President Suzuki was Mukai's father.
Tsuchiya had always known. It wasn't exactly Claw's most well kept secret. Fukuda hadn't told her to her face in so many words, when he'd given her Mukai, that she was President Suzuki's daughter. He had just told her some speech about President Suzuki having an assignment for her, one that only she could do, and how taking care of Mukai was a good idea because it would have been advantageous to her career in Claw or whatever. Tsuchiya wasn't in it for the money or the President's favor or whatever special privileges that Fukuda had been alluding to. No, she had done it because Mukai had been a baby who needed a home, a mother…
It had been love at first sight.
The first time she opened her little eyes…Tsuchiya had known that Mukai was meant to be hers. That was her daughter. Even if she had screamed like a banshee when she opened those little eyes, even when she hadn't been able to hold anything down for those first couple of weeks, and even during the midnight crying sessions Tsuchiya had loved Mukai just like she would have loved her own flesh and blood daughter. She was Mukai's mother, not whoever had abandoned her, and actually….well she wasn't one for random violence….but she had told herself that if she ever ran into Mukai's biological mother at some Claw function or on the streets or something then…well she wouldn't have held back.
That wasn't Mukai's biological mother sitting there on the ground next to her pretending to be interested in playing dolls.
"This for you. Elsa. El-sa." Said Mukai as she shoved a doll into President Suzuki's…into her dad's….her father's….hand. He took it and nodded. He eyes were on Mukai but his aura kept on trying to….glance at? That was the feeling she got from it. Like he was looking around the corner trying to see Shigeko…like he was seeking her approval. She was in her room with her brother. Judging by the intermitted shouting and occasional crashes whatever they were talking about was not going well.
But things seldom seemed to go well in the Suzuki family.
"Thank you…Mukai…or are you Mi-cha? What do you prefer to be called?" asked Suzuki. Mi-cha. That had been Mukai's name before her biological mother abandoned her. Why was he even bringing it up? Did he think that Mukai could remember things from when she had been three months old? She…would not have put it past him. She wasn't a great admirer of his. Sure he had accomplished a lot but he was still…himself. He could be such a cruel man, though she hadn't seen his cruelty close up, or at least the cruelty he showed to the Awakened and other members of Claw who displeased him.
She had seen how cruel he could be to his own children.
"Mukai. My name….my name Mukai." Said Mukai. Tsuchiya, if she had been down there with them, would have praised Mukai for that. Verbally, of course, not with food rewards like the other two Suzuki kids were used to….well assumed that they were both used to it. Sho got those pasty things he liked whenever he took a bath or even just washed his hands. He got other sugary snacks, too, like the soda he got if he ate his, usually ranch covered and tempura fried, vegetables. Mukai…she did not deal well with too much sugar. Her stomach was sensitive, for one thing, and for another she got hyper…well more like sugar sick. She ran around and screamed and generally turned into a little monster when she had too much sugar…but that wasn't her fault. Her body just had trouble processing it.
Maybe that was why the President hated sugar with such a vengeance….or at least Sho had said that he did.
She didn't know President Suzuki personally. Everything she knew about him she knew second or even third hand. Apparently he was a big dork when nobody was around. He spent his time eating eggs and ketchup all day while he played old videogames with Serizawa, who she had met, and Hatori who she had not. The President also, according to Minegishi, unabashedly checked women out and could be a creeper without even saying a word….joy. Also he apparently was so deep in the closet he was finding Christmas gifts…but that was none of her business. President Suzuki…who he was as a person…was none of her business.
It wasn't like there was anything that she could do about him anyway.
"Oh. Mukai…you still call yourself that. Very well then. Dangsin-eun jeoleul...dangsin-i jeoleul buleugi wihae seontaeghaneundaelo malhal su issseubnida." Said President Suzuki. Mukai crossed her arms and pouted. Her aura, what little aura she had, pulled in close. She was put out….it was cute…or at least Tsuchiya thought that it was cute…she had no idea how President Suzuki would react. She was close and she could move fast if she needed to. She could cross the room before President Suzuki…did whatever it was that he had done to Sho to make him hate his father with such a fury….
Sho really hated his dad.
She knew why. It had something to do with the fact that he had put his own son in an Awakening Chamber…if he tried to do that to Mukai she was taking her daughter and running. She was taking Mukai far away if the President even got the idea in his head…and why would he even think….because he was insane….or at least a terrible human being…or at least a bad father. Shigeko…she was a nice little girl but she was spoiled rotten…so maybe President Suzuki just didn't like sons…maybe that was why he had another daughter….
Mukai was his biological child…and that was it.
"What are you saying!?" shouted Mukai. Tsuchiya tensed, ready to run in and swop her daughter away if it should have come to that…but it didn't. President Suzuki sighed and put the doll down…and then he folded his hands.
"I apologize. I hadn't realized that you no longer spoke Korean. I'll say it again in Japanese. How does that sound?" asked President Suzuki
"Sounds good." Said Mukai. She smiled and nodded. She was just saying what she thought came next. Mukai…she understood more than she had before…but when she didn't understand something she just gave whatever response fit. President Suzuki wouldn't have known that, though, no. He hadn't been in her life since she had been three months old…if ever. He was barely in his own children's lives if these few months had been anything to go off of. He just…had children and let them fend for themselves. That was what this was...actually she had no idea what this was.
She had assumed that when he came back she would have been sent back home.
The Seventh Division was almost livable again. Apparently that Higashio guy, matter rearranging guy, had finally been assigned to the most pressing construction job in all of Claw. They were building another cell, or maybe an HQ, somewhere in Korea…but a Division was more important than that…at least she figured that it was. She didn't know, she didn't make the rules or set the construction schedule…
No, apparently Shigeko did that…and Mukai, too, someday…..
"Good. Alright then. You may address me however you choose to address me. Whatever makes you the most comfortable." Said President Suzuki. Tsuchiya tried her best to stay calm. Thank God for open floor plans. She had never been a fan of these, they left the entire house much too exposed, but at least she could watch from the kitchen. She could keep an eye on…whatever this was. A reunion, a family reunion…no. President Suzuki had missed that one.
This was more of a…father and daughter reunion.
"Call me?" asked Mukai before she stuck her hand down the front of her overalls…and pulled out another phone. Tsuchiya had been able to tell, from the way that she had been holding her stomach while she walked, that she'd squirreled something away in there. These people and their phones…Mukai was two and didn't fully get that not everything in the world was meant for her to play with. It would have helped if people knew to put their phones where she couldn't reach….but of course they didn't. That would have made sense.
And nothing about this place made sense.
She wondered if this was what wonderland was like. Everyone was mad, as in crazy, here and nothing made sense. The adults were children, the children were adults, and the most powerful man on Earth humbled himself before a two year old girl. The one that he'd abandoned. That was what he was meant to be doing, according to Shigeko, apologizing for abandoning Mukai and calling her a mistake…but there was no way he could possibly apologize for that…
And not just because Mukai probably didn't even know who he was let alone what he was apologizing for.
"Oh. You meant on the phone….this is not your phone." Said President Suzuki
"My phone!" shouted Mukai
"No, it isn't. See, here. It says 'property of Minegishi Toshiki. Sho stay out.' See? It says so right there…but you can't read yet, can you? I apologize. That was a mistake on my part…assuming that you were old enough to read. Not even I could read at your age." Said President Suzuki. He handed the phone back to Mukai…great. Now she'd have to get it away from her and give it back to Minegishi….that was not going to be fun.
And not just because they could be kind of a bitch sometimes.
They had, apparently, been in a very bad place….and they'd tried to defect…or something. She wasn't sure. Shigeko had only said that they'd had a fight, made up, took a bath, and now they were best friends again. Matsuo had been more helpful. He'd said that Minegishi, well he'd called them Toshiki, had looked like death when he saw them. They had been overwhelmed or something, they had issues that were none of her business so she wasn't going to ask, and…well they'd tried to run away. Some of that…well some of that may have been Tsuchiya's fault. She could have been nicer to them…well they could have been nicer to her, but…well they were the one with the issues. This was Claw. Most people hadn't had lives even close to the one she had lived. Sure mom and dad had been a little strict but at least they'd loved her and been there. Most of these people….well they were not alright. The Awakened….well most of them came from nothing. Rejected by their friends, their families, their communities…a lot of people who just wanted to belong…and who wanted to be special. On the other side there were the other natural espers, the ones who were convinced that they had been blessed by the Gods and made above everyone else….so annoying. Chi was something that was inside of everyone and some people just had more of it, and better control over it, than others. That was all. Claw…well it was not the place for people who were as level headed as her…
And this part of Claw….this place…was the worst of it.
"I can read! I read now! Once upon a time!" said Mukai. President Suzuki…he stared at her…and then he smiled….well his aura did. His face was as impassive as ever but his aura was smiling…happy…which was a good thing. She reminded herself that this was a good thing. She wanted him to bond with his daughter so that was what he was doing…bonding with her. She had wanted…well she had wanted to be sent home but the next best thing was him bonding with her.
"That is…how a great many stories begin…but this was not a story. Don't be upset. There is no shame in not being able to read at your age, I won't hold it against you. I didn't learn how to read, properly, until kindergarten….which my mother…well she believed that I had some sort of plan in my mind to make her read to me for the rest of my life. She believed that, she said, because when it was your age I demanded excessive amounts of reading from her. I have no memory of this, of course, and also I had no such plan…but mother…well sometimes people believe what they want to believe. I would never believe such a thing about you. I may not know you as a person but…I know your age group…or at least I did. I'm going to have to read up on toddlers again….but I know that you aren't capable of such deception." Said President Suzuki. Tsuchiya had nearly shattered the mug in her hand. Tea…tea was her excuse for being at the kitchen table. She needed an excuse to be near her own daughter…well she was technically eavesdropping.
Which had been a good move, in retrospect.
She had known that, logically and medically, President Suzuki must have had a mother. He must have had a father, too, and a whole life before all of this…but the thought of it was just…odd. Strange. The thought of him being a child…Mukai's age…being anything other than the man she saw now…it was strange….well this whole thing was strange. She hadn't been this close to him since they fought….since she had gotten this scar on her face. He had been downright terrifying that day. Nothing like the man he was now.
The man sitting on the floor playing with his…biological daughter.
"Here. You be Elsa…now!" said Mukai. Apparently she either didn't understand or didn't care that she had just gotten the most powerful man in the world to open up to her about his childhood. She…Tsuchiya would have given anything to be as oblivious to the world as she was. Everything in the world was meant for play and every day was another opportunity to have fun. She didn't have a care in the world, not a single worry, and…well it seemed like she would never have them….not if they were going to stay in this place…which it looked like they were. The President…he was still smiling…or at least his aura was. He even seemed happy to hold that doll in his hand…another fun fact about President Suzuki, he liked Frozen. Apparently he had dragged everyone across the world for the opening of some Frozen musical. Sure he had said that the whole thing had been for Shigeko but apparently the people who spent the most amount of time around him knew him better than she did. Apparently he was just full of surprises.
Apparently some of those surprises were good ones.
"Alright, I'll be Elsa. Who will you be?" asked President Suzuki as he held the doll gingerly in his hands as if she had handed him the Holy Grail or something. He watched her closely as she selected the perfect doll for her use. Tsuchiya couldn't for the life of her remember the name of that doll, she had never been a fan of the whole princess narrative, but apparently she was a co-parent now…lovely…but at least he was good with Mukai.
Amazingly enough he was actually good with the child he had abandoned for the past two years.
"I be…Tangled!" shouted Mukai as she shoved another doll in the President's face. He didn't move a muscle…but he did move his aura. Still happy. Amazingly enough he was still happy.
"You mean Rapunzel. Her name is Rapunzel but the movie she featured in is called Tangled." Said President Suzuki
"Tangled show…not movie." Said Mukai
"Oh…I wasn't aware that they made a television show of Tangled…is it any good?" asked President Suzuki
"Good show….watch now?" asked Mukai. She pointed to the TV and her aura reached out. Tsuchiya…well if Mukai had been asking Shigeko she would have chimed in and said that it wasn't TV time yet…but then Shigeko would have just told her that it was ok. Shigeko undermined her all the time…she didn't want to get into it with the President. Not about something that wasn't important.
"I…would love to watch television with you…but in a moment." Said President Suzuki
"Now please and thank you?" asked Mukai
"In…in a moment. Mukai…this is not easy for me." Said President Suzuki
"Easy breezy." Said Mukai
"I wish that it was…but it is not. Mukai…you have every right to be angry with me." Said President Suzuki
"Angry." Said Mukai. She growled and made her scariest face. She was just being silly, of course, but President Suzuki…she would not have put it past him that he just hadn't picked up on it.
"Yes. You have every right to be. I…have been no kind of father to you and I apologize. When you were born…well I had no idea that you were even alive until my daughter's….your older sister's….birthday. I had no idea who you even were…and that was wrong of me." Said President Suzuki. Tsuchiya…well she was glad that he wasn't paying attention to her. That was…she had never pictured him as the sort of man who would apologize…but he just had. Mukai, obviously, didn't know what she had just heard. She was playing. She was too busy for all of this.
"Happy birthday to you!" said Mukai after a moment. She had been thinking about what he'd said…well he'd said too much at once. Somehow he'd raised two children without knowing how to speak to a two year old…but he was trying at least…which was more than she had ever thought that he would have. No.
She had always imagined President Suzuki just…never speaking to Mukai again.
There really was no way to hide who her father was. There was some old saying about redheaded step children, about how nobody wanted them. That was because red hair was rare, very rare, so…well it was obvious that the redheaded stepchild wasn't yours. Muaki's red hair, on the other hand, marked her as being President Suzui's daughter. After all how many redheaded espers were there in Japan? Ones that were members of Claw? It was either him or his son in the running…and Sho was way too young and also way too gay…or not straight. She wasn't sure what he was, exactly, and it wasn't her business. She knew not to talk about it, anyway, because the President….well he wasn't the most tolerant man….
Maybe it would have been better if President Suzuki had ignored Mukai for the rest of her life…considering who his son was and the chances that Mukai might end up the same way.
"Thank you but my birthday was back in March. Yours is in February…but I confess that I do not remember your exact date of birth….but that's alright. I'll learn it so please do not have hard feelings about it. I'll get you gifts, too, to make up for missing so many holidays. Birthdays…Christmases….girl's days…white days….I've missed many days in your life." Said President Suzuki
"Presents for me?" asked Mukai, her voice lighting up. Tsuchiya held her tongue. This house was already a fire trap as it was. What did he think? That if he just moved some boxes around there would be plenty of room? Next door…she and Mukai would be moving next door. Sure it smelled like marijuana but at least…well at least it wasn't a fire trap….and at least it was far away from President Suzuki. He may have been good with Mukai but…well he was still President Suzuki.
"Yes. Whatever you want. I owe you…a great many things. Time…time is what I owe you…but I can't get you time but I can get you things…whatever you want." Said President Suzuki
"I want soda." Said Mukai
"Alright then. Anything else?" asked President
"I want ham-hams!" said Mukai. No. No way. Tsuchiya…she got no say in this and she knew it. If she'd had a say she would have said that they were already overrun with hamsters. That the hamsters they had were starting to spawn. That hamsters were close to rats, way too close, and they did not need a house full of rats…but she didn't get a say in anything. She was just…along for the ride.
"I…don't think we have any ham at the moment…but I can have Shigeko put it on the shopping list. Do you mean the lunch meat or an actual ham? Or a ham salad…please don't mean a ham salad. My mother used to make those…and they are not very good. She called everything salad, actually, even if there was no actual salad in it. She used to suspend things in gelatin, cover them in mayonnaise, and call them salads…" said President Suzuki
"Fruit salad…yummy, yummy." Said Mukai
"Yes, it is…for the most part. Would you like a fruit salad before or after the ham?" asked President Suzuki
"She means that she wants more hamsters…and to hear the fruit salad song." Said Tsuchiya. There…that was what she had spoken up about. That was…not nearly enough…but she was pushing it by even saying that. The President was looking at her now…his eyes...Mukai had his eyes…though she had never looked at anyone the way her father was looking at her right now.
"Thank you. I am not well versed in her speech yet…so thank you." Said President Suzuki
"More ham-hams." Said Mukai
"I'll tell you what I told your brother and sister. Any and all animals that you procure will live with Fukuda. Especially rodents. Rodents are evil creatures, Mukai, and you will do well to remember that." Said President Suzuki. He actually shudder at the end of that…and she could she his point. They were supposed to have respect for all living things, mom and dad had taught her that, but rodents…well exceptions could be made. She wasn't a fan at all…but she knew to keep it to herself…especially when Sho was around. His door slammed opened, she could hear it, and then heavy footsteps filled the house.
Heavy footsteps and cursing….a hell of a lot of cursing.
"No they're not! You're the evil one! Fuck you, dad! Fuck you in a public bathroom-" said Sho. He stood between the living room and the kitchen. His back was to Tsuchiya but she could see the tubes and cages he held in his arms. That had been the big project of the day, moving the animals next door, even though today was a homeschool day. She gave the kids breaks, of course, but this was not one of them. They needed consistency of some kind otherwise they were going to get back to doing nonsense all day. She held her tongue, though, she wasn't going to tell President Suzuki how to raise his kids…the ones that he'd put some sort of effort into raising.
"Shut your mouth or I will shut it…I will have your sister shut it for you." Said President Suzuki
"Shut your mouth, Sho, over there!" said Mukai
"Don't let him get to you, baby sis! He's an asshole! He's going to-" said Sho. There was a burst of red and Sho began to slide across the room. His socks skittered across the floor as he kicked. Some of his hamster tunnels fell to the ground. He…he was not doing that to himself.
"Goodbye, Sho." said President Suzuki as he pushed his son across the house and into the genkan. More cursing, a hell of a lot more cursing, but at least no fighting…and at least Mukai didn't seem like she was going to be mimicking him….which was good. President Suzuki…he notoriously did NOT like cursing…and yet his son cursed like a sailor…thought not without consequence it seemed.
"Bye-bye Sho!" laughed Mukai. She waved….well of course she did. She had no idea what was really happening. She had no idea what the President could have done to Sho if he'd wanted to…what he'd already done. Sho…he had so many scars on his body…scars that his father had…scars that the President was responsible for…but that was what he did. He gave people scars….
She touched her face. It was still there.
"Forgive your brother…I suspect that something is wrong with him. You seem rather normal, though, your mother has done a good job with you. Tsuchiya, I mean, the woman with the scar. Not the woman who bore you…and don't ask me about her because I have no idea where she went. Women…they have a tendency to run away when I'm near…but that's not your problem or you fault. Nothing, not a single part of this…mess….has been your fault…or your problem. You seem to have grown up well despite my…poor parenting. I have been no kind of father to you…and I'm sorry for that." Said President Suzuki. He sighed when he said that. Mukai leaned forward and touched his head…his eyebrows. Tsuchiya got ready to pull Mukai if she had to. President Suzuki…he had really weird eyebrows. She had never seen eyebrows like his before….and yes, she had wondered from time to time what they felt like….but she knew better than to reach out and touch them…
She was an adult. Mukai was not.
"Caterpillars." Said Mukai as she tugged in President Suzuki's eyebrows. He didn't even move. He just let her tug on them. He stayed perfectly still and let her pull on them until she got bored…which, really, wasn't very long at all. She didn't have the best attention span at her age.
"Yes…they do resemble caterpillars…and don't laugh, yours could end up like this as well. Mine didn't end up like this until I was about four. You still have time…though you do resemble your mother both in looks and character. Su-jin…Pang-san…was very friendly….like you are. Very kind, too. You've been…very kind to me, you know that? I don't deserve this….I am your father and I had one job and I failed…Suzuki's do not fail. Remember that." Said President Suzuki as he took Mukai by the hand…and did nothing. He just took her hand from his eyebrows and pushed her away gently….more gently than she ever would have thought he was capable of.
"Suzuki." Said Mukai as she pulled her hand back. That time…well now he flinched…
"You…you can call me that…or you can call me by my given name if you choose to. It's Touichirou." Said President Suzuki
"Tou…Touichi….rou…" said Mukai. She tried the word out. She tried her best but she was only two and multi-syllable words…well she wasn't a master of them yet.
"If that is too difficult for you-you may call me father…or dad…or anything really…but I would prefer…whatever makes you comfortable." Said President Suzuki
"Dad?" asked Mukai. She wasn't calling him dad. Tsuchiya knew the way she spoke, she knew her daughter, and she was just trying out the word. Dad was not a word that had been in her vocabulary. She hadn't even had a dad doll for her dollhouse. There had been no point in it. Tsuchiya hadn't ever thought that the President would ever admit that he was her father…and it wasn't like Tsuchiya was going to end up married or whatever. Slim pickings in Claw, very slim pickings. The only man she knew who didn't have a serious social or emotional problem was Matsuo and there were…reasons…which made a relationship between the two of them difficult. Mukai…she had never needed the word dad before….but now she did.
She had a dad now. She didn't need one but she had one.
"Yes…that's fine. That's…that's fine. You…have I told you that you weren't a mistake? I'm supposed to apologize for referring to you as such…honestly you were more of an accident than anything….but a happy one. I am…happy to have you as my daughter…Mukai." Said President Suzuki. He maybe should have waited until she was older…or at least less busy before he poured his heart out to her. She wasn't even looking at him, no, she was just digging through the doll pile. He didn't seem to care. His aura was pulled in…and he finally had some kind of expression…and it wasn't a good one. Well if he had wanted to be a father then he'd had two years to do so…but she didn't want that. If she wanted that then…well then she would never have become Mukai's mother…and she didn't know where she would have been without her daughter. It was amazing how, in a year and some months, her life could change so quickly…become so irreparably difficult….but also unequivocally better…it was amazing. Really. It was just…amazing.
In a good way.
"Here. You have this. You have Anna." Said Mukai. She handed him a doll and, once again, he took it like she had handed him something precious. She wondered if he had ever played dolls with Shigeko…he wondered if he had ever played anything with Sho at all. She wondered…she wondered a lot of things about him. What he was like…how many more sides there were to him. She had never seen this side to him, never even imagined that he had it, but he did…and it was…
Unexpected.
"So am I to be both Elsa and Anna?" asked President Suzuki as he straightened the doll's dress and patted her hair down. It was an old doll, one of Shigeko's toys, but he treated it like she'd handed him one of those bespoke dolls that Shigeko had. The ones that looked exactly like her…too much like her. She wondered why Shigeko had those…she wondered if Mukai would end up with one…she wondered…well she wondered a great many things…about President Suzuki.
"Yes….now play! You go here and I go here!" said Mukai as she got up and began to tug on President Suzuki…on her father. That was who he was. It was impossible to ignore, it always had been, but now it was even more impossible to ignore…since now he felt like being a father to her. Finally. It was about time for this…..
For their reunion…the reunion between father and daughter.