Suzuki Touichirou liked company.

He hadn't always liked company, actually for most of his life he'd detested it. He had always hated having to figure out what to say and when and how, what the people around him really meant when they said what they said and did what they did. It had always been an illogical use of his mind, trying to divine the secrets that other people held. Company had never been pleasant…at least until he'd made an actual friend…though even Fukuda could be annoying sometimes.

Like now.

"Suzuki I-"said Fukuda as he just let himself into Suzuki's office. That wasn't anything new from him, he had always overstepped, even when they had been children. Fukuda had taken their friendship as having open door privileges into Suzuki's house. The front door hadn't always been locked back then, mainly because Suzuki had always been going in and out of the house, and occasionally he would come home to find Fukuda sitting in his living room or worse, his bedroom, looking to spend time together…looking for some company.

Some things never changed.

Fukuda still let himself in, still sought out Suzuki's company, even though it made no sense at this point. If Fukuda wanted to spend time with him, to be in his company, then he should have known better than to break Suzuki's trust. Trust was…not something that he could give freely. He trusted his children and that was about it. He knew that the people who worked under him would have shot him in the face if they could get their hands on the power he held. His children knew that their future was assured so they had no reason to betray him.

Especially Mukai. She didn't know the meaning of the word betrayal.

Well he assumed that she didn't know the meaning of the word betrayal. It wasn't like he was going to ask her or anything. She was asleep on the couch in his office, it had been a long day for the both of them. He'd been busy working and she'd been busy playing, which was the work of childhood. She was so intelligent. She knew all of her colors and she did these little puzzles where she had to match the colored shapes to one another….she was so smart. He had no idea what her mother was always so nervous about, why she had this nervous energy in her aura all the time. It was maddening, really, so be around her for long periods of time. He'd sent her away with the excuse that the other children needed her. Today was a homeschool day or something, Shigeko had said, and that would keep her busy for a while.

Now he just had to think of some kind of task for Fukuda and then he would be able to get back to work.

"Quiet." Said Suzuki. He didn't need to explain himself. Fukuda should have just known that he had to be quiet. He should have just learned how to follow orders…but he had never been good at that…even when they had been children. If anything it had only gotten worse as they got older. Fukuda had the nerve to just….to break his trust…that was the worst of it. The betrayal of it. Suzuki had been clear that he didn't want Mukai in his life or his children's…with her in his life he had to face up to what he'd done…but maybe…he didn't know. There was the feeling within him that….that maybe this had been the best…the best thing. Mukai may have terrified him when she'd been born but now…now she was here and…and he had no reason to feel guilt and shame for her existence…and that was what he had been feeling. He so detested his emotions…but there was nothing that he could do now. He just had to live with her…and what he'd done…

He'd never wanted to but now he had to…and it wasn't so bad.

"Hey, I-" said Fukuda as Suzuki closed the door behind him. He didn't want the noise from the hallway making it's way in. Shigeko had ordered new rolling chairs for everyone and now Suzuki was paying the price. There was something happening with the chairs and some game…or something. He didn't know. He never spent time with the Awakened, that was Shigeko's job, and for some reason she enjoyed it…she enjoyed it enough to undermine him….

But that was alright. She was his daughter.

He knew that his children, his daughter specifically, would never do anything to harm him. His oldest daughter. Mukai didn't have it in her to harm anyone in any real way. Sure she threw things, and tugged on his eyebrows, and he'd seen her on more than one occasion try to stab Sho…but Sho brought that on himself. Suzuki trusted his children, even Sho to an extent, if any of them every acted against him then it mean nothing. He still trusted them all, even Sho, despite the things they'd done in the past.

Fukuda was not his child.

"Be quiet." Said Suzuki before he pointed to Mukai. She was curled up on his office couch with his suit coat serving as a makeshift blanket. She was small and lost body heat more quickly than he did, and if she was anything like him she ran cold when she slept. The last thing he wanted was for her to be cold…maybe he needed to start keeping blankets in his office. Apparently the couch was very comfortable.

Mukai wasn't the only one who slept on that couch.

For reasons that nobody had been able to explain to him Minegishi had made their home in his office for a period of time. He wasn't going to ask them, they made him nervous, and anyway Shigeko's friends were her responsibility. She could ask them and if there was something that he needed to know about then she would have told her. He trusted her more than anyone else in the world…well almost everyone else. Mukai was, of course, the most trustworthy human being in the world. She didn't know a single thing about betraying anyone.

She was so small and perfect…and if Fukuda woke her than Suzuki…well he didn't know what he would do but he knew he was going to do…something.

"Oh, right. I just wanted to ask you-" said Fukuda

"What?" asked Suzuki. He knew that interrupting was rude and went against the commonly established social rules. He knew that he should have cared but he didn't. He and Fukuda had never been the best at following established social rules…not now and not even when they had been….quite a bit younger than they were right now. He had no idea why his mind kept on going back to their childhood. It caused him pain. He didn't know what this pain was…maybe the pain came from wasting years of his life with someone whom he had once trusted…someone who knew everything about him…someone who…he didn't even know. His trust had been broken before, Masami had shattered it when she left, and that was the main factor in their divorce.

He couldn't divorce Fukuda.

He was too useful. He was the only healer of any note that Fukuda had ever met in his life. Also he knew a lot about running the internal structures of Claw. Suzuki hated to admit it but he had been putting a lot of his work onto Fukuda…and Hatori, to a lesser extent, though Hatori was maybe not old enough to mature enough to handle that sort of responsibility. He was so young…another reason to keep Fukuda around. There were so few espers near to his own age…and even if he met someone his own age he didn't have three decades of his life to be spending on anyone else. He didn't the time or inclination to find another Fukuda.

So he was just going to have to make do with the one he had….despite what he had done.

"I just wanted to see if you were done for the day." Said Fukuda quietly.

"I have no idea if I am or not. Is that all?" asked Suzuki. He wasn't going to be done for the day until Mukai woke up. He knew how upset she got when she was woken up expectantly. He didn't blame her. He hated it too, being woken up, especially when he didn't have to be. She wasn't as strong as he was, she wasn't going to send him flying like he'd sent Fukuda flying before for waking him up, but she would cry and the last thing he wanted to do was hear her crying.

He had always hated it when his daughter…daughters…cried.

She'd been crying when he saw her last….well he left her on that day. He wondered if there were any hard feelings. He wondered if she could remember that day at all. Did she ever look at him and think 'you're no father of mine?' or something in that vein. Shigeko had said as much to him and he hadn't done anything to her…well…well he had betrayed her mother. He had betrayed her mother and betrayed her family…so she did have some reason to say to him what she had said before…about him not being her father…calling him by his given name…

Mukai didn't address him at all unless she was asking to tug on his eyebrows.

"That and…have you seen Sho? I haven't seen him all day and-" said Fukuda. Suzuki kept calm. Sho…why did he have to mention Sho…and why did he have to speak to him directly….and why did he have to be here? And why…why were there so many whys….

Suzuki stayed calm.

"My son is not your concern. Is that all?" asked Suzuki. He couldn't believe Fukuda. It took everything in Suzuki not to upend the entire office. The only thing that stopped him from doing that, or tossing Fukuda out the door, was the sleeping child on his office couch. His child. He would never wish harm upon any of his children, not even Sho. He knew what it was to be small and alone…he had moved past such emotions, of course, being as old as he was…but Mukai was still a child. He was never going to do anything at all to harm her.

And that included waking her up.

So Suzuki just glared at Fukuda. He didn't want to talk to Fukuda right now…or ever…and especially not about Sho. Sho was his son, not Fukuda's, and if he had wanted his son to learn to lie and sneak around then he would have taught the boy himself. He, of course, being Sho's actual father knew that these were not lessons that he needed to be learning. Sho…Sho had always been close to Fukuda and Fukuda had always been close to Sho….but maybe the time had come for Fukuda to have children of his own instead of borrowing Suzuki's all the time.

Even though the thought of Fukuda having children of his own makes him want to break things…and people…starting with Fukuda himself.

"You're right. I shouldn't-" said Fukuda.

"I know that I'm right. Is there anything else?" asked Suzuki. He didn't want there to be anything else. He wanted Fukuda gone. Gone from this room and gone from this building and gone from his life…maybe that was too much. Too far. He'd have a void in his life if Fukuda left, after all, and he didn't much feel like filling it. He didn't think that he ever could. He didn't have the time and he didn't have the trust, either.

He had put too much of it in Fukuda.

He had put a disproportionate amount of trust in Fukuda. He knew that now, and since he'd put so much trust in Fukuda and lost it, then he simply didn't have any more to give. Nothing beyond what he had put into his children, well mostly his daughters. He didn't trust Sho with much of anything. Not that he was a malicious child, he was just…himself. He didn't have the sense yet, of anything. He couldn't even be trusted with the power he had been born to wield. Sho…was not trusted as much as Shigeko and Mukai…but he was trusted a hell of a lot more than Fukuda could be trusted.

And he had nobody to blame for that besides Fukuda.

"Nothing. I just wanted to see how you were…doing." Said Fukuda

"Why? What can you possibly do with that information?" asked Suzuki

"Nothing. We just haven't spoken since…we came back." Said Fukuda. There was something in his voice, something loud, and something that caused Mukai to stir. Suzuki sat on the very edge of his chair. He watched Mukai squirm a bit, kick her feet, sighing and going back to sleep.

"Well who's fault is that…and lower your voice." Said Suzuki. Mukai had kicked her covers off. He reached over with his powers, gently, and put the coat back onto her. There. Now everything was right with the world.

"Everyone's." said Fukuda. He had a look, there, on his face. One that Suzuki couldn't place. He didn't want to expend the mental energy trying to place it. He didn't feel like figuring out any other people, he didn't feel like having company, he felt like…he felt like getting back to work and killing time until Mukai woke up. Then he could go home, have dinner with his other daughter…and his son if Sho had come home yet…and then he would go to sleep and do it all again the next day. That was what he wanted…

Not this.

"I've done nothing wrong." Said Suzuki. Fukuda said nothing, he simply pointed down at Mukai. That…was what he had done to contribute to all of this. Right. He had been the cause of all of it, the fight, but….no…well…well if he hadn't had Mukai then he wouldn't have gotten into a conflict with his family…and Fukuda…so he had done something but….Fukuda had done more.

"Alright. I played my part." Said Suzuki

"I…played my part too…and I wanted to say sorry-" said Fukuda

"Well you said it. Now you can leave." Said Suzuki. To say sorry after…after doing what he'd done. After taking his son away and teaching him to sneak around and lie…after….after everything that he'd done…all he overstepping…all the idiocrasy….and there had been a lot of idiocrasy…and some of it had been on his side. He'd run, made his strategic retreat, out of fear and shame for the adultery that he'd committed…but Masami had left him and when she had left their marriage had died. The only thing that had linked them together was a family name and a piece of paper from the government. Well those weren't what made a marriage…his wife actually being there had made a marriage.

So with her gone for years at that point he hadn't been cheating on her at all…and therefore there was nothing at all wrong with Mukai's existence.

"So…we're alright?" asked Fukuda. There was something in his voice, Suzuki called it hope, and…and he had no idea what Fukuda was being so hopeful for. It wasn't like he was going to kill Fukuda. No, he would have done it if he had wanted to. He hadn't known, before, if he wanted to kiss Fukuda or kill him. He still didn't fully know. A part of him, a part that he didn't understand completely, wanted to hurt Fukuda as badly as he'd been hurt even though it wouldn't make anything better. Another, even less understood part of him, wanted to lean over the desk and kiss Fukuda. To pull him down and…well to be pulled down and…and a number of things that he didn't fully understand.

Things that he wasn't even sure if he wanted to understand…not about Fukuda, anyway…not that he could think of anyone else he would have wanted to feel whatever way that was towards.

"What kind of a question is that?" asked Suzuki. He didn't understand. Physically they were both fine. Emotionally Suzuki had been a wreck for a while. If Fukuda had been speaking of how they were, emotionally, together…well there was no together anymore…so they were neither fine nor not fine. They were just…nothing….

Being nothing was painful.

"I just meant…I get the feeling that you're still angry with me over what happened." Said Fukuda

"Yes. You're correct. Of course I'm angry with you. You broke my trust, you taught my son to lie to me, and you angered Shigeko as well…and keep your voice down." Said Suzuki. Fukuda decided that instead of speaking more quietly he was going to approach Suzuki's desk. He didn't push the chairs in front of it out for him. That would have been inviting and he was not in an inviting mood right now.

"I'm sorry for what I did, alright? I did what I had to do. I had pragmatic choices to make and…and I made the wrong one. Alright? So just…tell me what I have to do to get back into your good graces." Said Fukuda

"You're groveling?" asked Suzuki. He couldn't say that he didn't want it…he did…but he wanted even more. He wanted things that he didn't even know…so this…it did nothing for him.

"If that's what you want." Said Fukuda

"I…have no idea what I want. I'm angry with you and I want to throw you out of this room…but that would wake Mukai and that's the last thing that I want." Said Suzuki. Fukuda glanced back at Mukai…and there was that look again.

"So…you really love her…" said Fukuda

"She's my daughter." Said Suzuki. He loved his daughters…he was invested in keeping his son alive but he loved his daughters.

"So then why are you angry with me? You've got her back in your life, Shigeko took you back, and it's been a decent fiscal quarter. I know that I broke your trust and I'm sorry…and I have no idea how to fix this." said Fukuda. Suzuki wished that Fukuda would have just explained himself better…and he had the power to ask Fukuda to explain…but if he asked Fukuda to explain then Fukuda would have been in his prescience for longer than he had to be. He was much too close already…and he had been talking for far too long…and Mukai was starting to stir again. This conversation needed to end…but also…also he didn't want it to end…

He wanted Fukuda to stay.

He wanted to be near Fukuda…to a point. He wanted…he wanted to know where that point was. He could feel Fukuda's aura. He could see Fukuda and feel him and…and that should have been enough. He wanted more…he had no idea what more could have possibly been but he wanted it. He also wanted Fukuda to walk out that door and never…and not come back for a while and…

He hated emotions. They were always so illogical.

"Why do you want to fix this? And what's wrong with it? I haven't broken you apart and I won't so you don't have to worry about that. You have no need to fear for your safety so why are you so invested in this?" asked Suzuki

"It's hard not to be invested in something that you put thirty years into already." Said Fukuda

"Thirty two." Said Suzuki. They had known each other since they'd been thirteen. Now they were forty five. That was thirty two years. Even Mukai could have done that math.

"That's a lot of time." Said Fukuda

"Sunk cost fallacy." Said Suzuki

"What about it?" asked Fukuda

"Nothing." Said Suzuki. It had just slipped off. There was no fallacy to this…and costs had been sunk…and…and he just…that was not a road that he wanted to walk down right now…or ever. The only road he wanted to walk down was the road that took him away from Fukuda…but also closer…but also…he didn't even know. He didn't know and his aura was flaring and Mukai…she was stirring again….

"Do you need anything else?" asked Suzuki. He prayed that the answer was no. He didn't have anything for Fukuda and Fukuda didn't have anything for him. Nothing real. Nothing beyond him wanting to make…whatever this was…back to normal. Their friendship or their relationship…or whatever else this could possibly be called.

"I just wanted to talk. Hatori said-" said Fukuda

"If you want to talk about something that Hatori said then go and talk about that with Hatori and leave me alone. Now." Said Suzuki. He opened the office doors with his powers…Mukai stirred again…he would tend to her in a moment. Fukuda was still staring at him, still right in front of his desk, and Suzuki….he was getting dangerously close to sending Fukuda flying out the door.

He didn't end up sending Fukuda flying.

He sent Fukuda out the door gently. He slid him back on his heels. Fukuda, thankfully, didn't fight. Good. Suzuki wasn't the best at being gentle…and Fukuda didn't even deserve this…but Suzuki had Mukai to think of. He had to think of her wellbeing and sleep was a part of her wellbeing. He let her sleep, let he stir a bit in that sleep, as he sent Fukuda sliding out of the room. The minute he was gone Suzuki got up and tended to Mukai. She needed him…and he…cared for her.

He didn't desire any company right now aside from that of the people in this world that he cared for and trusted.