Suzuki Touichirou had never gotten much enjoyment out of birthday rituals.
He had never seen the point. As a child he had enjoyed unwrapping presents…until he had gotten old enough and he realized that he got whatever he asked for regardless of what day of the year it was. As a child if he asked mother for any particular toy or game it would be within his hands by the end of the week. By the age of about ten or so he saw the wrapping around his gifts as more of an annoyance and cake…well the less said about that the better. It was a part of the birthday ritual, and he always ate a piece to appease mother, cake….
He hoped that it wasn't a part of this birthday ritual.
"Dad, come on. Your pancakes are going to get cold." Said Shigeko as she tugged on his hand. She was the only person who could do this…any of this. Waking him up, getting him out of bed, and demanding his presence next door to participate in her usual birthday ritual.
Which involved pancakes.
He…did not enjoy pancakes. Not often. He liked them when they were not sweet but they were so seldom not sweet. They had the word 'cake' in the name after all. That was why they were a part of this birthday ritual, the children's birthday ritual. They were so eager to get to their birthdays that they didn't even have time to procure a cake.
That was just how children were.
"I still have to get dressed, and so do you." Said Suzuki. He was loathe to let go of her hand, he always was, but he did need to get into actual clothes. Pajama pants and a t-shirt were not the articles of clothing that one wore when leaving their home. That was why he had spent the past few decades of his life sleeping in day clothes, it was just easier to get out of bed in them. He wasn't dressed and he could not leave the house like this.
And also he could not get dressed with Shigeko in the room.
"There's not time for that, dad. Besides, you're supposed to have breakfast in your pajamas. That part of the birthday breakfast." Said Shigeko
"For you, maybe, but not for me. If you want to leave the house in your sleeping clothes then there's nothing that I can do to stop you. I, on the other hand, will be getting dressed." Said Suzuki. He would have been fully within his power to tell her to leave him alone and to get her own clothes on, she could not leave the house in just that pajama dress, but…well he didn't like to give her orders like that. She wouldn't take it well…
So he asked her nicely.
"You are dressed." Said Shigeko
"Yes, I am wearing clothes, but these are not the clothes which I wish to be seen in. I cannot be seen like this by anyone other than my children…and Hatori who may as well be a child. I have to get dressed because I have a certain image of myself which I have to present to the world. I'd imagine that it's much the same as you with your cosmetics." Said Suzuki. He presented his argument logically and he framed it in terms that she would understand. Just as she had taken to not leaving the house, usually, without her eyes framed in black and shadowed in blue he could not leave the house without his suit on. Maybe it came from a lifetime of wearing uniforms….or maybe he got it from his father. He couldn't recall, not even once in his life, seeing his father leave the house in anything less than his full suit.
Of course his memories of his father weren't the best.
He remembered the man. The way he looked, much like him but with black hair and a greater weariness to him, and he remembered the way he spoke. Never more than necessary and also with very harsh words. He remembered how his father would let him sit in his office with a calculator…even when he'd been too young to help….many of his memories of his father came from when he had been young. Once he had even been in Shigeko's place as well….he had sat on his parents' bed and watched his father get ready for his day…he'd been smaller than Shigeko though, small enough that he had still had this fascination with his father…
Of course he had never grabbed his father and tugged on him as Shigeko did….but he did spoil Shigeko in ways that his own parents never had.
"Oh….ok….but don't take too long. If you take too long then Shimazaki is going to eat your pancakes." Said Shigeko
"I don't mind if he does. You know that I don't like sweet food." Said Suzuki
"Pancakes aren't sweet, dad, only the syrup on top is sweet." Said Shigeko. She had a tone, there, that he couldn't read…but he had heard it before. She sounded like Masami, there, when she told him that he was being ridiculous. Maybe he was being ridiculous, he had been called that time and time again, but he did not want to be called that by Shigeko.
He just didn't.
"They are sweet in and of themselves. If something is made with sugar then it is sweet." Said Suzuki
"Your pancakes won't be sweet, though, Shibata knows that you hate sweet food…now come on, dad, before your next birthday." Said Shigeko. Now she was the one being ridiculous. She knew fully well that it would take less than a year for him to get dressed. He, of course, would be done well before his forty sixth birthday.
He was forty five today.
He was forty five and next year he would be forty six…and he did not want to think about that. The passage of time. The fact that he was getting closer and closer to fifty. He had an irrational feeling about that number. He had no reason to be…anxious….about it. Turning fifty. Fifty was not old. Sixty was old…or seventy…but not fifty. He was not getting old.
He was getting older but not old.
He didn't age, he level up. That was what his shirt said…and he knew that he didn't actually level up but…well it was a good way to look at it. He didn't age, he leveled up, and…and leveling up meant that you kept on going. It didn't mean that you were running out of time. It didn't mean that you had to move faster, be better, because you were going to be fifty soon and if you didn't reach your goals by then….then what would be the point? He'd be fifty and Shigeko would be seventeen and Sho would be sixteen and…and then he'd have teenagers and he so wanted to get this done with before he had teenagers to deal with. He did not want teenagers. If there was some way to skip those years then he would have…if there was some way to skip building up Claw for those years then he would have…
Because he was getting tired.
He was getting tired…and not just because Shigeko had woken him up early. He was getting tired of traveling, tired of finding new assets, tired of starting new HQs and divisions and cells. He was just…tired. It had been a labor of love, he liked that expression, for years but…well it was still a labor. It hadn't been this tiring in the past…but then he'd had a home and a wife to get back to. He'd had his wife, he'd had Masami, and she had been….so much to him…
He felt his wedding ring.
He felt it with his powers. There. It hadn't come off. He hadn't lost it again. The bath…it had slipped off again in the bath thanks to what he kept on putting in the tub…but it was on now. It was on and it could not come off…because he was Masami's and…and he just…another year without her had passed. Another year and…and he did not want to think about this. He did not want to think about how he should have, would have, could have, been able to turn around and see her there on his bed. She would have been laying there and she would have said something like 'happy birthday, Touichi' and…well even if sex wouldn't ensue he still would have wanted her there and…
And he pulled his shirt up over his head.
No shower that morning. Shirt and pants off. Undershirt, pants, button down, tie, and suit coat on. One thing and then another and then another. There. Now he was dressed. He performed the entire ritual of getting dressed without once looking at his bed. Without once looking over and thinking about who should have been there. Masami was gone. She was gone and she was never coming back. He was…he was hers and he loved her….
But she was gone.
He picked up his phone and carried it with him to the bathroom. He had to finish his morning ritual now. He had to brush his teeth and brush his hair and a new layer of deodorant would be necessary as well. Even though it said that it would last forty eight hours that did not mean that he was going to go forty eight hours between layers. No, he was not his Son. He was not Sho and he was not going to go through his day smelling terrible. He was not going to go a single day without getting dressed and going through all of the other grooming rituals too. These things were important, he knew that they were important…
And Shigeko agreed.
"I'll be out in a minute, dad, I just have to get this finished." Said Shigeko as she ran a brush through her hair with her powers while she brushed her face with her hands. He had no idea what that powder she was putting on her face was, or why she needed it, and he was not going to ask her about it. He had done so before and her explanation had gone in one ear and out the other. This was a woman's ritual she was performing and he had no place in it. He knew this.
He also knew that he needed a place at the counter.
"You don't need to leave but I would like some counter space." Said Suzuki. She took a step to the side and her products followed her. She still faced herself and she still ran that brush across her skin. He had no idea what that was for. She was beautiful as she was…not that he would say anything to her.
He had learned, long ago, never to criticize a woman's appearance.
Masami had gotten angry with him when he asked her why she did all of that. He told her that she didn't need it, that she was beautiful as she was, and that he didn't care what she looked like. She had taken that the wrong way…or he had said something wrong…he didn't know. All he knew was that she became very cross with him and then stormed off. To this day he had no idea what Masami had been so angry with him about…but women were just complicated like that…or at least some of them. Shigeko…
Well she wasn't a woman yet so it was too early to say.
"Here you go." Said Shigeko as she put down the brush she had been using…and then picked up another. She dipped that brush into a different powder and then brushed it across her forehead. He watched her for a moment. There was some artistry to this, it was fascinating…but also he was very glad that he never had to do things like that.
The worst thing that he had to do was shave.
He faced himself in the mirror. He didn't need to shave yet today. Good. He maybe could have for good measure, to get any growth that was there but too short to see, but….no. Razor burn was not fun and he could not be seen like that…but if he did end up with the beginnings of a beard well…he could not be seen like that either. Even if he couldn't grow a proper beard…or maybe he could by now. He had never really tried…not since he had been eighteen….though he hadn't really been trying then. Shaving just hadn't been on his list of priorities…not after what had happened…
Twenty seven years ago…it had been twenty seven years ago.
"Are you ok dad?" asked Shigeko. She looked up at him now. She was braiding her hair with her powers, the brush in her hand had stopped it's work. Her skin seemed….dusty…if that was the word. So much loose powder…paler, too, if that had even been possible. Of course he said nothing about that…or what had been on his mind. She didn't need to know that he thought that it looked like she had shoved her face into a bag of flour…
And she did not need to know that he was wasting his time ruminating on the deaths of two people who she had never even met.
"Fine, just deciding if I should shave or not." Said Suzuki simply. Shigeko looked up at him and stared for a moment.
"I don't think that you need to." Said Shigeko nodding to herself as if to congratulate herself on her good judgement. She did have good judgement but…well he did not want to get caught out in the world later on with five o'clock, or whatever time it would happen, shadow. No, that would not have been right at all.
"You don't?" asked Suzuki as he felt his face. He thought…well he was at the awkward time between shaves. This was so annoying. How did women deal with this? Well they shaved every day, didn't day? Body hair grew faster, right? He'd assume that, yes, it did. The only woman he knew, sort of woman, was Shigeko and he did not want to ask her about something so personal. He still wasn't completely alright with the idea of her having and removing her body hair. She seemed too young for all of that…but obviously she was not.
She would, very soon, be turning twelve after all….and then thirteen and fourteen and….well he knew how to count.
"No, because you don't have a shadow beard yet. Minegishi says that if you have to shave then you should do it when you can see the hair. If you shave before the hair is long enough to see then that's bad for your skin." Said Shigeko. Razor burn, she meant. She knew about that too….well of course she did. There, on the counter beside his razor, was hers. Both were blue, hers was a lighter shade of it though. Hers was also shaped differently…and she had her shaving cream too…fruity like Masami's had been…but not the same kind exactly. He wondered why she had chosen that, maybe she remembered Masami, or maybe Masami had taught her about…no…Masami had left before Shigeko had even gotten close to this stage of life.
Shigeko had someone else to teach her about these things.
She had someone else in her life to teach her the things that a woman needed to know, all of these little grooming rituals and such. It seemed odd, Minegishi being who they were, but Suzuki was not going to complain. Shigeko needed a mother. She needed someone to fill the role of mother, he meant, not someone to be her actual mother. She had a mother, Masami, and even if she had left she would always be Shigeko's…be both the children's…mother…and his wife. He would never remarry…or even entertain those thoughts…and as for any other thoughts that he entertained…
Those were just going to have to stay just that. Thoughts.
"I suppose that I won't, in that case." Said Suzuki as he stared at himself in the mirror. He kept his thoughts to himself, to his own appearance, and not to anything else. Like his Daughter's newfound obsession with her appearance…or the person who had taught his Daughter how to managed her appearance. How someone like that could know so much. She…they….weren't attractive….but also they were not unattractive. They were…well their skin seemed soft…but they wore men's clothing and no makeup and their hair was so short…
He stopped thinking about them. Not while his Daughter was standing right there.
"Here, you can use my moisturizer, it's good for your skin." Said Shigeko as she reached her hand out and pulled a bottle over with her powers. She didn't even need to turn and face what she needed to reach for. She was talented like that. He knew that he had seen her do that time after time before but it never ceased to impress him. She never ceased to impress him.
"What's wrong with my skin?" asked Suzuki as a bottle was passed into his hands. He read the front. Shae butter…whatever that was.
"It's dry." Said Shigeko simply
"I still don't know what you mean by dry….but I'll do as you suggested." Said Suzuki. She knew what she was talking about. That was why he listened to her. This had nothing to do with the fact that she had told him that Minegishi had said that his skin was dry. He didn't care what they thought….well he should not have cared what she…what THEY thought. He had a woman in his life….no. He did not have a woman in his life. He had a woman who he had made a mistake with and now…well now he was speaking to again and…
And he did not want to think about this…so he didn't.
He did what Shigeko asked of him. Shae butter. He had no idea what it was, it seemed more like it would have been suited to cooking and not skincare, but it had the same smell and consistency of sunscreen so that was what he was going to treat it like…or at least what he had wanted to treat it like. Shigeko took the bottle, and what he had managed to get out of it, away from him…and he had no idea why….
And he got some idea of what she was going to say…and it would contain the world 'ridiculous' most likely.
"What are you doing? That's way too much. Here, watch me." Said Shigeko. Well she didn't use the word 'ridiculous' which was good….but now he was the one tempted to use that word. She did the exact same thing she did. She took some into her hands, rubbed it back and forth and then rubbed it on her arm. He watched her…and could come up with no reason why she would have corrected him.
"How is that different than what I just did?" asked Suzuki
"You almost used too much." Said Shigeko
"How can you possibly use too much? We have money, a lot of it, if you need more then you can just go and buy more." Said Suzuki
"It's not about that. If you use too much then your skin gets lazy and it stops making it's own oils…and also it can make your skin break out and that's not good either." Said Shigeko
"I'll take your word for it." Said Suzuki. Well now he'd learned something new. He was, once again, very glad that he was not a woman. There was too much work that went into it. Even at Shigeko's age there was work that went into it. When he'd been her age the worst that he'd had to deal with was sunscreen. She had…he didn't even know the names of most of those things that she had to do to her skin. He didn't think that she needed them, she was perfect in his eyes, but maybe this was how she maintained that perfection….or something. He didn't know.
He didn't know she could ever be less than perfect.
He watched her work. She really didn't seem like she needed it. She was, in his eyes, perfect. Maybe that was because he was looking at her through a father's eyes. When he had been small he had asked his mother many times what was wrong with him. Why the other children didn't like him, why there wasn't anyone else like him in the world, and why she had taken to shouting at him and telling him that he hated her…he hadn't. He had been exasperated with her at times but he had never hated her. Mother had just looked at him and told him that in her eyes he was the most perfect son that a mother could have asked for…which made no sense because she often told him that he must have hated her with the way he carried on….and such. But that was…well mothers were complicated.
Fathers too, it seemed.
If he could have looked at her with a different set of eyes, his Daughter, he would have. He wished that there was some way that he could see her the way that she saw herself. She seemed to see so many flaws in herself…which made no sense. Paradoxically her brother saw none of the flaws in himself that were so glaringly apparent. So neither of his children had any self-awareness then, it seemed, which made sense. He didn't always have the best sense of it, well he hadn't when he'd been young, so maybe it was something in nature….or nurture…or something…
Or maybe it was just in Shigeko's nature as a woman…well a smaller version of one…to see flaws in herself where there were none and then to correct them.
"Don't worry dad, I'm almost done. Then we can go." Said Shigeko. She made eye contact with him then. Right. He had been staring at her. Well…he tended to do that. He didn't understand why he did it, or why it was wrong. When something or someone took your interest then they took your attention as well. People had always found it off putting for reasons he had never been able to understand. Not Shigeko, though, she was perfect in that way.
"Weren't you just trying to drag me out of the house in my pajamas?" asked Suzuki. Even in her ridiculousness she was perfect. To think that she had been the one trying to rush him out the door and now he was there watching her coat her face in another layer of…he didn't even know what.
"I was but then you said to get dressed and I did and then I thought that I should fix my hair and then I did and then I decided to do makeup and I did…and I'm almost done, ok?" asked Shigeko
"Alright, I'll wait for you. It's not like I'm in any hurry." Said Suzuki
"Why not? It's your birthday and you get breakfast and presents, well me and Hatori got you presents I don't know about anyone else, and…and birthdays are important." Said Shigeko
"At your age, maybe, but not at mine." Said Suzuki
"What's wrong with being your age?" asked Shigeko. Suzuki…he had no idea where to start. The aches and pains of middle age were their own discussion….as well as the mental aches and pains of realizing that even though you'd been working for the majority of your life there was still so much to do…and then there was the existential pain of the fact that you were halfway, over halfway, to death and your children were going to grow and they would die as would their children and their children's children and….
And she did not need to worry about any of that. Not now and not ever.
"A great many things….but things that you don't need to worry about. Don't worry about being my age until you are my age." Said Suzuki in an attempt to reassure her of whatever it was that was bothering her…an attempt that hadn't seemed to work if her aura was anything to go off of.
"Um….ok….I guess….but dad? I don't want to be your age." Said Shigeko. She was playing, now, with the brush in her hand. A nervous gesture. He had done the same thing when he'd been her age. Fidgeting with anything he could get in his physical and metaphysical grasp…and he didn't want to pass that on to her…he didn't want to pass anything on to her. Not his nervous gestures…and not the things that made him nervous, that kept him up at night, that ran through his mind….either.
"Why not?" asked Suzuki. Whatever she said to him, whatever she was planning on saying, he would deal with it. He was her father and as her father it was his job to deal with these things when they came up. To reassure her of things that…well that he wished that he had someone to reassure him of…not that he needed anyone…it was just nice to have people around, that was all….but he did not need them.
He was Suzuki Touichirou, he did not need anyone, but others needed him….like Shigeko. She needed him.
"Because when I'm your age then you'll be dead. That's what happens when you get older, your parents die." Said Shigeko
"That is not something that you have to worry about." Said Suzuki. No. He had no intention of dying anytime soon…well he knew that he would die but not now. Not at forty five. He had outlived both of his parents but…well Shigeko…she would not outlive him. No, wait, he wanted her to outlive him. He had buried, well interred, his parents and….and it had been painful. Even though that was nature's way, children outlived their parents, it had still been difficult for him….he had been younger and weaker then. He knew that, now, as a man he would have been able to inter them without a second thought…because that was the way it worked. Shigeko…if she died he would not have been able to…to go on…because that was not nature's way.
Parents did not outlive their children.
There was something that was just…wrong….about a parent burying their child. That was not the natural order of things. Parents died and then their children….and he knew that one day he would die and he would leave her alone in the world…but not at eleven. Not at eleven and not at eighteen either. He would leave her when…when she was his age…or older. When he was in his eighties or nineties and they'd both lived full lives. That was when he would leave her…but not now….and this was not something that either of them needed to worry about.
Or talk about.
"Why not? That's how it works, isn't it? You become an adult and then your dad dies? I mean…nobody I know has parents. You're an orphan and Fukuda is an orphan and Minegishi is an orphan and Shimazaki…well he made himself an orphan…and also Hatori is an orphan and Shibata…well he and his parents don't talk anymore so that's like being an orphan…and I guess Serizawa still has his mom but he doesn't really talk to her because she's better off without him, he says, and also-" said Shigeko
"Shigeko. No. You will never become an orphan, at least not until I'm in my eighties or nineties. I will never leave you…now let's stop speaking about these matters. I have a birthday to get to, yes? So come on, let's go already." Said Suzuki. He turned and left the bathroom. She followed him. Good. She made no move to talk about death, his or hers, which was also good. She didn't need to think about that. He had no intention of leaving her. Not now and not when she turned eighteen either. He was going to stay with her for the rest of his life.
Which was going to be a very long one.
A long life spent ruling the world with her at his side. When he got too old then she would still be at his side, of course, and he would leave the world to his Son. Then he and Shigeko could live out the rest of their, well his, days together. Just him and her and their children, well her children that he would help her raise, and maybe whatever man she chose for her husband if he couldn't figure out a way to send him away without arousing her suspicions. She wouldn't need a husband but there was something to be said about romantic companionship…not that he would be saying anything to her about that. No, she was too young for either of them to say anything about that. She was only eleven years old.
Almost twelve.
She would be twelve soon, her birthday was next. She would be twelve and…well she would still be too young for any of that. Too young to be thinking about finding someone and settling down….or whatever else she would want a man for. She wasn't Sho, she didn't have that on her mind, women didn't…well they did….but not in the same way that men did. They worried about marriage and houses and children and not the rest of it…well they did….but not in the same capacity as men did. Yes Shigeko was getting older. She was worrying about her appearance and getting taller and all of that but she was still a child. She still worried about dolls and playing games and…well…the things that someone her age should have been worried about.
Like throwing birthday parties.
"You don't have to knock, dad. Never at the front door when you're visiting your friends and especially not at your birthday party." Said Shigeko as she opened the door for him. He followed her inside and slipped off his shoes. He….seldom visited her friends. Well he had friends here too, the word still felt odd after all this time, but he seldom if ever came here….and for good reason.
This was a place of chaos pure and simple.
"Shimazaki! You know that's not for you! Come on!" said Shibata. There was a crash following his words. A crash, some profanity, and two auras that seemed to be fighting it out. That was…his home was never like this. At least when Sho wasn't around….and maybe Sho would have been happier over here. He did cause a lot of chaos in the home…and Shigeko did like peace….
But she also liked having her brother around for some reason so he decided not to voice that thought.
"See? I told you that he'd try to steal your food…but I guess that this is my fault…anyway, come on. Don't be nervous." Said Shigeko as she took his hand.
"I am not nervous." Said Suzuki as Shigeko led him to the kitchen. He wasn't. He knew these people, he had been living in close proximity to them for years, and anyway he was the one with all the power there. It wasn't at all like when he'd been younger…those had been the times when he'd been nervous. He wasn't nervous at all now…and he had no reason to be….he didn't. He was Suzuki Touichirou, President of Claw and most powerful man on Earth, it took more than a birthday party to make him nervous….and more than the company of others, as well….
He was fine.
"Hey Mob, President Suzuki." Said Minegishi as they walked past him and Shigeko. The patted Shigeko on the head as they passed. A gesture of affection. Something that he had seen pass between them…a very nice gesture. Shigeko deserved affection and…and the reason he stopped in his tracks was that…well they did not seem like they were the affectionate type….but they were…and it was….nice.
Shigeko needed someone like that in her life….someone motherly like that….
"Dad. You don't have to be nervous. I'll be right here, ok? And so will Hatori and Serizawa….well he's going to be more nervous than you….but you'll be ok." Said Shigeko
"I told you already, I'm not nervous." Said Suzuki as he resumed walking. He wasn't. He could share a meal with someone. He could share a meal with a lot of…someones. He could do this….and he did do this. He let Shigeko lead him to a spot at the table where an omelet was waiting for him and a stack of pancakes as well…well the stack was leaning precariously….and also they were grey in color…..
If Shigeko wanted him to be here then he would be here.
"Happy birthday, President Suzuki!" said Shibata as he turned from the stove. He nearly sent Minegishi to the ground. Suzuki didn't think, he just caught them…and so did Shigeko. Right, she could catch her friend on her own…so maybe the best thing to do would have been to let them go….
It was difficult but he did it.
"Yeah, happy birthday….and thanks, I guess." Said Minegishi with much less enthusiasm. They took their plate from Shibata and sat in the seat at the other side of the table…farthest from where he was sitting. Not that it bothered him. No, they could sit wherever they wanted to…well he could have asked them to sit beside him…but that would have been odd…
Also that was Shigeko's seat….which she took, so there. It was a moot point.
Two halves of the table were taken up now. Shibata was still at the stove making…something which smelled sweet. Hopefully Shigeko would not be expecting him to eat that. She knew how he felt about sweet foods. He couldn't stand them, nothing overly sweet anyway. Sugarless cheesecake was good. Cream cheese and jelly sandwiches were also tolerable. Grapefruit was good….there were things that he could eat. Masami had said, before, that feeding him was more difficult than feeding the children. That hadn't been entirely fair…there were foods that he could eat and these…well he could eat this…and he would. Even though the pancakes were grey for some reason he would eat this…because it would make Shigeko happy.
But only after everyone else sat down. That was just good manners.
"Look who I found! Come on, Serizawa, say happy birthday to our President and current birthday boy." Said Shimazaki as he followed the shift in the room's energy which signaled his arrival. He teleported into the middle of the kitchen with Serizawa in tow….a very agitated Serizawa in tow…
Suzuki could fix that.
He took in the extra energy that Serizawa was putting out. He always had to do that when they were in close proximity to one another. For his own sanity, mostly, since that much ambient energy was just…a lot. His aura was bright. Like his and Shigeko's. Serizawa really had that potential to be someone powerful…but his control was the worst that Suzuki had ever seen. Even compared to himself as a child Serizawa didn't even come close. He certainly didn't come close to Shigeko's level of control and she actually WAS a child…but that was alright. Suzuki could fix this. Serizawa was Shigeko's friend after all, her companion, and he made her happy…
And Suzuki wanted nothing more in this life than his Daughter's happiness…and also world domination, of course.
"Happy….happy birthday, President Suzuki!" stuttered out Serizawa as he was deposited into the seat beside Shigeko. She reached out and gave his hand and his aura a reassuring pat.
"Shimazaki, come on, you know that I'm the only one who can wake him. Me or Hatori." Said Shigeko. She held Serizawa's hand while she spoke….but she also looked at Shimazaki. He wanted to tell her to stop looking at him, she didn't need to, and it didn't matter if she looked at him or not when she spoke to him. He couldn't tell…or maybe he could, Suzuki had never sat down and asked him how it all worked, but…well there were a thousand other people for Shigeko to look at and Shimazaki Ryou did not have to be one to them. He had no idea what she even saw in him…well he was incredibly tall and fit….but so were other people like….well he didn't want her around any men who were tall and fit…so just…she needed to look somewhere else!
Like at Hatori. It didn't matter if she looked at him since he would never be able to return her feelings….if she had them.
"What about Hatori?" asked Hatori as he stretched and walked into the kitchen. Shigeko looked his way now…which was better than her looking at Shimazaki…but really she had no reason to look at Hatori either. At least until he got dressed…or something more approaching dressed than what he was in now.
"Mob's pissed that I beat you and her to waking Serizawa up." Said Shimazaki
"Yeah…maybe don't do that…." Said Hatori as he sat down on the other side of Suzuki. His aura had pulled in closely there, close enough to avoid Serizawa. A fear response. That made sense. Serizawa could have lost control at any moment…though Suzuki did wish that Hatori put more faith in him…not that Hatori knew just what he could do. No, not even Fukuda knew the full extent of his powers and he was going to keep it that way.
"We like being alive, Ryou." Said Minegishi rolling their eyes even though there was no point to it…or maybe there was. There was a sort of….shimmer…to their aura when they did that. What little aura they had. That was a trait that espers like them had, ones who's powers relied on outside manipulatives. Their aura was small and spread out. There was a bit of them in all of the plants in that room. The spider plants hanging from the ceiling, the indoor herb garden on the windowsill, the flowers on the table….Minegishi felt like they were positively everywhere around him.
It was a good feeling.
"God, I try to be helpful for once in my life and this is how-" said Shimazaki
"Hatori, you forgot to say 'happy birthday' to my dad." Said Shigeko
"Oh, fuck…sorry. Happy Birthday Suzu-President Suzuki. Sorry." said Hatori quickly. Suzuki frowned but said nothing about the cursing. Telling people not to curse was like telling the tide not to come in. Sure he could stop it but, really, it took more effort than it was worth.
"You also forgot to put pants on." Said Minegishi
"Fuck! Sorry! Just-" said Hatori as he got up. He hit the table as he got up but Shigeko managed to catch it and keep it still before the thought of doing so even entered Suzuki's mind. She was younger than him and her reflexes were better…and that was fine. The strangest thought entered his mind, well strange thoughts had always entered his mind since he had been aware of his own thoughts, but this thought was one of the strangest. Shigeko, if she ever got the idea in her head, could have…well she wasn't her brother but if she ever got the idea in her head to fight him then…well her reaction time was very good…but that thought was insane. This was Shigeko.
She didn't think those sorts of thoughts.
She wasn't a violent person. That was why he had never taught her naginata or kendo, since women could do kendo these days, because she would not have enjoyed it…and also he would not have enjoyed teaching her. He didn't think that he could strike her, with or without armor on, and he knew that she would never have been able to strike at him. Sho was different. He would have loved kendo…but he would have been terrible at it. He did not have the discipline for it…and also the last thing that boy needed was a shinai in his hands. No, he would be more likely to terrorize his sister with it than an opponent…and also he had struck her in the face with a shinai once years ago…but Shigeko didn't seem to care. Holding grudges was also not in her nature. Caring for people, being kind to hem, that was in her nature.
He loved her for that. She could do the things that he could not. She complimented him in that way.
"Sit down, I don't care." Said Suzuki. He really didn't….well not terribly. If anything he felt overdressed now…and also Shigeko was there….but she didn't really seem to care. Her biggest problem seemed to be Serizawa. She was patting him on the hand again and handing him his cutlery with her powers. He wondered if he was going to ask her to cut his food for him. How a grown man could be so helpless Suzuki could not know…
But better helpless than…well…like some of the other people at this table.
"Wait, so he doesn't have to wear pants? Why do I have to wear clothes if he doesn't have to wear clothes?" asked Shimazaki. Now there was someone who should have been helpless….not that he would have wanted Shigeko help Shimazaki in the many, MANY, ways that she helped Serizawa. He knew that Shigeko had come to her senses and was no longer interested in Shimazaki, Suzuki was not a religious man but he thanked God every day for that, but…well seeing her with him would have been too much. He had been interested in Shigeko, maybe, probably, and….well Shigeko did not need to be with a man who was interested in her! No, wait, that didn't make sense…because if he was not interested in her then why would he have pursued her….well men were not allowed to pursue her….but she could pursue them…
So he would just find whatever man she was pursuing and make him an offer he couldn't refuse. There. Problem solved…just so long as that problem was never Shimazaki Ryou.
"Because he's not covered in tattoos, Ryou." Said Minegishi as they spooned some fruit onto their plate of grey pancakes. Shimazaki took the spoon from them…and they allowed this…and then he picked up where they left off. He…had no idea why they would let him do this…since they were more than capable of spooning their own food onto their pancakes and….and he had no idea why he wanted to flip the table over…
He didn't, of course, because he was forty five, not five.
"You know he could be. Hatori could be covered in tattoos and we've just never seen them because-" said Shimazaki as he put the spoon back into the bowl and then folded Minegishi's pancake over for them. That was not how you ate a pancake…and also…also they could have done that for themselves…..and also if they had asked he could have done that for them…and with his powers too so they didn't have to deal with someone in their space like Shimazaki was. He really was too far into their space. Suzuki had never even sat so close to Masami during meals and she had been his wife.
"I'm not!" said Hatori. Suzuki held the table down that time. Honestly. Young people were so overly dramatic…not that he wasn't still young…well he wasn't. He was forty five…old enough to be Hatori's father….so maybe it would have been more accurate to say that children were overly dramatic.
"We would still like you if you were….but only as friends. Only ever as friends." Said Shigeko. This time she reached across and patted Hatori on the hand. That was…well he knew that Hatori would never accept her feelings…and she had sworn, before, that she no longer had those feelings for him…but it would have been easier if she did. Then that would have been alright. She would have had someone she wanted to be with and then Suzuki could have told Hatori to be with her, and he would have had no other choice but to obey, and then it would have been good too because he would have had no attraction towards Shigeko…yes….that would have all worked out perfectly…
But things so rarely worked out perfectly…or even easily.
"So…breakfast time?" asked Minegishi as they reached over the table and took Shigeko's hand off of Hatori's. Shigeko pulled her hand back and looked down at her plate. She must have been hungry. Suzuki knew that he was….or at least he would have been if the pancakes hadn't been grey….and he had no idea why they were that color. Food dye? But why grey of all colors….red would have been better...red was the best color after all…
"I'm almost done….there. Fruit in syrup if anyone wants it." Said Shibata as he put another bowl next to the fruit bowl. This bowl had fruit in some kind of sweet smelling syrup. The other bowl just had cut up fruit in it. Minegishi said nothing. They simply used the hanging vine of a spider plant to drag the bowl of fruit, it looked like strawberries, over to themselves…which was odd because he had heard them say before, clearly, that sugar was poison. Sugar was poison and…yet here they were, eating sugary foods…and he had no idea why there were doing that….
They were truly fascinating.
"Wait! We should do presents first! I mean….me and Sho always do presents first." Said Shigeko. Minegishi put their folded over pancake down and sighed before pulling a wrapped square out from under the table. A present…for him. They had gotten him something….a gift. They had gotten him a gift….
What did that mean?
Did that mean…well he knew that it was his birthday so it must have just been a birthday present and those had no real meaning….and also he knew that he paid their salary so really he was getting himself a gift but…but they had gone and gotten him something when they hadn't had to. He also knew, from Shigeko and his own observations, that they were frequently exhausted….so that meant that they had ignored their own exhaustion and gotten him something…
The table jumped again…and he only had himself to blame.
"My presence is presents enough." Said Shimazaki
"But that's-" said Shigeko
"I honestly don't care either way." said Suzuki. He didn't care if he got anything from anyone…well anyone other than Shigeko. She always got him a new shirt or a new tie or something like that. He liked Sho's gifts as well, he always gave him a hand drawn card….but not this year. This year he was….well Sho was away with Fukuda living his own life….and he didn't care. Sho was a good artist, that was what he cared about, and his work was always impressive but Suzuki had folders up folders filled with his work so…so this year's card would be no great loss….
Really he didn't care if he got anything at all for his birthday….from anyone…anyone but Shigeko.
"But…here. I got you this." said Shigeko. She pulled a smaller bag out of her bag. Not the one she always wore over her shoulder, no, her backpack. So that was why she had brought it. Shigeko…she was so thoughtful. He felt the bag. Glossy. The front said 'happy birthday'. He knew this bag, it had be reused form Sho's birthday. He didn't mind. It wasn't the bag that mattered, it was what was in it….mostly likely another shirt…
He was right…and he was wrong as well.
"Aw, Mob. That's a great gift….hang on, let me take a picture." Said Shibata as he fumbled through his pockets presumably for his phone. Suzuki didn't see what was so…photographable….about this. Shigeko had just gotten him a birthday present. She had just gotten him a new t-shirt…and now he had another…and this one was….
He loved this shirt.
"I've got it." Said Hatori. He pulled his phone out quickly and Suzuki could hear a series of shutter noises even though phones had no shutters. That made no sense…not much of this made sense. He remembered this part of the birthday ritual well. Mother had done the same thing. She had taken photographs of him holding up every single gift he got….for some reason. He didn't understand it. Not when he'd been a child and not now as an adult…
But Shigeko was leaning in close and she was smiling and that was what mattered.
"Wow, it's amazing! I've never seen anything like it!" said Shimazaki. Minegishi elbowed him in the side.
"Get a new shtick, Ryou. The blind jokes are getting boring." Said Minegishi
"I can feel you smiling, Toshi, and that's what matters." Said Shimazaki. They were not smiling….well they were…but they should not have been. That hadn't been funny…not at all…and Minegishi did not have to humor him like that.
"Do you like it, dad?" asked Shigeko. Suzuki nodded. He really did. This was a new t-shirt, it was soft, and there was no tag. All perfect. She knew how much he hated tags…and clothes which weren't sot…and she knew that he had started wearing t-shirts for the first time in his life…and just with all of those it would have been perfect but….well even if it had been rough and itchy and with the biggest tag in the world right at that itchy part of his neck….it still would have been perfect…just for what it said.
World's greatest dad….yes, he was the world's greatest dad now wasn't he?
"Yes. It's perfect. Thank you, Shigeko." said Suzuki. Shigeko leaned over and hugged him. He held her back. Even though it felt strange, holding her with other people watching, he still did it. For her. He made her happy, that was his job.
He was the world's best dad after all.
"Well there's no way I'm going to be able to top that. Happy birthday, Suzuki…you don't have to hug me." Said Hatori as he handed him a parcel wrapped in paper that Suzuki strongly suspected had been left over from Christmas. He tore along the tape. That was how you were supposed to open a present. You were supposed to tear along the paper to keep it nice. Like mother had taught him. It took a moment but…well that was how presents were meant to be opened.
This was why he much preferred gift bags.
"Now I'm regretting wrapping mine." Said Minegishi. They reached into their front pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He made eye contact with them. They held it. They held eye contact with him and lit their cigarette. Suzuki got the distinct feeling that he had just been challenged….and he didn't even know why.
"Here, dad, let me help. If you rip the paper it goes faster….especially since Hatori used so much tape." Said Shigeko as she took his present from him. He let her. She was much faster at this than he was….and also if she wanted to open his present then he had no reason to stop her. If he couldn't stop her from drinking and smoking, and he hoped that she wasn't about to start up again with either, then how could he stop her from opening up his birthday present.
Besides, he was happy to see her smile like that.
"Sorry….I'm the one who wrapped it…sorry. I've never done that before and-" said Serizawa
"It's ok, Serizawa, dad's just very particular about how he unwraps his presents. Here, it's done now, see? Dad got another shirt…and now I wish that I had gotten something else." Said Shigeko as she handed him his new shirt. This was another Space Invaders shirt. Defending the Galaxy since 1973….wait…
"This is a misprint. This game wasn't invented until 1978." Said Suzuki
"It's for your birthday. You know, since you were born in 1973?" asked Hatori. Suzuki blinked. He got that. That was actually kind of funny. He didn't laugh, though, he couldn't laugh. Not like how normal people laughed. It was more like rapid and heavy breathing. It was unpleasant to hear. That was why he didn't do that.
His aura gave enough away.
"Oh. That's very clever and funny. Thank you very much Hatori." Said Suzuki
"Picture! Hang on, we need to take a picture." Said Shibata as he finally got his phone from his pocket. Hatori leaned in close but, true to his word, did not hug him. It was a good picture, or at least he would have been if not for the shift in the energy around them. He felt Shimazaki behind him…but as quick as he appeared he disappeared back into his chair. Minegishi rolled their eyes but said nothing. That was…he had no idea what they meant by that…and also he had no idea why he cared how they reacted to Shimazaki…or to anything. He didn't care about them…and he had no reason to stare at them…or care when they shoved a gift in his direction.
He did care. He cared a lot.
He made sure that his aura did not give it away. This feeling that he had that he knew that he should not have had. This feeling that he knew that he should have exorcised long ago. He…well he didn't know how to exorcise it. This feeling usually went away on it's own…in time. He had no idea how much time it would take…and how much he had…and he didn't want to think about this anymore. About her anymore. About THEM anymore. He just…he focused on opening his gift and….
Oh.
"Memorize it." Said Minegishi. Suzuki nodded and stared down at what he had been given. He had no idea what he had been expecting, well another shirt maybe, or maybe….well he had no idea what he had been expecting but he should have known to expect a book. Minegishi loved to read. He had seen them reading, whenever he had seen them, and they hadn't been playing with Shigeko or caring for her in some way. They loved to read so of course they would have wanted to hare that love of reading with others….and he counted as others…but why him? Why him more than anyone else? Why…why had they thought about him in that way?
They thought about him.
The thought makes him feel like….well he knows that it makes no logical sense but the thought makes him feel like he needs to run away. He feels like he needs to run for his life…and hide…but also be there. She had…THEY had….thought of him. They had thought of him and they hadn't had to and…and this was…this was….
"You're supposed to say 'thanks' dad." Said Shigeko. Right. He had been thinking for too long. If he had lost track of the time then it had been too long. Right. This was….he needed to ground himself. Nothing had started to float, nothing had broken, and….yes. He hadn't embarrassed himself…and now all he had to do was say thank you and then get could eat and then begin his day….there….he could do that…..
"Thank…thank you, Minegishi." Said Suzuki. They raised the space where an eyebrow would be and then ashed their cigarette right on the floor…a habit that Shigeko had picked up from them it seemed…but that was…well he hated smoking but they did it and…and he could look past that…not that he had to but…well it seemed like something that he could look past…
Not that he knew why he would have to look past that.
"Just memorize it." Said Minegishi. Suzuki nodded and looked down….'Parenting Made Easy'…well then. That was…he knew how to parent his children. He was doing a great job parenting his children. Shigeko thought so and…well he had already accepted the gift and…well women knew more about these things so…so he would read and memorize this book.
Even though he didn't really want to.
"Minegishi always says that when they give someone a book. They don't mean anything by that so….um….let's eat. Thanks for the food!" said Shigeko before she pulled her plate close and began to eat. Everyone followed suit, Suzuki included. It was easier to follow her lead. She knew about these things, birthdays and such, and he….well he would always follow her lead.
He didn't get much enjoyment out of these birthday rituals….but today…was…somewhat enjoyable. Just somewhat.