Suzuki had always been a lover of all things ostentatious.

For a man who had been wearing the same suit for the past fifteen years, lived on eggs and ketchup, and used the same phone year after year until the screen became nothing but cracks he could be very ostentatious when he needed to. Hence why this house was so fucking big. The family, his family, Masami and he kids, hadn't needed more than a few rooms in this…Sho had called it a castle but really it resembled a hotel more. More rooms than anyone ever had any need for. This was like a hotel. Suzuki had bought this house, and the two beside it, for Masami and their children…though they did only end up having the two…

Well the one, really.

Shigeko…at some point the child that Suzuki had adopted turned into a smaller version of him. She wasn't nearly as smart as Suzuki, as book smart anyway, but she had an emotional intelligence to her that Suzuki never would. The sort of thing that got people on her side no matter what she said and did. She could destroy the Eighth Division, kill seventeen people, and then do the same to the Seventh Division but she still had all of Claw singing her name. Even people who he'd thought were smarter than that….

Damn it, Higashio.

Or maybe it was Ootsuki that Fukuda should have been damning. Both of them had gotten texts from Miss Suzuki, directly from her phone emojis and all, asking them to tell him that he was being summoned. Summer break was over, she actually said that, and then she sent an emoji or sticker or whatever of a cat in sunglasses. He was being summoned back to the group. He had no idea what Shigeko wanted with him…and he didn't want to find out. He'd tried, he really had, but she was so committed to being the second coming of her father…a better version of him. Suzuki ruled through fear, mainly, but Shigeko got people to love her.

Even people who should have known better.

I don't have any interest in getting in the middle of this vendetta you have against a twelve year old. That was what Ootsuki had said. Higashio….well he said that he had spent the entire summer avoiding the Seventh Division rebuild project….but really he was just siding with Ootsuki. Since those two got together it was like Higashio thought that he and Ootsuki had to fuse into one person or something. If Higashio had been on his side then…well then things might have been different. Maybe Fukuda wouldn't have had to dig out the fake passport he rarely used, flown back to Japan, and then made his way to this house…this tomb….this shrine. If he'd had someone on his side then he wouldn't have been…here….

The last place on Earth he wanted to be.

This house, this tomb, should have been knocked down…or sealed up…or even used a Claw house. You could fit an entire hit squad in here with room to spare. Hell, Shigeko and her friends could have all lived here and then he and Suzuki…well he didn't want to be alone with Suzuki…not after what had happened….but it wouldn't have been that bad if they were still…as close to friends as they had been before. They weren't, not anymore, not after what he did. Suzuki was gunning for him, he knew Suzuki and he knew how he felt about betrayal…and that was the word for what Fukuda had done. He'd…well he hadn't done anything wrong. He'd taken Sho to see his little sister…he'd made Sho happy….which was more than Suzuki had ever done for him! It was cruel to keep Sho from his sister. Sho hadn't done anything wrong. Sho hadn't been the one who cheated on Masami. Sho hadn't been the one who went out and just…had kids…without any thought to the ones he already had! Sho was a blameless party in this and he didn't deserve even a tenth of the shit Suzuki gave him!

But there was nothing that Fukuda could do now.

If there had been something that Fukuda could do then he would have been doing it instead of laying down in a bed that was not his and staring at the ceiling. The TV was going on in the background. It was Masami's channel, BBC something or other, he had turned the TV on and he hadn't had the heart to change it. That had been the last thing she had watched on this TV…in her room….in this room…this room in this tomb…or this shrine. Not a tomb, she wasn't dead yet, well as far as he knew she wasn't dead yet.

His information on Masami was a little dated these days.

He reached over and took his phone off of the nightstand. He'd gotten a new phone, under a different name, and he'd even taped over the cameras on both sides just to be safe. Hatori…fucking Hatori. Shigeko didn't just keep him around because she thought that he was cute or whatever, no, she was smarter than that. He was incredibly useful in this brave new world where there were cameras in literally everything. When Fukuda had been a kid everything had needed to have a clock in it. The VCR, the turntable, the stereo, the microwave, the refrigerator, even his alarm clock had contained, in the middle of the clock face, a tiny digital clock. Now the thing was to stick a camera in whatever you could stick a camera in, and wifi connectivity was a thing too, despite the whole brave new world-y…ness….of it….or maybe that was a different book. He didn't know, he wasn't really a big reader. He just knew that they were living in some kind of cray future dystopia worse than anything that Suzuki could have come up with.

Suzuki may have been crazy but at least he respected people's privacy.

Suzuki was cray, there was no doubt about that, but he was respectful of people's privacy…for the most part. There were cameras in every HQ, there had to be, but Suzuki didn't care what was captured on those cameras so long as nobody was undermining Claw. He didn't give a damn about anyone other than himself. He wasn't about to send Hatori to spy through webcams and phone cameras or whatever and pass on messages to people who had nothing to do with…he was getting worked up. Shigeko always got him worked up. She…well he had to stop thinking about her. She would never find him here. She at least had enough sense to stay away from this place. She could have come back here at any time, it wasn't like Suzuki could tell her what to do at this point, but she didn't. She knew that this place was….it held the last remnants of the fact that Masami had ever existed…

This was her home.

This was the last place that she had ever called home…that he knew of. She had laid in this bed…it still smelled like her….and she had worn the clothes in that closet…and she had watched this network on this TV….maybe even that very same show. Everything was just as she left it from the channel on the TV to the uncapped perfume on her makeup table all the way down to the dirty clothes in the hamper. This was….this was her home….this was the last place that she had ever lived as herself. This was…this was her shrine…but not her tomb. She was still alive.

Even though he hadn't heard from her in six years…he still knew with every fiber of his being that she was still alive.

He clicked his phone opened and went into his email, his secret one, and….still nothing. Empty inbox. The last message he'd gotten was from the email provider its self asking if he wanted to clear his inbox. Obviously he did not. Obviously….well not obviously. This was….inactive. This whole account was inactive. He couldn't remember the last time he'd given Masami an update on him and the kids. Maybe….maybe she read these….he had to believe that she read these. For his own sanity he had to believe that she read these and then just never replied for her own safety…or something. He knew…he both knew and did not know that she was gone. She….well he had been the one to tell her that he would bring her Sho…so he was the one who had left her in away...but he'd just never had the chance and…and she must have understood….

Or maybe she hated him.

If he'd been her then he would have had every reason to hate himself. He…well he had promised her Sho…and now he'd lost Sho. He'd lost Sho and…and it wasn't even through any fault of his own. it would have been one thing if he'd had to go into hiding because he'd tried to steal Sho away but…but he had done everything that he did FOR Sho….but that…he didn't even have words for Shigeko…hadn't been able to see that. She had just….she had been looking for a reason to get rid of him for years. Fine, yes, he had been lying to her…but it had been for the best. Even she must have been able to see that. What was he supposed to do? Bring her with? Suzuki kept her close…and even then she must have known that he saw through her. She would have gone running to her father the minute he told her that it was possible to visit the baby….she would have gone running and then it would have been over for him….hell, it was over for him now….

Fucking Shigeko.

Fukuda didn't have think as he typed in Masami email address...well the one that he knew. She could have gotten a new one for all he knew. He wouldn't have blamed her. He tried his best to sugarcoat what had become of Shigeko. He had done his best to water it down…but all the sugar and water in the world couldn't hide what had become of Shigeko…what he had let become of Shigeko. She was twelve going on twenty two. She was the Vice President of Claw, had her father wrapped around her finger, and spent her days either getting drunk or worse with grown adults. Masami…well of course she would have stayed away. Maybe she thought that it was her fault. Maybe she blamed herself for having left her kids all alone….with him…which at this point may have been all alone. What had he done to fix this? Nothing. He had watched Shigeko grown into this…person…and he'd done nothing….and he'd left Sho all alone…he'd left Sho all alone with that sister of his…

If Masami had been dead she would have been rolling around in her grave.

"Hey Masami, I'm still alive…no, that's stupid….hello? No…that's stupid too…" muttered Fukuda as he tried his best to start this message to Masami. Starting these things was always the hardest part. What did you say to someone you'd…let down? She was the love of his life and he'd let her down….maybe he shouldn't have said anything. Maybe he should have let her be in whatever new life she'd made for herself…but then….then if he left her alone…he kept on typing. If he didn't keep up with this, and he hadn't been, then he would have just been letting another piece of her go…die…another piece of Masami would have been gone from the world. Another bit of evidence that she had been alive would have been gone. That she…that her favorite color was yellow…that she painted her nails red to look longer…that she loved animals because no matter what they always needed you….that she liked lemon pepper in her spaghetti….that she hated green pepper on pizza….that she loved him…that he loved her…that he remembered her….

He would never forget her.

"Sorry that I've been gone for a while…things have been crazy here. Shigeko…kicked me out…because of some unpleasantness that happened." Said Fukuda. He wasn't going to tell her about the baby. He wasn't going to tell her that her husband had not only cheated on her the first chance he got but also he'd gotten another woman pregnant. Wherever Masami had wound up in the world, whatever had become of her life, she….she did not need to know about that.

It would have devastated her.

"Claw stuff. The usual. Shigeko…she's getting a little big for her britches as it were. She still thinks that she's an adult. I'm sorry. There's only so much that I can do for her. Sho is doing well. He's still the same little artist he's always been. I don't have anything that he's drawn with me but I know he's drawing up a storm somewhere. He's taller now…well he was the last time I saw him. He's about up to my diaphragm now, maybe a little taller. He's growing up…he still has that same girlfriend, the British girl, but I don't see it lasting. He met a boy…." Muttered Fukuda. He decided to delete that last part. Sho had met and 'fallen in love with' the little boy that security caught skulking around the division. Masami didn't need to know about the kidnappings. No, as far as she knew Claw was part cult and part criminal enterprise…but she didn't need to know HOW criminal.

She never would have forgiven him if she knew what he was involved in.

"Sho's still seeing that same girl and he's still hell bent on marrying her. I have no idea if it'll last. Shigeko doesn't have a….she has a….she has men….boys….she has someone in her life. A man who's at least twenty years older….a boy who's a little older….Shigeko is doing just fine in the romance department." Muttered Fukuda. No need to scare Masami with what her daughter, her barely pubescent daughter, got up to. No, Masami would have had a heart attack if she knew that her daughter smoked and drank with a man who was at least twenty years older than her….and the same grown man that her son was convinced that he was in love with…yeah, no, there was no reason that she needed to know about that. Besides, it might not have even been true anymore. His information on the kids was kind of dated these days. For all he knew Sho could have moved on from Shimazaki…and Shigeko seemed to be over him…at least somewhat. No, now the man in her life was a thirty year old…or twenty something year old….former hikikomori. At least this one acted like he was her age…not that Masami would appreciate that little caveat.

"Shigeko has a new….I don't even know what to call him. He's about thirty and spent the last fifteen years of his life in his room. He acts like he's twelve, though, sometimes even younger so that's ok. I would have thought that she would have chosen someone like the men she usually goes for but, hey, I'm not her father…and her own father won't tell her to stop pretending that she's a decade older than she actually is. She just makes me so-" Fukuda decided not to add any of that to the email. Masami…she needed to get the best possible picture of her children's lives. That was…what was what he had to do…that was pretty much the only thing that he had to do.

"The kids were just fine the last time I saw them. Sho's been a lot calmer lately, he's really evened out over the years, and Shigeko, she's still alive. They miss you and I miss you too. I've been living in your old house, sleeping in your old bed, and I've only been leaving to go and get more food. I hope you don't mind me helping myself to the cash Suzuki kept in the walls….better not tell you that part…" muttered Fukuda. She wouldn't have….taken it well. At all. She did not need to be worrying about him. He was doing fine. Sure he was on the run from a twelve year old but….well he was fine. She didn't need to worry about him. She had enough to worry about when it came to her own life.

Well he assumed so, anyway.

He had no clue where she had wound up in the world…but it must not have been easy. Living under an assumed name, looking over her shoulder constantly, worrying about when she'd be found out. Suzuki…was never going to let her go. He didn't like being betrayed…not that he knew the extent of her betrayal…but her leaving would be enough for him. He didn't love her, no, he hadn't loved her when he married her and he didn't love her now. He wanted someone to possess, someone to care for him, and someone to give him kids to neglect. Masami could have been literally any woman. He had only married her because she had been depressed enough to sleep with him and he had managed to convince her to keep Sho when she'd gotten pregnant…and then that had sealed her fate. She was wasted on him. Suzuki didn't love her, he didn't care about her, and he didn't even know her…it wasn't fair. He got her and he didn't even…

Fukuda took a deep breath.

"Things are fine for me too. Nothing of note. I've just been busy, that's why I haven't been in contact with you for a while. We're fine over here, though, just fine. The kids love and miss you and so do I." muttered Fukuda. He signed his name, just his family name. Tadashi…the only person who still called him that was Suzuki and even then he only called him Tadashi when he was pissed. Fukuda…that fit better…and that was what Masami had called him. He hadn't ever pressed the issue, him calling her Masami and her calling him Fukuda. It would have been too weird to call her Suzuki and she…well maybe she wanted to pretend that they weren't as close as they had been.

Maybe that was just easier for her.

Pretending was always the easiest thing. Pretend that things are alright. Pretend that things aren't as bad as they are. Pretend that he isn't on the run from a twelve year old. Pretend that he isn't on the run from the same little girl who used to run up and cling to his legs to keep him from leaving. Pretend that he wasn't on the run from the little girl that used to beg him to read her just one more story before bed. Pretend that he wasn't on the run from the little girl who used to look at him like Sho did…like she used to love him…like she used to be a kid. He…he needed to pretend…he needed to do some professional level pretending here…so that was what he did.

He hit send.

He hit send and then put his phone back on the nightstand beside him. There was dust an inch thick in some places. He could clearly see the spaces where his fingers had brushed it away. This house…this room…it was a tomb…and a shrine. He shifted in place careful not to disturb the comforter too much. This was her bed…and her side of the bed. His side…his side was Suzuki's side…and he didn't feel like laying down on Suzuki's side. He'd spent many a night on Suzuki's side of the bed…he'd kept it warm for him while he'd been away…he wasn't going to be keeping that side of the bed warm anymore. He was on Masami's side now…which was almost as good as lying beside her…and it was comfortable too. This was a nice mattress, soft at the top, and quiet…well she'd gotten a new one…this was nice. She liked nice things…she deserved nice things…she deserved the best things. Not just the material things. Suzuki may have been able to give her all the material things he wanted to, he could be ostentatious when he wanted to, Fukuda could at least give her the things that mattered….not that it mattered anymore since he'd never see her again….

But at least he had the memory of her, here, preserved in this house. This room. This shrine. This tomb.