Suzuki Touichirou did not like sunroofs.

But Shigeko had taken it upon herself to give one to the Seventh Division. There was a gaping hole, there, in the west corner. That would have to be fixed…that entire wing would have to be fixed. Demolished and rebuilt. The entire building may not even have been structurally sound. The floors beneath had been partially caved in. The dead…well there were dead but they were Awakened so they didn't matter. He had plenty of Awakened already and plenty more in other divisions. They were the most replaceable members of Claw…well everyone was replaceable…

Everyone but Shigeko.

"President Suzuki! I know this looks bad-" said Ishiguro, the Division Leader. He was living proof that age did not always bring with it wisdom. If he had the wisdom that a man his age should have he would have known that the best thing to do would have been to stay FAR away from Suzuki right now. The others did. Everyone but Hatori…well he needed Hatori with him now. He was smart, smarter than he looked, and his presence was calming….

Suzuki needed all the calming that he could get right now.

"No. This doesn't look bad. There aren't any words in the Japanese language for how this looks." Said Suzuki. Without resorting to profanity…he could not express how bad this was. The entire wing would have to be rebuilt. The cost would be astronomical…well they were going back into the red for the foreseeable future…but money wasn't even his greatest issue. Shigeko was. Her aura…it hung in the air…which meant that she was still alive…

Which was more than could be said for a lot of people.

"Really fucking bad?" asked Hatori. Suzuki tapped his aura…but just a tap. A light one. Hatori…was young enough that he didn't know any better than to slip into profanity. He was little more than one of the children, really, one of his children…where even were his children? Shigeko…had probably been taken to the makeshift medical wing that had been set up…but Sho…who cared?

He was alive, probably, and beyond that Suzuki didn't give a damn. Sho wasn't a priority right now. Suzuki had at least a hundred problems right here and Sho was not one of them.

"Don't curse….but yes. That is how this looks." Said Suzuki. He had to have that fixed…the entire wing demolished and built again…which would take time…and labor…and then he would have to move all of these people around since they couldn't live here anymore…at least not most of them…and without this Division then the Awakened…the new division in Australia wasn't done yet…but it would have to do….and Shigeko would probably…she had been the cause of this…and she was gone and…

And he had to stay calm.

Tadashi. It would have been easier if Tadashi was here. Suzuki's aura reached out for Hatori's….and it was nice, the grounding presence of another person, but there as something….missing…there. There was just something that Tadashi had and Hatori…did not…and he had no idea what that something was but it was something which could pull him off the brink of…THIS. This feeling….bubbling up there….just under his skin. He wanted to kill everyone. He didn't, obviously, because that would have been counterproductive to his goals…but he so wanted to. The Awakened lining up the dead and covering them in shets, the Scars arguing amongst themselves, the Division leader doing his best to grovel to him, Tadashi's lying…self….he wanted to kill them all….but he didn't….

That would not have been a logical move…and he needed to operate from a place of logic now…and not emotion….

"We can fix it! Don't worry, I already have a team on it. We just have to finish counting the dead and then we can get to work fixing the hole in the roof." Said Ishiguro

"The entire area is structurally unsound….demolish the entire wing and start again." said Suzuki

"The entire wing?" asked Ishiguro

"Yes. Are you deaf? Take off your mask, in that case, because I am not accustomed to repeating myself." Said Suzuki

"He's in a bad mood right now." Said Hatori. Suzuki…well that was helpful…a little annoying….but helpful. He didn't always show what he was feeling, not in a way that people could read, so it was helpful of Hatori to inform Ishiguro that Suzuki really was not in a good mood at all…in fact he was in an extremely foul mood….he needed Shigeko. He needed to be near her and….and she was around….he could feel her…everywhere!

He needed his Daughter.

"Hatori will take things from here." Said Suzuki. He put his hand on Hatori's back just between his shoulder blades and pushed him forward. He stumbled a bit, Suzuki caught him with his powers, and then he managed to stumble again despite not moving at all. Hatori was…uncoordinated….but Suzuki had complete faith in him.

He was an intelligent boy when it came to it. Suzuki trusted his judgement completely.

"M-Me! But Suzuki, what do I do if-" said Hatori

"Use your best judgement I trust you completely." Said Suzuki. He did, he really did. Hatori was like Tadashi….only without the lying and sneaking around. Only without doing the one thing that he had said that he would never do. They had agreed, years ago, never to lie to one another. The foundations of a new society could not be built on lies…not between the people who were going to run it actually. Also if they were going to build this thing together then they might as well have built it with a good foundation….

Also it made no sense to lie to your best friend.

Suzuki didn't like using that word, best friend, because it implied that there was an equality between them. There wasn't. Suzuki is, was, and always would be the President and Fukuda is, was, and always would be Fukuda. That was how it worked. They were not equals….but Fukuda had gotten the idea that they were. That was why he had taken Sho here without even informing him….or Shigeko. That was why Shigeko had rushed off…it made sense….she had rushed off to be with her brother and…and her sister….

Not her sister.

Suzuki could feel an aura similar to his own as he passed through the crowds. It was small, yes, but not dim. Red, like his, and with that same sort of…feeling…that his aura had. Sho's aura felt similar to his as well….maybe auras had something to do with genes? He didn't know. He just knew that he had to focus on that aura…the small but bright aura….pick it out of the sea of Awakened and just….ignore it. Stay away from it. He had no desire to see or speak to the person attached to that aura.

The only person he wanted to see right now was his Daughter.

She had been taken to the makeshift medical wing. Really it was just the rally room with beds stuck in it. This side of the building had been untouched. It had been the living quarters, mostly, which had been caved in. He could have lost all of his Scars if Shigeko had chosen to…it wasn't a choice when these things happened….when control slipped through your fingers….he had expected better from her…but no matter, no matter, she was his Daughter and he would love her no matter what…

Even if she had put a new sunroof in the roof of the Seventh Division.

"Holy shit…it's the President!" he heard an Awakened say. He didn't know which ones. They had names, he knew that they had names, but he never used them. Shigeko would have known that one's name….but Shigeko….well she was incapacitated right now. He saw her laying down on a bed…Minegishi was in the bed beside her. There was a Scar standing vigil over them. They had a bandage wrapped around their head….with a large red stain…one that may have even been growing….

Shigeko was untouched.

She was dirty, yes, and where was a hole in the sleeve of her shirt but she was untouched by what had happened. Not a scratch on her…she could have been sleeping…and she was sleeping. He made his way over to her as quickly as he could. She was not sleeping….she had passed out. He knew what it looked like when she slept. The little smile that pulled at the corner of her lips…the little sighs she made…and way she chewed on her sleeves occasionally. He knew what she looked like while she slept….

And she was not asleep.

Still….still as death…but still very much alive. She was breathing…she was just exhausted. Suzuki….he passed out sometimes too…after an explosion. Especially one as big as what she had just done. She had exploded upwards, thankfully, and that may have been what saved her and everyone else here. Not the birds, though, there were dead bids everywhere outside…but he was inside now. He held the room up with his powers…he didn't have to….but he didn't want to take that chance. He didn't want to take any chances when it came to his Daughter.

His only Daughter.

"Mama hurt! Fix Mama!" came a tiny voice. Suzuki grabbed Shigeko's hand. He did not look. He did not turn to face the source of that sound….what good would that have done? That was just…a child. That was all. There was a child here. A child crying out for her mother. That was….a thing…that children did. He'd cried out for his mother often when he'd been that small….two and a quarter years old if his math was right…not that he remembered that time in his life…and not that he wanted to remember being two and a quarter years old…..and not that he knew for sure that the source of the voice even was two and a quarter years old….

He couldn't remember her exact birthday.

"Shigeko….Daughter. I'm here, Daughter, your father is here." Said Suzuki as he held Shigeko's hand in his. There were people looking….people stopping to gawk….he pushed them along with his powers. He did not need to be seen like this…vulnerable….naked. He felt naked. He felt like he had stripped himself naked and left himself to be gawked at by the masses…but not in a sexual way obviously….just in a….way….

He pushed the Awakened away.

They fell down like bowling pins. There was a laugh, a high pitched thing, and he did his best to ignore it. He ignored the laugh and the trill of an aura…and the red that he could see out the corner of his eyes. He focused on Shigeko….on how faint her aura was. He knew what he should have been doing. He was the President of Claw…he should have been acting. He should have been on his feet directing people, getting this fixed, moving the Awakened, and probably looking for Tadashi and Sho too while he was at it…but he didn't….he couldn't….

His Daughter needed him.

"Mama! Look Mama! Ashes, ashes, they all fall down!" said the voice….very articulate…for her age. Shigeko hadn't been that articulate…though that may have been apprehension at joining his family. She hadn't spoken much in the beginning save for asking for her birth family. Where mama? Where daddy? Where Ritsu? She had been like a broken record those first few days….he had been annoyed with her those first few days but now…

Now he would have given anything to hear her voice.

He glanced over at Minegishi. Matsuo, the Scar, was holding their hand and muttering something to them. They were…very hurt….but they should have been dead. If they had been at the epicenter of the explosion then they would have died. Like that Awakened he'd seen being pulled out of the rubble. One of Shigeko's personal followers…there had been a ribbon around what was left of his neck and a bow embedded in his skull….

His Daughter could not know what she had done.

"Yeah…they all fall down. You're right Mukai." Said another voice…a woman's voice. A woman's voice speaking Japanese. Suzuki held his Daughter's hand tighter. He didn't know why he had expected to hear a woman's voice speaking Korean…something soft and impossibly sweet….sort of like birdsong maybe…but not annoying birdsong. Sort of like…he didn't even remember. He just couldn't stop thinking of birdsong and…and Shigeko's hand was turning white.

He loosened his grip.

"I'm right! I'm right!" sang the voice. Suzuki did his best to tune it out. He did his best to focus on Shigeko…on her breathing….on her aura…but it….it did not come easy…

"Yeah…you're right. You're my smart….smart little girl…you know that? You're so…so smart…" said the woman's voice. Strained. Her voice was strained…and her aura was guarded. She must have been hurt…Suzuki had no idea how hurt. He didn't dare turn his head, he didn't dare glance in her direction. He couldn't. He….he focused on Shigeko….he focused on his Daughter….

His Daughter who was sleeping right in front of him.

She was sleeping. His Daughter was sleeping. That was what he told himself. His Daughter was just sleeping and soon she'd wake up. Soon she'd wake up and then they could start their day together. She would open her birthday gift and then they could play together…he had gotten her another set of those dolls she liked. All of her favorite characters. The ice queen and her sister….the princess with the very long hair…the Arabian princess….the mermaid princess with and without legs…..the Scottish lesbian princess…that pacific islander princess from the new movie…he had even had a custom doll made for her of the princess from that cauldron movie even though she was not in the canonical group of princesses. Matching dresses had been made for Daughter, he'd measured her in her sleep as not to spoil the surprise, and Shigeko….and Daughter…when she woke up and opened her gift then she would be so happy…

She was just sleeping….that was all….

"Hey Toshiki….how about when you wake up we watch Totoro? And then Clockwork Orange? And then Love on a Bus? I think you'd like that…or something…we can do whatever you want…." Said Matsuo the Scar as he held Minegishi's hand in his. Minegishi stirred and muttered something before batting his hand away.

"Go…way….Ryou…." said Minegishi…well they said other things but that was just the clearest string of words that he could make out. They were hurt…a lot of people were hurt…and Tadashi was nowhere to be found. He was….this was his job! Well he had several smaller jobs as well but this was….this was what he had been put on this Earth to do. Just like Suzuki was bestowed with the ultimate power, he was created to rule this world, Tadashi was gifted with the power to heal. That was what he did…he made people better…he put them back together…

But he was nowhere to be found.

Suzuki did his best to focus on Daughter…to block out all other stimulus….including his own mind. Tadashi….had lived through worse. He had been at the epicenter of Shigeko's explosion, the one that destroyed the Eighth Division, and not only lived to tell the tale but also managed to heal others. He would….he should have been fine….he just…why did Suzuki even care!? Tadashi had betrayed him! Tadashi had betrayed him and-

A tug at his leg.

"Mukai! Come away from there!" said the woman's voice…and this time he did look. He looked at her. The woman, not the little girl tugging at his leg. He looked at the woman as he pulled herself out of bed…well cot. There were medical cots….Shigeko needed a real bed. He needed to focus on that….on Shigeko and her needs….and not the woman hobbling over towards him. She had what looked like fresh stitches on the side of her neck, a sling around her arm, and a brace on her leg. She seemed….she was tall…he remembered…almost as tall as he was….and she had put up a good fight. Fighting a woman had been…odd….even now the thought of it…you never hit women, father had said, even when they deserved it. He…well he had fought her…and left her with that Scar on her face….

The one that matched the little girl's.

"Hello!" said Mi-cha….Mukai. She…well she had been tugging on him…and saying hello….and it had been instinct to look at her. To glance down at the pest…the person…the little human being who was tugging on him. She…her face was round…very round. Her eyes…they were…his eyes…and her hair…was his hair. Wild. It grew wild around her head and…and he kept his short…for that reason. Her hair…he knew that hair grew…but he had been expecting her hair to be short…

He had been expecting an infant.

He had been expecting…the infant…that he'd held…if he'd even been expecting anything at all. The infant that had been wrapped in that pink blanket…the one that smelled vaguely of sour milk and baby powder…the one who…who had opened her eyes…and then closed them. She had been…sleeping…and she had opened her eyes once…looked into his…and closed them….almost like she hadn't wanted to look at him…like she couldn't bare it….

He knew that feeling.

"Hello!" said Mi-cha…said Mukai…again. He had renamed her. That had been….something which he had done. He didn't know why he had named her Mukai…well because he liked that name…and because she was his…because he was her…because within the timeframe of her conception he had ejaculated inside of her mother's vagina. He had picked her mother up, bent her over his desk, and….and other things which he did not want to think about right now…or ever. He….was not her father…at best he was…a sperm donor….someone who may or may not have been responsible for her creation but…but he was not her father….

He might not have even been her sperm donor…so there….

"Hello now! Hello now please!" shouted the Child. She pulled at his leg and looked up at him. Her mother, thankfully, managed to hobble over and pull her off of him. He felt…paralyzed. His body…it wouldn't move. He had been expecting…he had too many expectations. That was his problem. His mind had conjured up expectation after expectation after expectation. He needed to sort them out….or to just stop having them….he had Shigeko….he had to focus on Shigeko…her hand in his…the way her nose wrinkled…the crease between her eyes….the stirring of her aura…

He had to focus on his daughter.

"I'm sorry about her….President Suzuki….." said the woman…the Scar…Scar Tsuchiya as she grabbed Micha's….Mukai's…her daughter's arm with her good hand. That was…the woman Fukuda had been telling him about. She was…she was a good woman. A good fighter…level headed…hadn't even had to be Awakened…went to university….didn't have any documented social or emotional disorders…..she was good…a good person for Mukai….a good mother for Mukai…

Not Pang…not Su-jin…not Masami…but….a good mother…

"It's…fine…Scar Tsuchiya…." Said Suzuki finding his voice. Talking to women was always difficult…that was normal. This was normal. He was normal. He just…was having his usual difficulties. She was very tall and well endowed…the female version of it…so of course he would have had trouble finding his voice. She was staring at him, too, and her aura guarded her and the child…and she was right to feel that way. He was stronger than she would ever hope to be…it was good that she was protective of her child…even though she didn't have to be. Suzuki didn't like children…ones that weren't his own…and that was not his child. That was just….

A person who he may or may not have had hand in making.

"Scars!" said Mukai as she touched her scar…the one on her cheek. There…he hadn't given her that….and he had no idea why that thought had even crossed his mind….she wasn't a Scar…she just had one…and she would never be a Scar…she would be something like that. She was his….she may have been his…progeny…she would have been better than a Scar…

But nowhere near what Shigeko was.

"I'll just be…getting her out of your hair. Come on, Mukai…let's see if…home…is still there. President Suzuki…Vice President Suzuki. Good day." said Scar Tsuchiya with a bow. She hurried away as best as she could….her Daughter was still greeting people…and he had never greeted her back. That had been terribly rude of him…maybe he should have followed…and greeted her back. In Japanese…did she still speak Korean? Had she ever spoken it? Did she remember…had she even been capable of making memories? Had she been too young? Did she…did she know where Pang Su-jin had gone off to…not that he was looking for her or anything…not that he cared for her…not that he had ever cared for her. She had been a mistake…a moment of weakness…and he never wondered how she was doing or where she was or if she had ever finished that novel….and he never wondered about the Child either…what her favorite foods were….favorite colors…favorite…anything…he had no reason to care.

He already had a Daughter. Her name was Shigeko. He loved her.