At some point between Halloween and December twenty sixth a friend group had formed.

For the past thirty something years it had always been him and Suzuki. Sure there was that period between their late twenties and late thirties when Suzuki had been busy with the whole starting and neglecting a family thing but…well even then it had been the two of them. As friends…or as close to friends as Suzuki could be with someone. The two of them against the world. Even when Claw had grown, when it had become more then a fort and a pipe dream, it had always been the two of them. Just the two of them.

It had been maddening.

Really, it had become downright maddening over the years. Just the two of them. Day in and day out. Year in and year out. Day by day….moment by moment…and all of the insanity that came with it. The long days spent dreaming of the day they'd take over the world. Those insane stunts that only boys could come up with…like jumping off of the roof onto a trampoline…or the thing with the shopping cart and the mountain. The weird things they did back before they had girlfriends…and Fukuda was never pretending to be a girl again even if Suzuki threatened him with bodily harm….and he wasn't following any girls around either. The crazy trips they took trying to find other espers…turns out there were other espers and they were asshole…or at least that Mogami guy had been….and other espers were still assholes…and they were assholes too…

So, really, it should have stayed just the two of them.

"Either keep up or find something else to do. It's your choice." Said Suzuki. They were playing…well Fukuda had no clue what they were playing. They had gone from Minecraft to Minecraft with Story Mode…which had just been watching Suzuki play…and then they had gone through some multiplayer iteration of Bomberman that Serizawa liked, apparently he liked things other than spending every waking moment with an eleven year old girl, and now they were playing this overly complicated multiplayer thing that Hatori liked…and it was…something.

Nothing good.

Fukuda felt like more of a kid than the actual kids. He wanted…well he had no idea what he wanted…and that was the childishness of it. He felt like Sho when he got overly tired. He wanted his best friend back and he wanted space from him…and he wanted them to be alone and he never wanted to be alone with him again…but mostly he just wanted to go to bed in his own room where he could have a break from Suzuki and the rest of them…but no, he didn't get a break from Suzuki. They were sharing a room….and a bed….all because a twenty seven year old man was afraid to sleep in the same room as another person…and also the insanity that went through everyone's heads! How could they even begin to think that-

Fukuda was overly tired. What he was feeling showed on his face and aura for a moment. Not Good.

"I'd keep up better if you didn't move so fast." Said Hatori. It came out as more of a whine but Suzuki wouldn't be able to tell. Well he couldn't most of the time. He was kind of selective about what he heard…but Hatori wouldn't have known that. No. Hatori knew nothing and…and Fukuda had no idea what he was even…so he must have been overly tired. That was it. This should have been a good thing, Suzuki finally spending time with other people. He should have been happy that he had been relieved of one of his many duties…he should have been but all he could be, right now, was vaguely pissed off at himself and the people around him and Suzuki and…well just about everyone and everything.

It wasn't a good feeling.

"Or maybe you three are just moving too slowly." Said Suzuki. Fukuda had known him long enough to know when he was pissed off…and he wasn't. He was bored, vaguely annoyed, but not pissed off…which made no sense for him. He just…Fukuda knew how he was with other people and…and this just did not…how much had changed in two months? And how much had he let change?

He should have stayed by Suzuki's side even after…what had happened.

"I know that I am….sorry." said Serizawa. Fukuda had no idea why he was there with them. Apparently he had missed A LOT. Like, a lot of a lot. Especially if Suzuki was letting Serizawa sit with them. His aura was about ten seconds away from a meltdown….and that was normal for him. Fukuda had to put in some effort to see auras so just to have one right there and out…that was hard on him but it must have been torture on Suzuki…and yet Serizawa was allowed to sit there with them like it was nothing. Hatori he could sort of understood, daddy issues on one side and son issues on the other, but Serizawa?

Him of all people?

"Don't apologize, do better." Said Suzuki. That was all he had to say to the man who followed his eleven year old daughter around like a little lost puppy. Suzuki had beaten Shimazaki to within an inch of his life for less…but Shigeko had been younger then…and also she'd had less powers over her father…which was something that Fukuda did not want to think about. Her. Being in such close proximity to her and her friends. Her aura bearing down on him almost as badly as Suzuki's and Serizawa's were…

He would have gone to his room…but he didn't have one of those now did he?

"Sorry….and sorry for saying sorry, President Suzuki…and sorry for saying sorry and-" said Serizawa. He said his sorrys quickly like he was under a time limit or something…and that would only annoy Suzuki. Maybe he should have warned them, the both of them, that Suzuki didn't like groveling unless he was in the mood for it…but then again why would he do that? He had earned his place at Suzuki's side. The other two…well he didn't know. Hatori he could kind of understand, son Suzuki never had and all of that, but Serizawa? Shigeko's newest friend/project/none of Fukuda's business? Now that defied any and all logical explanation.

This whole…whatever this was defied all logical explanation.

Well to the outside observer it would look like a group of friends of wildly varying ages sitting down together and enjoying each other's company. The outside observer, however, was a moron. This was Fukuda sitting in a living room with Suzuki, the same Suzuki who had proclaimed before to have only been able to stand Fukuda's presence and his alone, and Hatori who was Suzuki's…friend? And Serizawa who was way too close for comfort with Suzuki's daughter…and also carried around an umbrella inside. This was just...Fukuda felt like he had spent at least a hundred years wondering what this was, in reality it had only been a few hours, and yet he was no closer to figuring it out then when he had started.

So maybe the outside observer wasn't such an idiot after all…or maybe Fukuda was just an even bigger idiot than he'd ever imagined…or the world had gone crazy….or he had gone crazy…or Suzuki had finally gone full horse shoe and now he was sane….or something….

Or maybe nothing…or everything…or maybe he was dead and this was just what his brain needed to do…or something….

"Stop apologizing and focus on staying alive…and keeping up. You too, Fukuda, what are you even doing back there? Honestly." Said Suzuki. Fukuda practically jumped up out of his seat. Suzuki had addressed him…he wasn't looking at him but he'd addressed him…and Fukuda….he tried to backtrack but he couldn't…

He should have been paying more attention.

"Huh? What? Sorry just…sorry." said Fukuda. What else could he say? He knew that Suzuki hated that word most of the time, sorry, but he just…had nothing else to say. Well he had plenty to say, actually, like he could have said 'what in the hell is going on here' or he could have said 'can we discuss the fact that we have to share a bed' or 'can we discuss the fact that you're alright with that' or 'can we discuss the fact that not only did you kiss me two months ago but you also tried to pin my tongue down with yours' or even 'can we discuss the fact that you're a complete and total hypocrite' and about a million other things too.

But he just stuck to sorry.

He didn't even get a chance to say anything else. Suzuki's attention was pulled from him as quickly as it got there. Fukuda….he should have been relieved that Suzuki wasn't looking at him or talking to him anymore but…well the loss of his aura was like…like getting the blanket pulled off of him. Sort of like how mom would wake him up in the morning when he'd been a kid…but not as bad…or maybe worse…and he didn't even know why he cared. He didn't even like Suzuki. Sure he had his moments but…well look at who he'd become over the years! So what if Suzuki didn't like him anymore or liked him too much or had found other people he liked or…whatever…Fukuda didn't care.

He really didn't.

"Oh no I died again….sorry everyone." Said Serizawa. He tucked his head low into his robe in shame….over dying in a game. Of all the things….

"I just said to stop apologizing…and anyway it wasn't your fault. Fukuda is the one with all the healing spells. If you don't want to be the healer then give the job to someone else." Said Suzuki. Wait…was he taking this just as seriously? There was work that needed to be done, real work, and also…well Suzuki…was throwing him under the bus like….like it wasn't everyone's responsibility to keep up and…whatever.

Whatever.

"No, no, I can be the healer. It's fine." Said Fukuda. He wanted to play and he didn't want to play. It wasn't like he had anything else to do…well he did. Sho's bedtime was coming up so he could have tucked him in and read to him…that would have been a hell of a lot better than hanging out here with these guys…and also there was Claw work that needed to be done…and he had some unpacking to do…but unpacking would take him back to his…his and Suzuki's…room. He couldn't go there. If he went there then he would be acknowledging it as his room….and then Suzuki would just crawl into bed next to him like they were still kids….and it would be…well it was always and would always be weird sharing a bed with him…after what had happened….

He could not risk that happening again.

So he would stay here in the living room until everyone went to bed and then he would just…post up on one of these tiny loveseats and then the living room would be his room until they moved along. They wouldn't be staying here for long, just long enough for Miss Suzuki to visit with the one other child she knew and for her to see that damn musical that Suzuki had dragged them all across the Atlantic for. He could stand to be in the living room for a few days or however long it took for all of this to be over. Even if the couches would have been a tight fit even for Sho…

Anything was better than sharing a bed with Suzuki.

"We can trade if you want. You might be better as a support fighter or on defense…or-" said Serizawa speaking the most words that he had ever spoken to Fukuda. He spoke quickly like he was afraid that a timer would go off or something. He was, honestly, hard to listen to. He wondered how Shigeko put up with it…hell, he wondered how Suzuki could put up with it. He'd never exactly been the master of patience and understanding.

"It's fine. I'm fine where I am…thank you though." said Fukuda because, well, he had to be nice. That was one of Shigeko's rules…and as much as he hated being ruled over by the little girl who he used to carry on his shoulders…well her rules had meaning to them. Serizawa was a very…high strung….person. He had that same tendency that both Shigeko and Suzuki had to explode but with one slight variation…he'd never learned proper control. He didn't levitate random objects like Suzuki and Shigeko did but he did make rooms shake and electricity crackle….and also, presumably, he exploded and accidentally killed people. Not that the intel on his had said anything about a body count, an explosion when he'd ben young yes but no body count, and Fukuda was not going to be the man to start one.

"Y-You're welcome!" said Serizawa

"If you're both done I believe that we have serious work to do." Said Suzuki

"He means the game." Whispered Hatori to Serizawa. He nodded and looked back down at his laptop. Fukuda watched the two of them for a moment before looking back down at his laptop. Right. Serious work. They were up to some serious work together….going through this forest and trying to go up levels so they could kill the boss and get the item drop and the experience so they could get even stronger and fight the next boss and…

And when had Suzuki gotten into role playing games?

He had never had the patience for these. Fukuda had tried and tried and tried to get him to play the first Final Fantasy game back when they'd been kids and all he had gotten was stabbed in the arm with a compass for his trouble. Now he was playing this game…why? Because Hatori had asked him to? What was so…so….Fukuda didn't even know…about Hatori? What was-

What was wrong with him?

Fukuda did not understand himself in that moment, the moments preceding it, and the moments which came after it. All of the moments. He'd just…at some point he'd just stopped understanding himself. Maybe he had stopped understanding himself a while ago. There were times when he looked in the mirror, usually when he got up in the morning, and he couldn't recognize the man standing there in front of him despite the fact that he had barely aged in the past ten or so years. He had just…he had no idea how he had become his person….

And he hated, sometimes, the person who he'd become….the person circumstance had turned him into.

Or maybe he just hated his circumstances. He didn't know. This is not how he saw his life going….but at least he wasn't the other three people that he was sitting with. At least he wasn't Hatori. He may have been an annoying kid but he was an orphan, too, and he had lost his parents in the worst…well second worst way that Fukuda could think of. The worst way was reserved for him and how he'd lost them both. Losing both at different times…that was worse than both at once. At least when they both died at once, and suddenly, it was an over and done with thing….but still….he was glad that he wasn't Hatori, or Suzuki for that matter either, and he especially was glad that he wasn't Serizawa….

So there. He had something going for him in life.

"M-Miss Suzuki! Hello!" said Serizawa. Huh. Shigeko was pretty much in everyone's passive aural range. She was so close that it was hard to tell if she was near or far…but Serizawa was sensitive enough to notice her movements. He announced her long before she entered the living room. Suzuki hadn't even said anything….or maybe he had just been too busy trying not to die.

Either way.

"Hi Serizawa….and everybody. Sho is in bed now so please be quiet. You know how he gets when he doesn't have enough sleep." Said Shigeko. She was already in her pajamas and a sweater too for some reason…one which she pulled tighter as she locked eyes with him. Honestly. Did she still have crazy ideas in her head? Probably since all of her friends did. Whatever. Fukuda wasn't going to argue with them about whatever. He was just going to wait this out for as long as he could. He could deal with the close proximity to everyone, Suzuki being weird, whatever his new friendship to Serizawa was…and he could even deal with Shigeko's indoor smoking.

Since it seemed like her father wasn't going to do anything about that.

"Understood. We'll be quieter….Shigeko." said Suzuki. He was staring at her cigarette like it had personally affronted him. Nobody else seemed to notice or care that there was an eleven year old girl smoking in the middle of the living room. Not even a good cigarette. Peaces. Of all the things…if her friends were going to teach her to smoke then they at least should have taught her about the good stuff. Heh.

He let his aura wash over her.

She didn't have anything seriously wrong with her…yet. The way she lived….the way everyone let her live…the way that he hadn't stopped her from living…it would only be a matter of time. A matter of time before she got hurt…or made herself sick…or got into the hard stuff…and there was nothing at all that he could do about it. Her own father, the most powerful esper in the world, couldn't stop her…so what chance did he have? He was just the guy who used to read her Hello Kitty books and give her baths and carry her on his shoulders….

He had no power over her. It was quite the opposite actually.

"Ok dad. I'm going to go and take a bath now so if someone needs me just wait for a few hours or shout through the door…..and Serizawa, are you going to go to bed soon? I know that you're still on London time but now we have to reset our body clocks." Said Shigeko. Serizawa nodded. He always listened to her…most people did…but he seemed to…want to. That was the feeling that Fukuda got anyway, that he wanted to be bossed around by Shigeko, maybe he liked it because it made for an easy life. Just do whatever the eleven year old girl tells you to.

"I…I'm not tired but…if you want me to then I will." Said Serizawa. Shigeko was allowed to give adults bedtimes now. Fukuda didn't know if he was expected to laugh or to cry at that. She wasn't even twelve years old yet. She wasn't even twelve but she was standing there with a cigarette in one hand and orders for a man fifteen years older than her on her tongue….and everyone just accepted this as normal…

Well this was normal. This was their normal.

"In an hour, I think, but not any longer…and I'll set an alarm on your phone so you don't sleep for too long. Alright?" said Miss Suzuki

"Yes, that's…that's a good idea." Said Serizawa. He just handed her over his phone like it was nothing. She put in his passcode like it was nothing. She ashed right on the rug like it was nothing. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was about time that he reevaluated his ideas on what was and was not normal. Maybe this was just what life was now.

"An ashtray might be a good idea, too, Shigeko. Here, I'll hold onto that for you while you find one. And the box they came in, too." Said Suzuki. Huh. So maybe he did have a problem with it after all. Maybe the world hadn't lost it's mind after all. Maybe there was some hope after all. Maybe this was the first step towards everything getting back to normal.

Or what passed for normal around here.

"And does Minegishi know that you're smoking that thing?" asked Hatori

"No they don't…but they're in their room with Shimazaki and there's music playing and stuff and I don't think that they want to be bothered…so maybe don't bother them." Said Shigeko

"Well just to be safe why don't you leave that with me and the box too. You're getting ashes everywhere." Said Suzuki

"No, it's ok. I can ash on the outside of the tub later…and I can't let you hold the box either. Someone keeps on taking all of my stuff from me…and it's not Sho…but I can't think of anyone else who knows where I keep my stuff. It doesn't matter. I'm going to take a bath now. Goodnight dad and everyone….and Fukuda." Said Shigeko. She gave a little bow and walked off, a trail of cigarette smoke behind her. Fukuda could feel her aura on his…and he didn't understand what was up with her. She couldn't still have thought that he'd been looking at her. The thought makes his stomach turn…but of course she thought that. All of her friends thought that.

That was how he and Suzuki ended up sharing a room in the first place.

He had been ready to kill everyone in that room, each and every one of Shigeko's friends, for even daring to think that he could have been like that with EITHER of the kids…and honestly! How anyone could have been so…he didn't even have words for it…he would never understand. He was the only one actually looking after those kids…well Sho. Shigeko…she didn't want to be looked after. Why would she? She could do whatever she wanted. She did whatever she wanted whenever she wanted and of course she didn't need anyone looking after her.

She looked after others.

That was one way to get people to follow you, look after them. Suzuki wasn't much of a caretaker. That was why people didn't love him. They feared him, they respected him, and they wanted something from him when he rose to power. That was why he got shot at so very often. People wouldn't have missed him. There were plenty of snakes in Claw's grass…and his own daughter…well who knew what made Shigeko do what she did. She was building a powerbase in Claw. She had the most powerful espers in the organization on her side and every day more and more Awakened got written up for wearing blue in their uniforms…and Suzuki did nothing…

And Fukuda…well he didn't want to even think about this.

He didn't want to think about his life or what it had become or what it would become or the fact that an eleven year old girl ran his life or just…he didn't want to think about anything. So he focused on what he was doing. He focused on the screen in front of him. He focused on just…getting through this. He just had to outlast everyone. That was all. He just had to stay up past the point that everyone else went to bed and then this would become his room and he could sleep…until five in the morning when Sho got up or worse, Suzuki, but…well it wouldn't be for long. Soon he'd be able to get to bed.

He just had to outlast everyone.

The first one down was Serizawa. Shigeko had set a bedtime for him and he followed it…even though he had been passed out for the entirety of the plane ride so he wasn't six hours off like the rest of them. Fukuda wondered if he went to bed because he honestly wanted to fix his circadian rhythm and avoid jet lag or if he just liked letting an eleven year old girl run his life. It did make for an easy life. Being told what to do and when to do it. Having something to look forward to even if it wasn't what you wanted. Even if it was insane.

Sometimes it was just good enough to have something to do…than to have to figure it out.

That most definitely would have explained Hatori. Why else did he follow Claw? He'd been taken in from an orphanage but he was…well he was a man now. Legally in Japan Hatori Nozomu was a man. Even if he cursed at the games he played, had fingers dyed a permanent orange, and seemed to think that soda and energy drink were a good substitute for water. Somehow this person was a man and somehow he could be trusted, legally, to run his own life…but why run his own life? With his powers he could have gone anywhere and done anything, the entire world was run by computers after all, but he chose to stay here. He chose to stay in Claw and he chose to attach himself to Suzuki. He chose to follow Shigeko's orders. He was the second one to get to bed. Not because Shigeko asked him to but because he had been awake on their plane ride. He was six hours off. So was Fukuda. He would have gone to bed when Hatori went down, it was getting kind of late even stateside time, but then he would have had to sleep in the room that he and Suzuki were meant to share. Fukuda…he just…

Did not want to share a bed with Suzuki Touichirou.

"Are you ready for bed?" asked Suzuki. He asked suddenly. One minute he had been mining to craft…or maybe crafting to mine…but now he was looking Fukuda right in the eyes…and his pupils were tiny once again…well they had been all night. He had been very focused on what they'd been doing and now…now he was focused on Fukuda…

Well who else could he have been focused on? Everyone else had gone to sleep like normal human beings.

"No, not yet. I think that I'll stay up a little longer." Said Fukuda. Truth be told he was ready to pass out. He was screen sick. How could they have stood to have just…stared…like that? For hours and hours. The younger ones he could understand but Suzuki…maybe that was why his pupils were so small. Heh.

"Well I'm tired now so come to bed with me." Said Suzuki simply. Fukuda…he wished that he could have scooted back. He wished that this living room hadn't been outfitted with nothing but tiny little loveseats. He was close enough to Suzuki that they knocked elbows and knees. He wished that he could have gotten up….well Suzuki would have been offended.

He had been the one to come and sit next to him after all.

After Hatori had gotten up Suzuki had decided to sit next to Fukuda…for his own reasons. Suzuki…Fukuda knew that he was a weirdo. He didn't know, most of the time, what was and was not socially appropriate. Sure he could command an entire organization and give speeches that were, seemingly, hours long, but at some point he hadn't learned that it wasn't alright to sit arm to arm and leg to leg with his male best friend.

Or kiss him.

Suzuki…he liked his space. Growing up he had always liked his space and he hated being touched…unless he was the one doing the touching. Like now. Suzuki was the one who had come to him and Suzuki was the one who wanted to be near him…and Suzuki was the one who could have kissed him if he wanted to. Maybe Fukuda was the one who was looking too far into it. They had done that before, after all, because Suzuki got an idea in his head or had a point to prove or just…other reasons besides wanting to actually kiss Fukuda.

He had been insisting, for the past thirty something years, that he was straight…and Fukuda was going to believe him…even when his actions spoke otherwise. Actions and words.

"I'll go to sleep later. I'm not tired now. I'll just end up keeping you up like…remember when we were kids? And you never went to summer time?" asked Fukuda. Maybe putting some distance between them in the present….by reminding him of the past…was due. At least maybe now they could argue and not…well what passed for an argument between them….but that would be better than addressing…what did not need to be addressed.

"Fukuda. No. I've told you before that there is no such thing as summer time. Staying up all night just because we don't, didn't, have school in the morning was idiotic. In two weeks we would just have to get back to our old sleep schedules anyway." Said Suzuki

"That's the point of summer, Suzuki, to do whatever you want. Besides, being up all night is better than waking up early. Nobody bothers you." Said Fukuda

"I suppose so…though we're grown men now. We make our own time and if we don't want to be bothered we can choose not to be bothered." Said Suzuki

"And this is the time that I choose to make. If I try to go to sleep now I'll just end up being awake all night and then I'll just end up keeping you up…and I know that neither of us has a compass but I know that you can be creative when you want to be." Said Fukuda

"I don't want to go to sleep yet." Said Suzuki

"Then why do you want to leave?" asked Fukuda

"Because I want to go to bed with you." Said Suzuki. He said it so simply like…like he had no idea what he had just said. He wasn't…he didn't mean…he couldn't possibly mean…well at least it wasn't going to be a repeat of Halloween….

"Wh…what?" asked Fukuda. That was…he was looking too much into this. He was looking too much into how close Suzuki was…and how dim the lighting was in here….and how if Suzuki wanted to he could have…well everything that had transpired between them. The things that they didn't talk about…and the things that they REALLY did not talk about.

"I'm not going to go to sleep immediately but I will soon and I know that when you come in for the night then you'll wake me up and I don't like to be woken up in the middle of the night." Said Suzuki. Fukuda let out a breath that he hadn't realized that he'd been holding. He was just overly tired…or whatever. He had just been looking too deeply into it. Suzuki…of course Suzuki didn't have feelings for him…physical or otherwise.

"I could just sleep out here." Said Fukuda. It was a last ditch effort. Suzuki…when he made up his mind then it was made up…usually. He could be persuaded….and it had been getting easier and easier since Masami had left….but Fukuda…he knew that there was no persuading him. Not now. He was just so tired….

But he still tried.

"Don't be ridiculous….now which do you want to sleep on? The right or the left?" asked Suzuki. Yup. There it was. He was decided and Fukuda…well he didn't have the energy to argue with him. He barely had the energy to keep his eyes opened.

"…the left." Said Fukuda. Well then that was that. He was going to share a room with Suzuki Touichirou…alright then. That was…he could do this. He would do this. He had no other choice than to do this.

So that was what he did.

He followed Suzuki to the room…to their room…and sat down on the left side of the bed. He sat down and expected Suzuki to join him, he usually slept fully dressed, but no. Instead he went over to his dresser and….well Fukuda looked away. It wasn't as though they hadn't changed in front of one another before, years of sleepovers and gym classes had taken care of that, but…well it had been a few years…a few years and a few new developments…

That they would not be talking about. Ever.

"You're sleeping in your clothes?" asked Suzuki as he laid down next to Fukuda. He reached out with his powers and turned the TV on. His eyes stayed on Fukuda but the TV went to the Suzuki family Netflix…and Fukuda hoped he left it opened for a while since Sho really needed some parental controls. Really. That was what he would worry about. That and not the fact that Suzuki was, once again, much closer than he had to be.

This was a queen sized bed at least. They didn't have to be shoulder to shoulder.

"I don't feel like changing." Said Fukuda simply. He would have scooted away but then he would have been hanging off of the bed. He wondered if there was somewhere in this city that sold futons. He wondered if he could get away with getting out of bed and going out and looking. He wondered if maybe if he didn't find one he could get away with sleeping in the living room or on the floor or in the tub or outside in the snow or just…

Anywhere other than here.

"Alright then. I have a second a shirt if you want to borrow it. A sleeping shirt I mean." Said Suzuki. He laid on his side and faced Fukuda. Fukuda stayed on his back. One of Suzuki's documentary shows was playing. The one about contemporary Japan that he watched on a loop sometimes. Fukuda had no idea why he watched it, he was Japanese after all, and maybe they could discuss that. It would have been better, something better to discuss, than…well…

Whatever this was between them.

Well there was a comforter between them. A red one. Shigeko had remembered that Suzuki liked red but she hadn't remembered that they had a whole new person in the group…a group that she herself had put together. She was…well she was eleven and maybe he expected too much from her…or she expected too much from herself….

Or maybe at this point Fukuda should have learned not to expect anything in this life but the unexpected.

"I'm fine in my sweater." Said Fukuda. He pulled at his sweater for emphasis. Suzuki nodded, he nodded as best as he could laying on his side, and he must have known that it would have been easier for him to nod if he sat up or laid on his back…and maybe put some space between them….

"Shigeko sleeps in her sweater too. I don't understand it…but I don't understand a great many things about her." said Suzuki

"Like why she smokes?" asked Fukuda. There. A landmine. Good. He would have rather stepped on a thousand landmines, both real and conversational, if it meant that he didn't have to address why Suzuki had somehow gotten even closer to him…or maybe he was just imagining things. He didn't know. He didn't want to look too deeply into this…but he just…

He couldn't help it.

"She smokes…because she is under a great deal of stress, she says, although I have no idea what it is that she's so stressed about. It doesn't matter. I've taken to hiding her alcohol and cigarettes and marijuana when I can find them." Said Suzuki

"Oh…well that's good. I didn't know that you did that." Said Fukuda. Well that was…better late than never…though he had no idea how Shigeko would deal with it once she found out that her father was stealing from her….though she could always just get more from her friends. That was what friends were for after all. Heh.

"Well I started doing this after you stopped speaking to me so of course you would have no knowledge of this new development in our lives." Said Suzuki. Did he sound…bitter…there? Well if he hadn't wanted Fukuda to leave him alone then he shouldn't have kissed him and just…ruined…everything. Shook everything up. Shook Fukuda up. He should have just kept his worst impulses to himself and just…

Things that Fukuda was not going to bring up now.

"I never stopped speaking to you." Said Fukuda. He was telling the truth. They had spoken, briefly, on work matters and that had been it. Anything else would have been too much…like this. This was just too much right now…and he wanted to go the fuck to sleep….but that was pointless. If he went to sleep he would just have wound up waking up again. Same bed, same place, same life.

"You did. I mean…you stopped speaking to me in the way that you had before…and it was just strange to me…that's all. Your presence was missed." Said Suzuki. Fukuda….if he hadn't been laying down then he would have fainted. Suzuki…had…missed him? And he was admitting to it? Who was this person and what had he done with the real Suzuki Touichirou?

Calm down, Tadashi, calm the fuck down.

"You missed me? Why? I'm always here." Said Fukuda with levity that he did not feel. He forced himself to focus on the TV, on whatever they were talking about there, and not on what he and Suzuki were talking about now. This was…Suzuki was not like this. He didn't express his emotions. He exorcised them.

"I…did not feel that way….but it's fine. You're back and now…well now it's fine. I suppose that I did miss you…but everything is fine now." Said Suzuki. Fukuda wondered what, exactly, he had done with his daughter's stash after he stole it from her…because this was a side of Suzuki reserved for when he was either inebriated or grieving….and as far as Fukuda knew there was no one in his life besides Shigeko who he cared enough about to mourn after they died so…so this was…

Fukuda did not have the mental energy to figure out what this was.

"Yeah, everything's great now. Anyway I'm going to turn around and get some sleep now. See you in the morning. Goodnight, Suzuki." Said Fukuda. He turned his back to Suzuki and pulled the covers up over his head…and Suzuki….well he was still a blanket hog. That wasn't new. He had always been a blanket hog but…

Now he was something of a cuddle bug, too.

Or at least a spoon…and this was….not something that Fukuda was going to address. He had always slept in the corpse pose even when they'd been kids but now…well now he was on his side and Fukuda was the little spoon…and there was no way in hell that he was going address this. He was not going to start messing with this Jenga tower of weirdness. No, once he moved that block then the whole thing would come down over his head…

And he did not want to deal with that right now.

"Goodnight, Fukuda…goodnight." Said Suzuki. He said that but he made no move to let go and….and this was just…Fukuda would figure it out later. Maybe he had gone crazy….crazier than he'd already been…or maybe he was having a midlife crisis and was going to be honest with himself about things that he should have been honest with himself about from the beginning…or maybe it was nothing at all…either way it would end with Fukuda being the little spoon, Suzuki being the big spoon, a documentary about traditional Japanese sandals playing on the TV, an apartment full of idiots, and at least a week of…whatever in the hell this was.

Fukuda hated his life…but also he accepted it. It was what it was…and what it was, was, pretty damn weird…but he would just have to get used to it.