspect that Shimazaki gave you LSD…and you don't know what it is…how do you not know? A hallucinogen that people take for fun…something which I cannot understand….but something which I have seen taken before. You're acting just like Tadashi that one time in university…and if you have to run and hide then do so but not in my bed…and if you think that the universe is telling you that Claw is insane and what we are doing is insane and that you wish that you had never met me then…well don't listen to the universe….and don't accuse me of being attracted to you either and….God, what else did Tadashi do….don't look in the mirror or you might get stuck and drink plenty of fluids…and…oh! Yes, stay away from the windows." Said Suzuki. Hatori….he had heard windows…and he knew that Suzuki knew better and…and now he wanted to look at the windows…was it nighttime? Well he knew that it was….but were there….was this Minecraft? Were their zombies out there? Were they out there right now and…no. Now that was insane. If this was Minecraft then they would have been all….blocky…like Minecraft Steve. They weren't blocky at all. They were all fleshy and normal.

"What'll happen if I go near the windows?" asked Hatori

"I have no idea what you'll see but Tadashi started screaming…and the rest of that night is something which I would like to forget just…watch television. What's something that you enjoy and which will keep you quiet?" asked Suzuki. He sighed there…like dad had when Hatori had thought that there had been a UFO outside his window…but that was also crazy. Aliens wouldn't bother them…or maybe they would since Suzuki was a very powerful wizard…and he was a technomancer and…and he didn't feel like mixing genres right now.

"I don't know….I can't think right now." Said Hatori. He didn't even know what gene hey were in. He didn't know anything but…but that he didn't know anything and…and shit like that and…and he just…he wanted…he wanted to be safe and he wanted….he wanted Suzuki to be there and he wanted to be there and…and he didn't want to look out the windows because he had no idea what might have been out there and…

And Suzuki would have kept him safe from what was out there.

"Well…we never did watch the second film of that mech series you were telling me about…so we'll do that…and I suppose that you'll need water…and I suppose that I have to take care of you." Said Suzuki. He sighed again and….and that was….Hatori liked that. He got that. He knew that…that Suzuki would always be there for him.

He had promised.

"You promised." Said Hatori. A promise was a promise and…and he felt like…he felt like he was little enough, now, that a promise still meant something….because as you got older they meant less and less…until they were just words and….and maybe he didn't want to be an adult….maybe he wanted to go back to a before save file…not a now safe file…

But you only got one save file.

"Yes, I suppose that I did…and I suppose that you are a child, you're young enough to be have been my child, and I suppose that I should care for you…so that is what I shall do." Said Suzuki. He was….Suzuki was….Hatori wanted to be with him…and to just…Suzuki…he was going to be there and he was going to hold him and then….and then he knew that he wasn't going to…and he wanted….

"You're a good dad…can I have a hug?" asked Hatori. Suzuki shook his head. He shook his head and scooted away from him. Hatori….he really needed a hug right then…from his dad…from a dad….from a dad that he didn't have anymore…or from a mom…but he didn't know any moms…he just knew dads….he just knew a dad. He just knew that dad…who wasn't a good dad…but was a dad.

"No…and not because you're a homosexual if that's what you're thinking. I generally do not like to be touched and right now I just…feel odd about my own person." Said Suzuki. He was fidgeting and…well it smelled like weed in there…so maybe….he didn't know why Suzuki would….also they couldn't both be taking poison damage affects…because they only got the one save file.

"Because you and Fukuda were getting high in here?" asked Hatori. That couldn't happen. That couldn't happen because….well one them had to know what to do and…and he didn't much care about Fukuda…well their party did need a healer….just a wizard and a technomancer was unbalanced…but if they added Mob…she was good at defense…and then Shibata…he was a knight…and then Sho…he was a barbarian…and then Minegishi…they were a nature mage….and then Shimazaki….well he was…he could find his own party…but if they had to have him then he could be their assassin….but maybe they needed a healer…

But their healer and their highest level wizard could not be getting high together like that!

"No, he was smoking and I was not and…well choices were made on my part which may not have been…well I did have a point to prove and…and Tadashi is the one who made it strange and…and I am not talking to you about this. Sit here and watch television while I get you some water. Understood?" said Suzuki as he got up. Hatori…now that side of the couch was empty aside from the numbers and numbers were not people and….and Suzuki was leaving him but….but he was coming back…and with water…and water healed you…did they have RadAway? No….this was not Fallout…he was glad that it wasn't….this was…this was life and Suzuki was taking care of him and…and he was a good friend like that…a good dad…

And Hatori hadn't had a dad in so long….

"Understood….thanks. I love you." Said Hatori. It came out before he could think. He loved Suzuki. Suzuki…he would die without Suzuki and…and if Suzuki knew that to be true then Hatori knew it to be true and…and it was so nice of Suzuki to…to take care of him instead of just cutting him loose because, well, escort quests were the worst and so were useless party members and…and he loved….

He loved Suzuki so much…even though he could be sort of an asshole sometimes…but not now…now he was being a good friend….

"I do not feel the same way….now sit there and don't look out the windows." Said Suzuki. He pulled the curtains closed…he thought of everything….he was so smart…and he would take care of Hatori and he felt so…so much better now…so warm and safe and….and just….

He loved Suzuki so much right now….the universe was warm and loving…and he loved everyone in it.

"Alright." Said Hatori. That was all the he could say. He pulled the blanket close and closed his eyes. The universe was warm and safe and this game…it was a good game. A safe game. This game was…Stardew Valley…or Harvest Moon…but not animal crossing because that was his and Mob's game….but she was in her own game now…and he was in his own game….

And he liked this game…he liked it a lot.

"And never take hallucinogens again. I had thought that you were better than that….but you are young and to be young is to be a moron…and I wasn't much better at your age I suppose." Said Suzuki. Hatori….he knew that he was a kid and an adult and….and he knew that he was Hatori…but right now he just…wanted to be…here. He wanted to be here in whatever game this was. He wanted this…this world he was in….he wanted to be there….to be Hatori and Suzuki…well Suzuki was Suzuki but…but he wanted to be…whatever they were. They were here, in this, together, this world and this house and this game…whatever it was.

The wizard and the technomancer….the two player characters…

One of which had caterpillars for eyebrows.