Suzuki did not always have the best ideas.

He had thought, though, that he had gotten all of his bad idea out of his system already. Digging tunnels under his childhood home….trying to give himself radiation sickness in order to become immune to radiation, flying into space under his own power, pretty much the entirety of his adolescence had been one bad idea after another. He was forty five years old now and he should have been at the point in life where he was capable of thinking things through.

Obviously he was not.

This had been….an idea. He'd had an idea and without being able to run it past everyone, something he had to do on occasion since even he was not infallible, he had decided to just…go with it. This. Whatever this was. Well it was a Sunday. It was a Sunday and he normally spent his Sundays with Shigeko. Those used to be their only days together but…well he enjoyed spending time with Shigeko. They spent time together during the week but Sunday was always their day.

Or at least it had been.

"Minegishi! That plant just ate a bug!" said Shigeko. She reached over and tugged on her friend. She…they. They were a they. They let themselves be tugged over to whatever miracle of nature Shigeko had just seen. Carnivorous plants…what a species. Plants that needed to eat. If they needed to eat then did they also need to sleep? And did they feel pain? And think?

He didn't know.

Minegishi would have known…but he didn't dare ask her. Them. He didn't know how he would even begin to speak to them. They were….well technically they worked for him and he was free to say whatever he wanted to them whenever he wanted to speak to them but…but he didn't know what to say. What if he ended up saying something stupid? What if he ended up embarrassing himself? Or….or damaging Shigeko's relationship with her best friend and mother figure? Yes, that one was much less selfish of him. He didn't want to damage Shigeko's relationship with her mother figure and best friend…and that was why he didn't speak to Minegishi.

There. That was a normal and rational reason.

"That's a Venus flytrap, Mob, you've seen me make those." Said Minegishi. They sounded….well to him they sounded bored…but their aura told another story. He had never seen their aura so…bright. It shone brightly not only from them but from the plants that surrounded them to. That made sense.

They were in a greenhouse after all.

This had been his idea. Bringing Shigeko here, not brining Minegishi. He knew that Shigeko could control them and he knew that she liked them…well she must have liked them. She and Minegishi gardened together all the time, even indoors during the wintertime. Shigeko had shown him photograph after photograph of her and Minegishi's creations…so bring her to a greenhouse had been a good idea at the time.

And letting her bring her friend alone…well that had been a good idea too.

"I've seen you make plants like these but the ones you make are a lot smaller and also these don't move as fast….and also these don't eat people….but the ones that you make can't eat people…can they? I mean that's just something that you say to people to scare them….right?" asked Shigeko. Minegishi could and had, many times before, fed people to their plants. Suzuki had almost been on the receiving end of that years and years ago when he had first met them. They had almost become a Scar…almost.

They were better than that.

Their powers were limited and versatile at the same time. They were a powerful esper in their own right. They were just….that was the first thing that he had noticed about them. That had been the only thing that he had noticed about them. He hadn't cared for them back then…not that he cared for them now! He just…was happy that they spent time with Shigeko and cared for her and…and he did not care for Minegishi in any way.

He was just…grateful to them…and happy that Shigeko was having fun being with her friend.

"I do say that to scare people…but if I wanted to then I could easily feed a person to my plants. But I won't do that to anyone in the house. Alright? Now watch the plants eat." Said Minegishi. They reached over and ran their hand through Shigeko's hair. That was a show of affection. He never would have taken them for being affectionate…but he never would have taken them for anything. Before.

He supposed that they had to be affectionate to work with plants.

Women who gardened were affectionate….or at least the ones that he knew. He knew two women, well three if Shigeko counted as a woman, but no….Shigeko was in her own category. She was nowhere near the same category as Minegishi and Shiori…if the two of them were even in the same category…well they were both people who gardened who were women…in his life…in different parts of his life…not that he had any woman in his life besides Masami…

Not that she was in his life anymore…or that she ever would be….

"It's cool…but kind of gross." Said Shigeko. Suzuki agreed with her but said nothing. There was something disturbing about watching a plant eat. Fascinating but disturbing. He wondered how Shiori felt about carnivorous plants he had never asked her. Right now she was focusing on her indoor herb garden. He wondered if she could make tiny trees like Minegishi could…they could make any tree tiny….they were fascinating like that.

Women in general were very fascinating.

"How is it gross? It eats meat and you eat meat." Said Minegishi. Suzuki nodded even though he was a distance away. Minegishi did have a point. They ate meat and therefore there was nothing wrong with eating meat so therefore there was nothing disturbing about a carnivorous plant. There. That made sense. They were meat and meat was meat so…yes…it made sense…and he wanted to agree with them. He wanted to walk over and join their conversation and….and that would have been a terrible idea.

He didn't need to have Fukuda there beside him to tell him that he'd just had a terrible idea.

"Bugs aren't meat." Said Shigeko. That was another good point. Did bugs even count as meat? Fukuda would have known. He was good at these things, these social sort of things. He wanted Fukuda to be there but only because he needed someone to…help him join the conversation. He didn't have anything other that he wanted to say or do….and even then he just wanted to join the conversation for Shigeko's sake. That was all. He just…the only reason he was eve listening was because…she was his Daughter and if he wanted to listen to her conversation then he would!

And he wanted to listen for…reasons…which he did not need to explain to anyone. Even himself.

"They are….and anyway you've probably eaten bugs before." Said Minegishi. Suzuki recoiled. He couldn't help it, his aura flared, and Minegishi's aura glanced in his direction before focusing on Shigeko. He wondered what they thought of him. They must have thought something…or something. They had looked at him and…and he didn't know why he cared what they thought. He didn't, they could think whatever they wanted about him…and he hadn't been strange anyway. That was a normal reaction to have when he heard someone talking about eating insects.

Disgusting.

"Minegishi!? I-I've never once ate a bug. Sho has but he was dared…he dared himself….but he was really little then." Said Shigeko. Suzuki…he remember that day. Well he remembered Masami telling him about that day. She had been upset that Sho had done that. She had been upset with herself for not watching him, she had said that she felt bad because she couldn't be everywhere at once…so he had suggested that they get a nanny or some other kind of servant to help her…

And then she had rolled over and told him that she was going to bed…and to this day he had no idea why she had gone to bed so early in the day.

"I don't think that he was that little last week." Said Minegishi. There was an intake of their aura, there, it moved towards them and hen away. Sort of like a laugh. There was a smile, a small one, tugging at the corners of their mouth. He could see it in their eyes, in the way they squinted down for just a moment, that they had been about to laugh.

Either that or it was too bright in there for them.

He chose to believe, though, that they had been laughing. They had been laughing and…and he loved it when women laughed. Their entire face softened when they laughed. That was…that had been…he had liked that. They were pretty when they smiled…well they were pretty now, too, with their face and their aura back to normal…

How had he gone so long without noticing how pretty they were?

Well he had noticed a while ago…well not a while, a few months ago…and that was fine. Understanding his own emotions…that had never been a strength of his….but he was confident in the fact that while he found them attractive he was not attracted to them. It was easy for a person to get those two confused, even he had been confused for a time, but he knew that he didn't find them attractive. He couldn't. They were…an employee of his…and young enough that they could have been his child…if he had done something stupid in high school…..and also they were Shigeko's friend and it would have been odd for her.

And also he was married.

He was married to Masami and he loved her and…and he was going to stop looking at Minegishi. He looked down at the leafy plant beside him. There was water collected in the leaves. That was due to the humidity. This room was warm and humid….far too warm and far too humid. He undid the top button on his shirt quickly….it was too hot in there. He looked back down at the water on the leaves.

He needed a drink.

"Not last week…well I don't think that it was last week…but one time when we were little, I think I was four and he was three, the yard was all full of worms because of the rain and then Sho dared himself to eat one." said Shigeko

"Did he?" asked Minegishi. There it was again, that smile from them. He had no idea what was so funny about that. The absurdity of it, maybe, was what was funny. Shigeko didn't seem to think so…so maybe Minegishi just had an odd sense of humor. They were an odd person. Their hair, their lack of eyebrows, their clothing….everything. They were just an odd person…and that was the only reason he was…watching them. Fascinated with them.

They were a fascinating person.

"He did." Said Shigeko

"Honest to God?" asked Minegishi

"Yes…..but he didn't get sick." Said Shigeko

"Yeah, all of that sounds like your brother." Said Minegishi

"He doesn't do that anymore…and also he's the one who eats bugs, not me." Said Shigeko

"You know that there are tiny bugs in just about everything that you eat, right?" asked Minegishi. Suzuki shuddered. His body and his aura. He knew that there were most likely insets I many of the things that he ate…and he never wanted to think about that again. He wanted to put that fact back down, deep down, in the recesses of his mind. How could they have just…said something like that? How could they had just said something like that with that same placid expression on their face and their aura?

They were fascinating.

"That's….you're just trying to scare me." Said Shigeko

"No, I'm you the truth. If you chose to be scared by that then it's your choice. Me? I accept it." Said Minegishi. Shigeko was the one who was making sense out of the two of them…well Minegishi made sense too. They had a point. There was nothing that any of them could do about the insects in the food, at least not yet, so why even bother getting upset? Like his father had told him, before, there was no point in getting upset over the things that you couldn't change.

He had said that after mother had spent the past two days locked in her studio but…well that was applicable to this and any other situations that came up.

"You…accept that…sometimes you end up eating bugs?" asked Shigeko

"I try and accept the things I have no control over." Said Minegishi. They looked at him when they said that. Suzuki looked away and pretending to look at the leafy plants beside him. They had made eye contact! And aural contact! That was…well it was polite to make eye contact. Aural contact was largely involuntary. They hadn't meant to do that….and that was just…he needed to stop looking into this. If Fukuda had been there he would have told him that he was being ridiculous….and he would have told Fukuda that he was not ridiculous….and then…well they would have been younger when this hypothetical conversation would have occurred. Adolescents.

That was what he was acting like now, an adolescent.

"But….bugs?" asked Shigeko

"There are worse things than bugs." Said Minegishi. They made, purposely made, eye contact with him there. They had purposely made eye contact and aural contact and…and he had no idea what it meant. He held it with them. They held it with him. There was…something there. He felt like there was something there. There was something…he had no idea what was there but he knew that it was something….

Or maybe he was just being ridiculous.

They were just looking in his direction. If they had something to say to him then they would have said it. They were a very direct person, he liked that. He had thought, for his entire life, that women were difficult to understand…and they were…but they could make themselves understood. Minegishi was good at that and so was Shiori…

Not that he was thinking of Shiori now…or Minegishi….or anyone other than his daughter…since this was his and Shigeko's day.

"Um….I guess but I don't know….um….I'm going to go and see how my dad….how he's doing." Said Shigeko. She was walking over to him now. Her steps were unsteady as usual, despite the temperature she was still wearing those boots. She walked over to him slowly….and part of him wished that she could hurry it…and another part of him wished that she would slow down. He felt guilty…he had no idea what this guilt was…

He hadn't done anything.

Well he had…but not to her. Fukuda had even said that the guilt that he'd felt after Shiori…it had been misplaced. He had no reason to feel guilty towards her. Masami, yes, but not her…and she had no idea what had happened anyway…and nothing had happened now so this guilt was illogical and he had to exorcise it. He had to exorcise this guilt because it was useless and he had nothing to feel guilty about and…and this mental space was better filled with something else.

Like Shigeko.

"Shigeko." said Suzuki as she finally made her way to him. He looked past her for a moment. Minegishi was there, where they had been, but not they were running their hand across the plants. She ran her hands up and down the leaves and they bloomed to life. Greens…bright greens…and small flowers too. Pink ones. He wondered what those had meant…pink flowers…

Maybe he was just being ridiculous.

"Hi dad." Said Shigeko as she tugged on his sleeve. He looked down…and then away from her. There it was, that illogical guilt. He couldn't look her in the eyes. He knew that she couldn't read minds, she would have left him years ago if she could have, and he knew that she…well even if she did know what went through his mind…since she was young and….and….

And he needed to say something.

"Do you need something?" asked Suzuki. There. That was….well that was the only reason why she would have been there. She…she wanted to be with him but….he needed some space between the two of them. At least until this guilt passed. At least until his thoughts went back to something….well something that made sense…

He was not making sense right now…and he hated it.

"Are you alright, dad?" asked Shigeko. Suzuki nodded. He was fine. He was…he was lying. He was not fine. He was as far from fine as a person could get without being maimed or seriously injured.

"Fine. Yourself?" asked Suzuki with a swallow. He…right. He just needed something to drink. He needed something to drink and…and he was just too warm and…and that was why he was…the way he was.

"I'm ok, kind of hot though….but that's because it's a greenhouse." Said Shigeko

"It is." Said Suzuki. There. She agreed. It was way too warm in there. He could feel his shirt clinging to him. He wanted to take his suit coat off but then…well he knew that he had sweated through his shirt. He would have looked ridiculous. Maybe he cared too much about how he was seen. Minegishi didn't seem to care. They had sweated through their t-shirt. It clung to them and they didn't seem to care at all. Their hair was plastered to their head…her shirt clung to her…and she didn't even pull it way from her skin…

"I hate everyone." Said Shigeko suddenly. Suzuki…did not shatter the greenhouse. The roof cracked, it was a sudden sound, but it did not shatter. He did not let the room shatter. He just…he had to stay calm. For the sake of his daughter, his Shigeko, he did not lose control. He just…had to get to the bottom of this.

Why she would say something so terrible.

"What did you just say?" asked Suzuki slowly. Maybe he had just…misheard her…or something. That would have made sense. She didn't hate everyone. She didn't have it in her to hate anyone. She was like that…she was like Masami in that way.

"Minegishi's shirt. It says 'I hate everybody' in English. They don't really hate everybody though, that's just something that's on their shirt. They're actually a really nice person." Said Shigeko. She….was right. Shigeko…was right. That was what Minegishi had on the front of their shirt…written across their cheat…where he had been staring for long enough that his DAUGHTER had noticed….

He felt…guilty…and vaguely….unpleasant.

"I-I'm sure that they are….Shigeko….so why don't you go and spend time with your friend now?" asked Suzuki. He gave her a slight push with his powers. He just…he needed to get away from Shigeko right now…and Minegishi. He needed…he needed some space. This was…a small greenhouse…well it wasn't but it felt small. He just…he needed space to himself right now. Space enough to get his thoughts back in order.

It was too hot, that was all.

He was way too hot and he needed space and….and that was why he had been staring at Shigeko's best friend. Minegishi was…a person…and they had…some attractive features…which he had noticed and…yes. He had noticed and…and that was normal. It had been a bad idea for him to act on it, if even to stare, but it had been normal. He just…he had normal ideas which were terrible…that was all…he just had terrible ideas….

Like letting Shigeko bring Minegishi out with them on a Sunday. That had truly been a terrible idea.