Suzuki Touichirou didn't have much to do today.
He didn't have much to do at the end of the year. Any assets for the year had already been gained, allies were made, traitors had been punished, and the budget was…in freefall…but he could manage that from anyplace. He didn't have to go anywhere so he didn't. He planned, on this day, to stay put in the house and just work. Legitimate work and the sort of work that he did with Hatori…if the other man had any plans of waking up. It was still early, late for Hatori, and when he didn't have legitimate work to do he tended to stay awake all night and sleep all day. It was just a pat of being that age.
Suzuki had been the same way when he had been young.
When he had been Hatori's age he must have gotten on average three hours of sleep a night. He had actually averaged it out once but he had forgotten the exact number. University had been one of the best times of his lie. School and more school and even more school and Fukuda, he'd been thee too, and women…well not many of them but ones which had given him the time of day….those had been good times. Well aside from having to share a small home with Fukuda….he had never been good at sharing. Though it was easier to share a home with family…or maybe he had just gotten better at it in his old….more advanced age.
Though it wasn't always easy.
"Hi dad." Said Son as he entered the kitchen. He didn't stop walking, didn't even face his father when he said 'hello'. He just walked over to the cabinets, pulled out a box of those toaster pastries he was always eating, and then used his powers to grab a can of soda from the refrigerator.
Suzuki knew for a fact that his Son was not supposed to have soda with breakfast.
"Good morning….why are you drinking that? You know that your sister doesn't like you to have soda with breakfast….and that meal contains enough sugar as it is." Said Suzuki
"Big sis said that it was ok." Said Son
"Are you telling the truth?" asked Suzuki
"Yes! God! Big sis told me that I have to get my own breakfast today because her stomach hurts and she said that I could have one soda and only one." said Son
"Her stomach hurts? What's wrong with her? And why aren't you getting Fukuda?" asked Suzuki
"She told me not to. She told me that it wasn't something that Fukuda could help with and to just eat breakfast…oh! And also I have to tell you that you have to go and have breakfast with Hatori this morning because she's not making it." Said Son
"That's…unfortunate….but get Fukuda. Get him right now. There is nothing that he can't fix." Said Suzuki
"She told me not to. Besides, I think that she's just got her period again and stuff and Fukuda couldn't help last time anyway." Said Son
"Oh…yes. That makes…sense…don't talk about that. It's impolite." Said Suzuki. He hated that word…he knew that he shouldn't have hated that word but he did. It just was not the word to use…and also he didn't want to think about his Daughter going through that. He wanted to think of her as she had been for most of her life, a child, and she was still a child…she was only eleven years old…but she was going through something very adult and…and this was not the thing to talk about at the table…or ever!
"Don't make big sis feel bad about this. You're not supposed to make girls feel bad about stuff like this. You can be a jerk to me all you like but don't be a jerk to big sis. She loves you and stuff." Said Son
"I am not being anything. I'm simply informing you that talking about these things is impolite. People aren't going to want to talk to you if you talk about that, especially women." Said Suzuki
"No, I think that girls aren't going to want to talk to me if I make them feel bad. I know about girls, dad, I have a girlfriend remember?" asked Sho
"Yes, how could I forgot?" said Suzuki. He was happy for his Son. He was happy that the boy had found someone….someone who Suzuki himself knew nothing about. He knew that he shouldn't have even cared, he got no day in whatever girl his Son chose to spend his life with, but he just…he knew that his opinion meant nothing when it came to this part of his child's life but…well he thought that maybe he at least should have gotten the chance to form an opinion.
"Because you don't give a damn about me." Said Son. Suzuki took a deep breath. He wanted to flip that table over. His Son had gotten the idea in his head at some point that his own father didn't care for him. That wasn't true. If he hadn't cared for his Son then he would have just left him somewhere to fend for himself…or he would have done the same for his Son that his father had done for him. Not that his father hadn't cared for him…but Suzuki…well he wished that he had cared for him a little less.
"First of all stop talking like that and second of all yes I do give a…I do care for you." Said Suzuki
"Right." Said Son
"It's the truth. You're my son, you're half of me, and I care about you." Said Suzuki
"You just care about me because I'm the only boy and you need more so that you can have grandkids called Suzuki." Said Son
"Well yes, that's a part of it." Said Suzuki. He got the feeling that his Son was…upset about that. His aura seemed upset….and it made no sense why. Suzuki had been put on this Earth to have a Son, well a child, and that was why everyone was on this Earth. Every organism existence to reproduce its self and human beings were not exempt from that. Also there was no point in taking over the world if he didn't have people to leave it to.
"See? There, you don't give a damn about me." Said Son
"I…don't follow. I have no idea why you take my expectations for you as a sign of not caring. I care for you, in a way, and part of that is the fact that you're the only hope I have of securing the next generation. If I didn't care for you at all like you think then I would have just left you to rot somewhere and had another Son…or told you that you were free to make your own reproductive choices independent of what is best for our family." Said Suzuki
"What in the hell are reproductive decisions?" asked Son. Right. Son was a child and he didn't know all of the words that Suzuki knew. That came to him when he took a moment to think. He had wanted to slap his Son upside the head for…well for being there and the way he had been speaking and acting…but he didn't. He had to keep calm. Shigeko wanted him to keep calm…and she was right to tell him that. Being calm gave him a moment to think…and he would have to thank her later...she was so intelligent when it came to thinks like this.
"Choices about when to have children…and stop talking like that. I've told you time and time again not to talk to me like that….you're lucky that your sister has forbidden me from punishing you…and you're lucky that I'm not my father." Said Suzuki
"Yeah, right….lucky. Grandpa didn't punish you, you said before that grandma and grandpa were normal people. If they tried to hit you then you could have just put them through a wall like you try to do with me." Said Son
"First of all I have never tried to put you 'through' a wall. I have put you into one before but never through, that would have been a waste of a wall, and second of all of course my parents never struck me…and you should consider yourself lucky that I only strike you. You should consider yourself lucky that I don't ignore your existence for days or weeks on end. That's a true torture. When I correct you it's never a long and drawn out affair. It's over and done with in that instant and I so hoped that you would learn your lesson….but you never do. Your sister can handle you when it comes to all of that. She knows better than I do. It's an instinct which she has that I do not." Said Suzuki
"I'd rather you ignore me than hit me." Said Son
"No. You don't….and it doesn't matter anyway because I can't strike you. Your sister made herself perfectly clear and I should always defer to her when it comes to these things. A lesson for your adult years. Always defer to a woman when it comes to family matters. They know better than we do." Said Suzuki
"I don't need advice, dad, I know about girls already. I know not to fight with Emmy about stuff and I know that when we get married and have kids and stuff then she's going to be the boss of the house just like big sis is the boss of the house." Said Son
"You shouldn't plan so far ahead." Said Suzuki
"What? Now you don't want me to grow up and marry a girl and have a bunch of people named Suzuki? Can't you just make up your fucking mind already?" asked Son
"Don't talk to me like that! I have told you time and time again…calm, I am calm, I have told you time and time again not to talk to me like that. My mind is made up on that subject and on the subject of your future. You took what I said as not wanting you to grow up and find someone to marry. I meant no such thing. I simply meant not to get your hopes up at your age. You aren't even eleven yet and you have a lifetime of romantic rejection ahead of you." Said Suzuki
"No I don't. Emmy likes me and she already said that she wanted to marry me and for your information I already have a ring for her and stuff so there." said Son
"Oh." Said Suzuki. That was…news. News that he had…been expecting. His Son was…well his Son. When Suzuki had been his Son's age he had wanted a girlfriend more than anything else in the world…and later on a wife…and Sho…was his child and…and this was a good thing. This was what he had always wanted for his child…and he should have been elated…but right now he mostly just wanted to rewind time to before his Son shared that information with him.
Because he had no idea what he was even supposed to do with this information.
"Yeah, oh. Now are you going to go and have breakfast with Hatori or what? Because I want to have my poptarts in peace." Said Son
"I…will….in a moment." Said Suzuki. This was….big. This felt big. Too big for this table, this kitchen, this house, this little Boy…the little Boy who he had made almost eleven years ago. Eleven years ago he had held this person in his arms…he had seen this person being pulled from Masami…he had…he had known that this day had been coming…but he also….hadn't expected this day to have come so soon.
"Why in a moment? Big sis isn't going to change her mind. She's laying down with that hot water bottle thing pressed into her stomach. She's not getting up anytime soon." Said Son. That was…he did not want to talk about Daughter and what she was going through. Shigeko…he would tend to her later. Once he figured out what he was supposed to do with the information that he had just been given. He…his Son…had bought a ring for his girlfriend….that was just…something that had happened.
Suzuki had no idea what he was supposed to do with this information.
Son had…well he had…Suzuki hadn't expected his Son to have consulted him or brought him with when he picked out the ring he had chosen for his girlfriend…the girlfriend who Suzuki had never met….but he had just…well he had no idea what he had been expecting. Maybe for this day to come later…or something. Son wasn't even eleven yet and he had bought a ring for his little girlfriend…and Suzuki knew how important those were. Choosing Masami's ring…that had been a multiday ordeal…and how had Son…how long had it taken? To find it? And what had he found in the first place? And just…how had Suzuki not noticed that it had gotten this serious and…
And he needed his Son to explain.
"I just…may I see it? The ring you got for your girlfriend I mean." Said Suzuki. His Son did not owe him an explanation. When Suzuki had been a child his own father had told him, tried to tell him, that he was too young to feel the way he felt about the people he felt that way about…and Suzuki could understand that his child was an autonomous human being who could be trusted to run his own life and…and there was an element of curiosity there, that was all.
There was no hurt.
He had no reason to be hurt. So what if his Son had met his most perfect person…and it had been kept from Suzuki for months…and so what if his Son was planning on marrying that very same girl? It wasn't as though it had been kept from him. Sho…was telling him now and that was more than he'd done back when he'd met this girl…who Suzuki knew nothing about….and who he wasn't going to ask about…he would meet her eventually anyway.
She would be his Son's wife.
"What? Why?" asked Son
"I'm curious." Said Suzuki
"Fine dad, here. If it gets you off my back." Said Son. He reached into the pocket of that jacket he was always wearing and pulled out…a piece of candy. It was one of those candy rings Suzuki had seen the children eating from time to time. They'd had those when he'd been a child too….but the candy gem hadn't been so big…and they had been more trouble than they were worth to eat…not that he had ever enjoyed them. Too sweet…he hated sweets…and also you always ended up with a sticky saliva covered hand as Fukuda could attest to…and also…
Also one did not propose with a candy ring.
Well he had, once, when he had been…how old had he been? Twelve. He'd been twelve and it had been the year before middle school and her name had been…well he couldn't remember what her name had been but they had been in the same summer math class and they had both been taking it for fun….God, what was her name? Well now this would drive him insane all day….but it wasn't important. The important thing was that she had said that she shared his feelings, held his hand, and then he decided in that moment that he would marry her. Then he went to the store, got her a candy ring in her favorite flavor, and then asked her to marry him…and she had taken the ring…and then he next day she had broken up with him….and then…well he had gotten pretty ridiculous then….
And the same thing could not happen to his Son.
Suzuki got the feeling that…perhaps his ten year old Son was getting ahead of himself. He had always imagined this day…and he had always imagined his Son as a grown man when this day had come. He was to a grown man. He was small, that jacket didn't even fit him, he ate toaster pastries as meals, his voice hadn't even broken yet, and…and he wasn't even eleven years old! Also Suzuki wasn't even forty five…and now his Son was off in the world getting married…and his Daughter would be next because she was Shigeko so of course everyone with half a brain would have wanted to be with her…and he just…
He needed more time to prepare for this….but he didn't have more time…he hardly had any time at all…
"Are you sure that this is…wise? Marriage is a big decision…and you're only ten. You don't even turn eleven until the first." Said Suzuki
"You actually remembered my birthday this time?" asked Son
"Yes…and before you say anything I hadn't forgotten. The passage of time had simply slipped my mind. Of course I remember the day your mother was fileted like a fish to get you out of her….and I was not ready for that…and neither are you." Said Suzuki
"I don't even know what you're talking about." Said Son
"Son…Sho….I need you to listen to me for once in your life. You aren't ready to share your life with someone like that…or to have children." Said Suzuki
"What the fuck! Dad, yeah, I know that we can't actually get married right now…and I know that we can't have kids! I'm ten!" said Son
"Oh…good. We're in agreement then…but now I'm confused. Why do you even have the ring for your girlfriend in that case?" asked Suzuki. Son knew that children came from marriage…right? Suzuki…had never sat down and told his Son how it all worked…and also he knew that his Son was a child. He was a child and he was so young…so maybe he didn't know what marriage entailed. Maybe he didn't know what it was that he was even going to be asking his girlfriend to do. He was a child after all and a child…well a child couldn't be trusted to…but this was his Son and if there was anyone who was capable of running his own life then it was his own Son.
"Because she's my most perfect person and I want her to know that I plan to marry her when we're grown up and shit." Said Son
"Oh…well that makes sense but…maybe you should wait." Said Suzuki. He decide to ignore the cursing for now. Not when his Son was telling him…well…something like this. When Suzuki had told his own parents that had found his most perfect person…and they had told him that he was a child and that he had no idea what he had been feeling or saying…and he would not do the same to his Son. This was something important. Choosing someone to spend your life with…was big…maybe too big for such a little Boy…and had he always been this little? Suzuki…really couldn't remember. He had remembered his Son as being older…but now he was…small.
He wasn't even eleven years old yet.
"What the fuck?! You've been telling me my whole life-" said Son. He could not ignore that word…and when he found who taught his Son that word he would do…something. His Son should not have been talking like that and…well he just…this was a lot. This was a lot and maybe…maybe he should have just focused on what he knew that he could deal with. What he had dealt with before.
"Not to curse? Yes, I have been telling you for the entirety of your life not to curse and I still mean it…but what I meant to tell you was that you shouldn't….do this…at your age. You're getting older and I know how you're starting to feel about the opposite sex…and I know how they can make you feel…and I know how rejection can be. I…was on your place…when I was a little older than you are now…and the girl who I had those feelings for rejected me and it was the worst pain that I had ever felt up until that point in my life." Said Suzuki
"Mom…said no when you asked her to marry you?" asked Son. Suzuki did not shout and he did not strike his Son and if Shigeko had been there then she would have been very proud of him. He simply kept his aura close and took a deep breath. He would forgive the Boy now because…well because he was young and stupid and Suzuki had no choice anyway but to forgive him.
"No, I had no idea who your mother even was back then. The girl who rejected me was…someone else….and it was very painful and I don't think that you're old enough to handle that kind of pain….and also that sort of pain…changes you in some ways…and I doubt that you're ready for that sort of…change….to yourself." Said Suzuki
"Emmy already said that we'd be together forever and stuff so I'll be fine…so stop worrying about me already! It's weird." Said Son. Son had a point. Suzuki had always thought that the Boy was capable…to a degree…and this was not the time to treat him like an infant. He was eleven now…only eleven.
"I agree….you can handle yourself. I have complete confidence in you. I have to, you're my Son, and when you have your own Son you'll understand…all the things that you don't understand now." Said Suzuki. When his own Son had a Son…when the Boy was old enough to have a Boy of his own…when Son had a grandson…when he went from Father to Grandfather….someone would be calling him Grandfather….someone in the near future…the children were both interested in the opposite sex…that day would come sooner rather than later. Aside from smelling absolutely terrible most days Son showed no signs at all of having hit that terrible time in life…but he would….and he had a girlfriend now who he was planning on spending his life with….
Suzuki was not ready to be a grandfather.
"Do you know what sex is?" asked Suzuki. Son had been balancing a toaster pastry with his powers and his phone in his hand…and he dropped both on the table and began to spit…as if he were choking…and Suzuki so hoped that his son was not choking. He entirely remember what to do about a choking person….and also losing his Son would have meant having to have another and then…well he doubted his next Son would have been as good of an artist…or as capable of a human being…as this one was too.
Thankfully the Boy had not been choking.
"What the hell, dad?! What the hell kind of a question is that?!" asked Son
"A simple one. You either know or you don't. I have no idea what you know at your age…or what you think that you know." Said Suzuki. He had been VERY misinformed when he'd been his Son's age. The world had not been what it is now. People hadn't yet invented the tiny infinite information machine so anything that he had wanted to learn he either learned at school, from his parents, or at the library…or he pieced together from things he'd heard from the other children and seen on television…which was how he had thought until the age of thirteen that women could get pregnant simply from laying down in a bed and kissing men.
Hopefully his Son was smarter than he had been…and hopefully he had been staying away from the filth that the internet was full of.
"Dad! I'm not a baby. I know what…that….is. You stick your dick inside of a girl and then a baby comes out…inside-inside, not like a hotdog, more like a pita…ok?! Can we never talk about this again?! It's gross and I'm not going out with Emmy to do gross stuff like that to her." said Son
"With. That is done 'with' a woman and not 'to' her. If it's a 'to' situation then she did not consent and then a crime has been committed and that is one of the few crimes which I cannot excuse…so always ask first." Said Suzuki. Well he was glad that he had cleared that up before he ended up having to kill his Son for doing terrible things. Like his own father had told him, always ask unless you want to end up either dead or in prison.
"Yeah, dad, I'm not stupid. I'm not just going to go and do gross stuff like that with a girl without asking her first…now stop talking! This whole thing is gross!" said Son
"Alright….but it's not disgusting….and you only feel that way because of your age. It is one of the most amazing, intimate, pleasant, and emotionally terrifying things that you will ever experience in your life…now don't do that until you're old enough to deal with the responsibility that comes with making a human being…well there are ways around making a human being but if they worked and weren't terrible then you wouldn't be here. Actually I should probably tell you about contraception since neither of us ever want to have this conversation again." said Suzuki
"…how about we just stop talking about this now and then never talk about it again for the rest of our lives?" asked Son
"I'm agreeable to that. Anyway remember, contraception is terrible and if you're prepared to raise an infant then you don't need it. Alright. That's the end of it." Said Suzuki. He wished that someone had told him that when he'd been…well not his Son's age but when he had stared down that particular life's journey. He'd spent so many years having truly terrible…well less than good…serviceable. It had been serviceable. He had spent too many year having serviceable sex instead of earth shatteringly amazing sex even though he had been prepared to, even at the age of sixteen when he'd had actual intercourse for the first time, to support another human being which he had created and a wife too. In fact he'd wanted one. He'd wanted that for almost as long as he could remember…but he'd had to wait.
But his Son wouldn't have to.
Obviously he wouldn't be having any children at the age of not even eleven yet but…well as he got older…his late teens or early twenties…well then that would be fine. It would have been fine, preferable even, if that had been the time which Son had chosen to start his family. He didn't have to wait for university or to establish himself in a career, he was the future ruler of the world after all, so really he had nothing to wait for….and Suzuki…well that would be enough time for him to become comfortable with the idea of someone calling him Grandfather…
There would be another child in the family one day.
One of his Son's children, though, not Shigeko's….he didn't think that he would ever become comfortable with the idea of Shigeko and some man…but he did want her to have children…artificial insemination…or…childbearing robots or…something…he didn't know. He'd come back to this later. He didn't want to think of either of his children having children…doing what it took to make a child…but especially not his Daughter…and he knew that it was normal and natural and that human being were sexual by nature but…not his Daughter. Not his Son but…well his Son would be a man and that was what men did…and women did things like that too…and his Daughter would become a woman someday…and she was lying in bed dealing with the crippling pain of menarche right at that moment….and he REALLY did not want to think about that….
The children were still children and would be for a few more years…and he would focus only on that….
"Thank fucking God! I'm getting the fuck out of here before you decide to talk to me about some other fucking thing. I'm going to…next door…and shit. Good Fucking bye!" said Son
"Don't…alright then…have a good day." Said Suzuki as he heard the front door slam. Well that had been a…morning. He hadn't shouted at his Son or struck him despite the fact that he was cursing like it was going out of style. Really Shigeko should have done something like that….though she was doubled over in bed racked with internal pains from things that he couldn't even comprehend…and maybe he should tend to her…or maybe he should have sent for someone…like Fukuda…
Or Minegishi.
Son had a point, before, that Fukuda was no help in this situation. He had no Daughters and he had never been married. Suzuki…well he knew something of this…he knew that it was a thing that happened…but he wasn't much help to her. He needed a woman…or someone who was a woman but also not a woman…however it worked. Minegishi. She…they….it was difficult to think of her as a 'them' when it came to this very female process….Minegishi knew best. They lived through this and they were the one who helped Shigeko through it originally….and also they had told him what it was like…he would never be able to look at a ping pong ball again…he would send for them and…and he would get dressed and shower and shave first since they could not see him in this state of affairs…and also he'd see about that book that they wanted…only fifty copies in the world…he'd find them once…because the holidays were coming and they were good to Shigeko…
And also they were intelligent and beautiful in their own way and their hair was getting longer and-
And he was not going to think about them. He was not going to think about them and whatever feelings he had towards them, feelings which he would never act upon of course, and he also wouldn't think about the fact that his Son was out there about to propose to the girl who would grow up to be the woman who would bear Suzuki's grandchildren…and he also would not think about the fact that his only Daughter was doubled over in pain because her body decided that, at the age of eleven, it was ready to bear a child even though she was so young and small and fragile and…and he didn't want to think of anything…so he didn't. He just got up and got on with his day.
There was a lot to do after all…enough to do…he would find something to do if he had to. Anything to keep from thinking.