Suzuki Touichirou was proud to say that he had two daughters.

His son….was another matter entirely that did not bear mentioning. He was off somewhere in the building doing something or other. Suzuki didn't really care. Sho was Sho. Sho was his son and for the time being he had to deal with him, not having another son and all to take his place, but that would pass soon. In…well he wasn't sure exactly how long, he'd have another son and that so would be everything that he had ever wanted in a son. Someone who was as intelligent as he was, someone who was a powerful as he was, someone who didn't have to fight with him about every little thing. Someone who would do what he was told to do when he was told to do it…and not only that but he would do it quietly too. Someone who respected him, someone who he could be proud to have created, someone who was fit to rule the world after Suzuki either died, retired, or lost control of his mental capacities. Yes, soon he'd have the son he always wanted and if he had another girl then…well…

Daughters were the best and he wished he had twelve of them.

"One…two…three…four! Four now!" shouted Mukai as she pointed to the dolls she'd lined up in a row. There were dolls everywhere, the floor was covered in them, there wasn't even any space to walk…but that was alright. He didn't mind that his office resembled a doll store. He was just happy that his daughters were happy. Well…Mukai was. Shigeko was, once again, intoxicated…

But that was normal for her these days.

"Correct Mukai. There are four dolls there." said Suzuki. He had praised her first. He was glad to have praised her first. That way he would end up endearing himself to her better. He had missed out on so much of her little life…he was so grateful to have her…he would have been more grateful if she'd been a boy but her gender was his fault. He wished he knew which had X-chromosomes and which had Y-chromosomes. Then it wouldn't take too many tries to have another son. He had his daughters and, yes, he wanted more of them but he didn't need another one.

His original daughter had been daughter enough for him…even if she was intoxicated right now.

"That's right…wow…you're so smart. You're the smartest little sister I have." Said Shigeko before she inhaled, again, from that electronic thing she was always smoking from. This was…not optimal…but at least she wasn't actually smoking. He had no idea where she kept her supply of various intoxicants but when he found it he was forcing Hatori to smoke whatever she had to smoke and drink whatever she had to drink. He wasn't going to do it himself, of course, nothing good ever came of him being in anything other than his right mind. He couldn't destroy it, either, because….well it felt like he was betraying her in a way…her trust….but she did like to share and Hatori was a friend of hers so she would have been happy to share with a friend.

And if not well then he could just let her think that Hatori had been stealing from her.

"Shigeko, come on. Why don't you put that thing away?" said Tsuchiya. She was a very quiet presence. If not for her aura he would have thought she had left. She mostly left her child to her own devices. He liked that. Mukai needed to build her independence skills. It pained him to have to leave her on her own like that, if he'd been able to do it he would have been right on the ground with her, but he had work to do and she needed to learn how to play on her own…and be on her own…and then one day she would grow up and leave him…like Shigeko was in the process of doing. She was getting so much older….older and older by the second…and she had been pulling away from him….wait, no, she was here. She was here on the floor of his office and he could see her and…and she had chosen to be here. She could have been with Sho and the Awakened now doing whatever it was that they were doing…something that made auras flare...hopefully he wasn't tormenting them….Shigeko was here with him and that was what mattered.

That was all he ever could have asked for when it came to his oldest daughter.

"I'm not blowing it on Mukai. She's fine." Said Shigeko

"I know but she sees you doing that and it's going to make it seem…normal…to her…and I don't want my two year old smoking whatever that is." Said Tsuchiya

"It's supposed to be tangy but it tastes like-" said Shigeko

"Mukai's too young for all of that." Said Tsuchiya. She looked towards him when she said that. He didn't know why so he just attempted to get back to work…an attempt that was easier thought about than performed. With whatever was happening under his feet and the conversation in front of him he didn't know how he was going to get any work done at all today.

"I know that. She can't smoke until she's older…she's just a baby now." Said Shigeko

"Not a baby! I'm a big girl now!" said Mukai

"I know, I didn't mean it like that." Said Shigeko

"I'm big! I have shoes! No more stroller! Dry all night! Eat with a chopstick!" said Mukai. Suzuki wasn't sure if being able to skewer pieces of bread with a chopstick actually counted as a sign of growing up but he was going to take her word for it. She was right, she was getting older...she had been so small when he'd held her in his arms….incredibly small….and terrifying….well he had been terrified. Infants in and of themselves weren't terrifying, they couldn't even lift their own heads at birth after all, it was what they were…the fact that they were alive and fragile…and also there was the fact that when your child was born you realized that you had power over life and death…

He liked her better as a toddler than as an infant.

He wondered if he would like her as a child. Ten years old…that range between nine and eleven….that was the best time for daughters. That was when they were at their sweetest, their most thoughtful, and their most…just….perfect. They were like grapes hat had to be harvested at the right time or else the wine would be sour…no that he planned on making wine out of his children...and not that he even liked wine….well the analogy still stood. Daughters were at their best between nine and eleven, before the ravages of puberty turned them into very small women that didn't listen to a word you said. Women that resembled the daughters they'd been but also…also were different…but still better than sons….or maybe Sho was just a poor example of a son….

He really hoped his next son didn't turn out like Sho…and that his next daughter turned out like Shigeko had been at the age of ten.

"I know…I'm sorry. I really am! I just keep on messing up….no matter what I do I just keep on messing up…" said Shigeko. She pulled her knees up to her chest when she said that and crossed her arms. Her nails clicked together when she did that. He wondered why she had such long nails on. They didn't seem practical…but he wasn't going to say anything. He had learned long ago never to criticize a woman's appearance. Besides, if he had been planning telling her what to wear he would have started with the fact that her dress was much too short for her to be sitting like that. Whatever happened to those floor length ball gowns she used to wear everywhere? And the gigantic sweaters? Well it was summer….but still!

He couldn't wait for winter…or even fall…or some other season other than this one!

"Messing up….you messed up!" said Mukai

"Mukai, be nice. You know better!" said Tsuchiya. Suzuki thought that might have been an exaggeration. She was two years old. She didn't know much of anything yet. They weren't very bright at that age, most of their brainpower was still diverted to learning how to speak and function, three was a better age for communicating….four, too, that was a good age. By around five they started to get very spirited and defiant…or at least the boys did. Shigeko had been a dream at five, Sho had been the terror….

And he hadn't really stopped, either.

"It's ok…she's right. I've really been messing up a lot lately…no matter what I do I mess up." Said Shigeko. She pressed her electronic pen thing to her lips…and frowned. She clicked the button a couple of times but it flashed red. Suzuki had no idea what red meant but he imagined that it was something good…well, for him anyway. Maybe it was broken and she could quit that nasty habit already. She really had been smoking for far too long….well she never should have started….but there was nothing that he could do besides steal from what she had stashed away.

Well, he could sabotage her too.

Hatori could control anything that dealt with electronic systems. Neither of them was exactly sure how it worked but that didn't matter. It was an odd power but it worked, that was what mattered, and it would work for Suzuki's needs. Usually he had Hatori perform minor corporate espionage, dig through closed records, and alter them…and of course the embezzling….but now he had a greater task for him. Maybe if he sabotaged all of Shigeko's electronic cigarettes she'd stop smoking already…or maybe she would just get back to the real kind….

He hoped that his next daughter didn't end up causing him these sorts of troubles.

"Broken." Said Mukai

"No, the battery is just dead, it needs to charge. You don't have to worry about me, Mukai, you just worry about playing….that's all you have to worry about….you're so lucky." Said Shigeko. He had to agree with her. That was the best stage of life, being two years old, there was no debate. You had no worries, your entire life was focused on playing, and you were past the point in life where you spent most of the day sitting in your own waste. Two was such a good age….for the child. For the parent two was a nightmare. They weren't very bright at the age of two but they did attempt to rectify that by being curious.

Suicidally curious.

Shigeko and Sho had both been equally curious and equally reckless. It was amazing that they had made it this far into childhood with the way they carried on. Masami used to regale him with tales of their feats. He hadn't been around that often to witness them, by the time Sho turned two he had been needed more and more frequently out of the country. He was glad that he had missed out on some of those days. The time the children climbed into the washing machine…the time Masami thought they drank paint…the time they tried to go over the garden wall….the time Sho had stuck his plastic fork in an electrical socket.

At least it hadn't been metal.

When Suzuki had been two and a half he had ruined an outlet in the kitchen by sticking a metal fork in the socket. He had no memory of this, of course, but mother had shown him the pictures. He had broken every single window in the house and knocked down a wall. Mother had taken pictures to prove to father once and for all that she wasn't insane…though he thought that the destroyed house would have spoken for its self…but he knew not to criticize mother even now with her having been dead for three decades. He wondered if his own son, his new son, would be as reckless as Sho had been….and as Suzuki had been in his childhood…

He wouldn't know until the boy was born.

He hoped that his next son wasn't a thing like his current one. Really he hoped that his next son was like his daughters but more…son like. Maybe more like him. None of his children were a thing like him, even the ones he had by blood. Sho was….Sho…and Mukai was like herself. There was very little of himself he saw in her. Sure she was as curious as he'd been but she was also much friendlier than he could ever remember being. She sought out the company of others like other people sought out air. Even now she was trailing after Shigeko. He wasn't worried even if they were making their way to the liquor.

It really was a clever trick, the thing with the tea.

"Shigeko! Your dad…he's right there." said Tsuchiya. She was looking towards him again. He had no idea what she expected him to do about this. Shigeko was a grown woman and she could make her own choices…and right now one of those choices was to drink.

"I know." Said Shigeko. Tsuchiya made a sound that he couldn't place before she got up. He cleared a path for her as she walked through the dolls, Mukai and Shigeko would have been very upset with her if she broke any even by accident. She made her way over to Mukai and picked her up.

"No! No upsies!" said Mukai as she struggled to get away. She was strong but not strong enough…though there were very few people in this world stronger than Tsuchiya.

"Yes upsies. Come on, let's…stretch our legs. Let's see what Sho's up to." Said Tsuchiya. Suzuki had no idea why she would voluntarily spend time with Sho…maybe to further socialize Mukai with her other sibling…yes, that made perfect sense. It was important to socialize the children together….Tetsuro would need to be socialized with his siblings….which meant that the other children would have to know about him….which meant that at some point he would have to introduce the children to Shiori….which meant that he would have to figure out a way to blend their households…which meant that, with an infant on the way, he was going to have to find a home for them all to live in. The near constant travelling was bad for an infant….and also there were too many people waiting in the wings to murder him….

And his children.

Shigeko had been shot at. The people who shot at her were being dealt with…but if she had been an infant then she wouldn't have made it out of that encounter safely…or with her life. Even with Shimazaki at her side, he had no idea what they had even been doing together and he didn't want to know, she wouldn't have made it. His infant…Tetsuro….would need to be kept safe…and he wouldn't always be there for the boy…and Shiori would be out of commission ad she recovered from giving birth…or being cut open like a fish…out on the table….a terrible thought.

One much worse than any he could have had.

Shiori being cut opened. The only thing worse, the one thing, was Shigeko laying on the table with her organs outside of her body…a person being cut out of her body….so much blood….he kept his powers under control. That time was coming later, much later, and right now all he had to worry about was…well there was Shiori but….but she wasn't pregnant yet….but he just….

Shigeko was there. So was Mukai. Like Fukuda had said, before, he needed to enjoy the children he had.

"Tell Sho I said hi." Said Shigeko

"Why don't you tell him yourself?" asked Tsuchiya

"Because I want to stay here and spend time with dad." Said Shigeko. Suzuki barely controlled himself. If he had been in anything other than his right state of mind he would have hit the ceiling. She wanted to spend time with him….well of course she did, he was her father and she loved him, but….well she had cast him aside…but those times were past. They'd fought, too, but that was over. She wanted to be with him, she even passed up on the chance to spend time with her brother doing whatever it was that the boy had going on with the Awakened right now.

She had chosen him.

She had chosen him and…and his powers were under control. He stared at his laptop, well he tried to, and he tried to remember what work he'd been doing…something about something or other…his mind was a mess. His mind was more of a mess than hers…and she was trying to get even more intoxicated…so she must have been doing even less thinking than he was. He tried to focus on what he'd been doing but he couldn't. Shigeko was there and she had chosen him out of all the other people in her life….

Also she'd spat on his rug…but that was fine. It was just a rug, nothing that couldn't be replaced.

"Dad…..?" asked Shigeko

"Yes, Shigeko?" said Suzuki

"Um….I just….um…why is there tea in the liquor bottles?" asked Shigeko

"Because it looks like liquor." Said Suzuki simply. He'd had them filled with liquor to keep up the look that, yes, he was a hospitable human being and had drinks to offer people important enough to visit him in his office. He wasn't going to keep actual liquor, of course, since it was just too tempting for her. He couldn't order her to stop drinking, well he could but it wouldn't go over well, so limiting her access to alcohol was the next best thing.

"I can tell…but why?" asked Shigeko

"Because I don't like it when you drink so I decided to remove the temptation. I'm not going to tell you to quit, I don't want to argue with you about that subject or any, but I will remove the temptation." Said Suzuki

"But dad….I need to." Said Shigeko

"Why? What reason can you possibly have to drink?" asked Suzuki. He knew what it was to be so deep into the pit of despair that you drank your sorrows. He'd just been to that emotional place….and he'd had a good reason. Sho had decided that he was a homosexual. That was reason enough to drink. He had no idea what could possibly have been going so wrong in her life to drive her to drink.

And he never would.

The shift in the energy around him gave it away. Shimazaki. He should have been out all day! These were his people, his former people, that he was dealing with! He should have been out making people, everyone involved, pay for the attempt on Shigeko's life. He should have been…well he hadn't given him any real orders on how he was to carry it out but…but he should NOT have been teleporting into his office in the middle of the day.

Something had better have gone wrong.

"Shimazaki, explain." Said Suzuki as Shimazaki finished materializing.

"Hi, Ryou." Said Shigeko at the same time. He controlled himself, barely, at the sound of Shimazaki's given name. She…she was friendly and…and she didn't have feelings for this man. She….she had told him…but then why….Shimazaki's attention had snapped right onto Shigeko. His aura….it should not have been anywhere near Shigeko!

Calm. Down.

"Shimazaki. Explain. I won't ask you again." said Suzuki

"Dad wants to know why you're here." Said Shigeko. She didn't need to help him. He was perfectly capable of expressing himself verbally. She didn't need to…he knew this….Masami, back in the early days when they'd been more social, had translated things to him like that…because she had cared for him romantically and…and Shigeko…she didn't care for Shimazaki like that…she couldn't. Sure he was a powerful esper and a formidable opponent despite the considerable handicap of being blind…and he was incredibly attractive….and he smelled good…

Shigeko would have done so much better than Shimazaki Ryou….and so could Suzuki…so he was going to stop looking at him now.

"Yes. What went wrong?" asked Suzuki

"Nothing at all. Everything's been good, boss." Said Shimazaki

"Then why are you here?" asked Suzuki

"Dad thinks that it's weird of you to come and visit him since you guys aren't friends and you don't need him for work things." Said Shigeko

"Shigeko, you don't have to restate-" said Suzuki

"I came here to see you, Mob. I figured it was about your lunchtime and I thought we could go and, you know, have lunch. Wherever you want to go. Seriously. I can get us anywhere….well you know that…but…I know some places too. I mean if you want to." Said Shimazaki. Suzuki's laptop broke. The screen went blue. The keys flew off the keyboard and off in all directions. The power cable snapped in half...great….now he had two problems…though the problem of finding a new laptop would be more easily rectified than…whatever the hell Shimazaki thought that he was doing.

Lunch.

He knew what lunch was. Less than dinner…and much less than breakfast. Women liked lunch, he had read, because there wasn't a lot of commitment. There was much wisdom in their writings…well there had been back when he'd read them. Before Tadashi had informed him that only weirdos went around reading ladies' magazines….maybe he could get back into the habit since it was for research…well it always had been…and it had been good research too. That was how he knew that lunch was the meal with the least commitment. Dinner came with it the implication that sex would follow…and breakfast followed sex….

Shimazaki Ryou was a VERY lucky men. Anyone else would have ended his life on the spot without a second thought.

"Um….I don't know-" said Shigeko. That wasn't a 'no'. That wasn't a 'I don't wish to be courted by you now or ever now please seek sexual and romantic fulfilment elsewhere' or anything even close to that. She said that she wasn't sure….that she was considering his offer….lunch….a meal that could turn into dinner…and then breakfast…..oh God….

"Her time is currently occupied as I know that yours is. Now get back to work and if you don't have enough to do then I will find something for you to do." Said Suzuki. He focused the full force of his aura onto Shimazaki. He submitted. His aura pulled in close to his body and he bowed his head. Good. Shigeko….she was getting closer to him…and she was pushing his aura off of Shimazaki! Why?!

Stay. Calm.

"I'm sorry my dad is being mean….um…he's in a bad mood and I have to stay with him now but…um…thank you for the offer. I think that you should go back to work but we can hang out later." Said Shigeko. Suzuki…he wondered if she would have noticed if Shimazaki were to just stop showing up one day….it wasn't as though he didn't know how to hide a body….he wondered if she would have mourned him…well there was nothing to wonder. Of course she would have, she cared about this man….and he cared about her…

He leaned down and kissed the side of her head.

Not her cheek, no, Shigeko had moved at the last moment…and he better have been aiming for her cheek…not that it would have been much better. He shouldn't have been kissing any part of her…and not right there in front of Suzuki. Kissing her right in front of her father…Shimazaki Ryou was a bold man…and a soon to be dead man….there was no other way…no. Shigeko would have been so angry and…and if it wasn't him then…then it would have been another man. Tadashi's words range in his mind…the way she was with men…

They way any heterosexual woman was with men.

"Ryou…." Said Shigeko. She wasn't telling him to stop…to get away from her…she was just saying his name. Shigeko….she sounded just like Masami there, when she used to chastise him, back when they'd been married. Shigeko was chastising Shimazaki like….like a woman chastised a man and…and Suzuki…

He needed to be alone.

"Shimazaki. Leave. Now." Said Suzuki. Shimazaki, thankfully, did as he was told. He gave a salute and then teleported off to wherever it was that he had been planning on going. Now it was just him and Shigeko…as it should have been. Just him and his daughter…him and the very short woman that….that his daughter had become. He…he was not ready for this. He needed to calm down…he needed to…to get his thoughts in order…

He needed some time to himself.

"Dad, I'm really sorry about-" said Shigeko. Suzuki shook his head. He didn't want to hear about it. About how she was sorry for the actions of her….whatever Shimazaki was to her. Masami used to apologize to others on his behalf all the time…that was just what wives did…women in your life who loved you….women in your life who you loved….

If Shigeko and Shimazaki were in love then he'd have no choice but to kill himself.

"You don't need to apologize. I…need to accept…actually you should apologize….I'm not sure what the correct action here would be just….here. Take my laptop and have Hatori fix it." Said Suzuki. He passed her his laptop with his powers. She held it in two hands….but didn't leave.

"But I don't think that he can fix something his broken." Said Shigeko

"Then go and find me a new one." said Suzuki. He pushed her, a bit, to get her out the door. Not enough to hurt her…he would never have done anything to hurt her. She had no idea how badly he wanted to hurt Shimazaki….but not her. She was acting as a woman did…and he couldn't blame her. Shimazaki was an attractive man. He was bisexual now, he could think that, and he could think of other things too….like how strong he must have been….but he wasn't going to think any more on that.

He was going to think of nothing at all.

Shigeko left. He was alone. He tried to think of nothing at all…it was hard. She didn't know how hard it was…nobody did. He needed another child. His children were growing up…even Mukai. He didn't know what he could do but savor the good times while he had them…and brace himself for when his children, even his unborn and unconceived one, grew up and took on partners that he hated…or decided that they were homosexuals or….or…he didn't know….drunks? Drug addicts? Those people who dressed up like animals for various purposes? Whatever else Hatori felt like showing him on the internet? There was so much that could go wrong…so very much and he….there was so little that he could do….besides living with it.

He was proud to have Shigeko as a daughter….even though sometimes it felt like he was in the process of losing her…if he hadn't lost her already…..