Fukuda was not a fan of hamsters, but that didn't mean that he was going to let the Cat eat them.

"Come on you fuzz ball, you know that's not for you." Said Fukuda as he picked up the cat and carried it over to the kitchen. It had been eyeing the hamsters in their habit like, well, a cat that had found a mouse. They weren't mice, though he did suspect that what Sho called the 'weird hamster' might have in fact been a gerbil, but even if they had been mice Fukuda wouldn't have just fed them to the cat. Sho would have never forgiven him for that.

Though that would have done something to decrease the surplus population.

There were too many hamsters in there. Fukuda had separated the males and females but the damage was done. Hamsters reproduced quickly and now there were between twenty and thirty of them. They had never been still enough for him to count them all and a lot of them looked very similar. Sho was the one who knew how to tell them apart. They were his pets after all and he normally was more on top of taking care of them.

Normally.

This was…not normal. Sho had been gone for the entire day. That wasn't completely out of the realm of the ordinary for him. Sometimes he disappeared for a while, normally with Shimazaki, and normally he was off doing something that he knew that Fukuda would not have approved of. Sawing off street signs, freeing aquarium fish, the one memorable time when Sho had wound up covered in rat bites….Sho was probably off playing with rats again or…or something….

That was why he had been gone all day…and why his phone had been off.

Fukuda wasn't worried…he wasn't very worried. Sho had his own life now and while Fukuda might not have always agreed with the things that Sho did he could acknowledge that Sho wasn't a little boy anymore. He was twelve and their relationship wasn't what it used to be. That was partially due to time and partially due to…certain actions that Sho had taken the wrong way. Certain things that Fukuda had done for Sho's own good. Certain-

-things that had happened, had passed, and now had to be lived with.

"I don't know how I've managed to live with you for this long." Said Fukuda as he put the cat down in front of it's bowl. He shook out some dry food for it. Sho was very particular about how his pets needed to be fed. The cat had to eat his dry food first, then his wet food, and then Fukuda was supposed to fill his bowl with treats. That last part may have been why it took the cat a couple of tries to get up on the couch these days but he wasn't going to tell Sho how to take care of his pets.

No, nothing good came of telling Sho what to do. He was a lot like his father in that way.

Sho was more and more like Suzuki every day…and that wasn't…sometimes it could be a good thing. Sho was very decisive…that was good. He knew who he was, he knew what he wanted, and he knew how to get it. When he was a year older than Sho was now Suzuki had decided that he was going to take over the world and thirty three years later he was President of the most successful cult on the planet. Sho had his father's decisiveness and ambition…though his ambitions could be misplaced at times…misappropriated. Sho…he was better off sticking to raising cats and hamsters than planning on taking down the one thing his father had spent his life building. Suzuki could put up with a lot, he was the master at tuning out things he didn't want to hear and see, but there was no way that he would ignore his own son planning on committing treason.

There was no higher crime in Claw.

The penalty for treason was death. Sometimes a quick death but usually a slow one. Sho knew it. Fukuda knew that Sho knew it. He had no idea if Shigeko knew it too, Suzuki tried to shield her from the worst of the world…fat lot of good that did, but what mattered was that Sho knew full well what would have happened if his father heard even a word of what he'd been saying lately. About wanting to take Claw down…

There was no way to end this.

It was too big. Even if, and that was a big if, something happened to Suzuki then it would just be business as usual. If Suzuki died, if an assassin got lucky, or his diet caught up with him, or a meteor fell to earth and hit him on the head or something then Claw would just carry on as it had under Shigeko's management. Poorly. Shigeko was the real heir….heiress, here. Suzuki had even said, before, that he asked for an heir and he got a nightmare. The only reason he had even kept Sho around all these years was because he knew he needed a male heir…or at least a blood heir…

Then he got another one.

Mukai was…two. She was two and she was happy and she was loud and cute…but it wouldn't be so cute when she was Sho's age. She was so much like Sho had been at that age, all friendliness and energy, but with none of Masami in her. Nothing to temper her in any way. Suzuki didn't help, the way he doted on that child, the child he abandoned. If Fukuda had a death wish he would have shaken Suzuki and asked him where any of that doting and affection had been when Sho had been little…or even now. But he didn't have a death wish. The only wish he had, right now, was for Sho to walk right through that door and feed his pets already.

Especially this VERY stubborn cat.

"What? Don't tell me you need Sho to feed you? Well then I guess you're going to starve to death, you stubborn cat." Said Fukuda. This was definitely Sho's cat…or maybe more of Shigeko's. They were both so stubborn. They got it from Suzuki. Once that man got an idea in his head it didn't leave, ever, even if it was a bad idea. Hence why so much money had been spent on a system of underground tunnels…all throughout Japan. A country prone to earthquake…earthquakes that Suzuki sometimes even caused. Suzuki had worse ideas, of course, some of them involving…things that he did NOT want to think about. Things like Suzuki figuring himself out….a lifetime too late.

More than a lifetime.

He had given Sho nothing but grief for his entire life over something as insignificant as who he was attracted to. Sho was in love with another boy. That was the fact of the matter. Fukuda was happy for him, of course, and everyone else should have been too. Sho had found love…in a way. He was only twelve and still at the age where one kiss made him think that this other boy had hung the moon. He got that from Suzuki. All Suzuki needed from a woman was a smile and the time of day and he was ready to get down on one knee. Sho was so much like his father…in some of the worst ways…but also some of the best. He was driven, he had a deep well of caring inside of him, and he never rolled over and did what he was told…

Sho had never been the most obedient kid…

Even when…when being obedient was in his best interests. A thought. A bad one. Sho…had been down lately. Down and lonely. He missed his boyfriend. He missed his boyfriend and…well he had a girlfriend he wanted to break up with. Fukuda hoped to God that Sho had gone off to finally break up with that girl, or that Sho was off sawing off stop signs at busy intersections with Shimazaki, or even that he was out right now gathering more hamsters or gerbils or rats or whatever…

Fukuda knew better.

He knew…he reached into his pocket and called Sho. It rang for thirty seconds, the longest thirty seconds of his life, before it went to voicemail. That was…Fukuda tried not to worry. Fukuda did his best not to worry…but he had been trying not to worry all day. He had tried as much as he could and he couldn't try any more.

He had to do something.

That something was put on his shoes and head over to the last place on earth that he wanted to be. It was a short, cold, dark walk. He shoved his hands into his pockets. He could feel the cold even if it couldn't hurt him. He and Suzuki had tested his healing in the cold extensively. They had spent so many nights out in the snow together, Suzuki being the only one who got frostbite. Something else that Sho and Suzuki had in common, no healing powers. If Sho was out here…if something had happened to him…if he had done something stupid…

No, not stupid. Just…poorly thought out.

Sho, like his father, didn't always think things through. Sho had probably set off, maybe even on foot, to either run away and plan his takedown of Claw or to see his boyfriend. Neither option was a good one. Sho had, somehow, found Shigeko's biological brother. He had no idea how that had happened, he had no idea why fate had brought them together, and he had no idea how he was supposed to fix this. What he did know, however, that in addition to that boy being in danger just by knowing Sho he was also in danger of knocking over the house of cards that was Shigeko's life. If she ever figured out that she had been adopted….well she wouldn't take it well...and Sho wouldn't take it well either. There was no way in hell that it would end well for anyone.

So he had to stop this thing before it started.

He knocked on the door just to be polite. He could have let himself in but he didn't want to antagonize anyone inside. Nobody in that house was stable. Well Tsuchiya was alright but…but the vast majority of the people in that house couldn't be considered anything other than the very worst personalities Claw had to offer.

Thankfully one of the better ones answered the door.

"No Sho, mama, no Sho." Said Mukai as mama opened the door. No Sho. No Shigeko. No Caterpillars. Only Fuckuda. He wasn't as fun. Sho was the most fun person ever! He knew how to play airplane! And Shigeko was fun too, she knew about dolls. Caterpillars was also fun! He let her have candy and soda. Mama said no candy and soda. Mama wasn't fun at all.

"I know, Mukai, I know. Sho's a no show. Sorry about her. She's been kind of down since pretty much her whole family just…disappeared." Said Tsuchiya with a shrug. The President was off doing president things, probably, and the kids were off doing kid things…without an adult. Probably. Every adult that they knew was under this roof. Tsuchiya wished that…well she wished for a lot of things when it came to those kids. Wishing didn't help, doing something didn't help, and talking about it didn't help. It felt like she was just pushing that rock up the hill one step at a time. But the time she got to the top it just rolled all the way back down…sometimes she wondered why she even tried at all.

"That's actually why I'm here. Is Hatori around? Sho hasn't been home in a while and I'm starting to get a little anxious." Said Fukuda. There. Nice and to the point. Talking to normal people was always so…easy. He didn't have to worry about what to say, what to tiptoe around, what was going to set the other person off. He could just say what he meant and he could mean what he said and that was the end of it.

"Fuckuda anxious mama, over there." said Mukai as she pointed at him. Mama picked her up…she didn't want to be picked up!

"Sorry about her. She's still learning everyone's names…and she's two. You know how it is." Said Tsuchiya as she held a squirming Mukai in her arms. She knew that she had just told a lie right in front of her daughter, not the behavior she should have been modeling, but what was the alternative? Telling Fukuda exactly what people referred to him as when he wasn't around?

"It doesn't get any easier." Said Fukuda

"No, I don't think it does….anyway Hatori's in Serizawa's room…but be careful. I think he's upset about something or…or maybe he's just happy. It's hard to tell with him sometimes." Said Tsuchiya

"Mama! Let go! Want to walk!" said Mukai as she tried to get back down to the ground. She needed to walk! She needed to walk over there and over there and over there too!

"Thanks." Said Fukuda as he walked past her. He patted Mukai on the head…she didn't like that at all. She pushed his had away and kept on asking to walk. She was just as stubborn as Sho…as their father was. Maybe it was genetic. Maybe in a few decades they'd wind up with a female version of Suzuki.

The world was not ready.

The world would never be ready. The world could barely handle the one Suzuki it had. Sho…he was a lot like his father….but at least he had his good traits too. His stubbornness could be tenacity or…decisiveness. The impulsive decisions he made could be ambition…misplaced ambition…but at least he had some in life and at least he was putting it towards good things. Like caring for his pets or being with the boy he loved. What he did wasn't bad in and of its self…

Sho just wasn't that good at seeing the big picture.

He was just a kid, he didn't need to see the big picture. He was older but he was still a child and he acted like a child did. He at least had an excuse. Not like some people Fukuda knew. Children. Aside from Tsuchiya, and maybe Shibata, he was surrounded by children. The house was trashed. There were toys everywhere. Toys and yarn…a lot of yarn. Shibata was in the middle of it. He was either making a table cloth or a tent. A red one.

Right. Christmas was coming up. Sweater season.

"I'm fine, really." Said Shibata as he held up his hand…his bloody, bandaged hand. Maybe he should have held up the other one…but then he would have lost this stitch. He was already so behind on his sweaters. Maybe scarves for some people this year…nothing for Shimazaki, of course, and not just because he had been in a stabby mood this morning.

Though Shibata maybe should have known that Shimazaki hadn't actually wanted to learn how to knit.

"That doesn't look fine….hang on." Said Fukuda. They may not have been friends but he was one of the more tolerable people around here. Shibata had always been alright to him and the kids. He let them get away with murder but then again so did everyone else. He had been good to Sho for all of these years. Fukuda owed him at least this.

That had been a nasty cut.

"Thank you…but it would have healed on it's own. You don't want to be here right now, trust me. Shimazaki's in a bad mood and you're kind of on his list." Said Shibata. There were very few people in this world that he didn't like and Fukuda…well he was on that list. He didn't like Mob. How could anyone dislike a kid, especially one like Mob? She was so adorable and sweet and she was always so nice. It was amazing to think that she had come from a man like Suzuki…maybe his wife had strayed, or maybe she was adopted.

"You've seen him today? Was Sho with him?" asked Fukuda. Maybe he wouldn't have to deal with Hatori now…maybe someone up there was looking out for him.

"I haven't seen either of the kids all day…why? Did something happen? I know I should have been there for at least one of them, I just got so backed up for Christmas-" said Shibata

"I have no idea if something happened…but I'm going to find out. Excuse me." Said Fukuda. He needed to stop getting his hopes up. They never stayed up, they were always dashed, so why not just leave them alone? He had to deal with Hatori, there was no way around it. He had to deal with what had to have been the second most annoying human being in existence.

He would never understand what Suzuki saw in Hatori.

He didn't care, of course, in fact he was happy. He was over the fucking moon that Suzuki had someone else in his life to direct his….Suzuki-ness at….at least he hoped that Suzuki was directing some of whatever was currently wrong with him at. He had this idea in his head that he wanted….whatever he wanted with Fukuda. Suzuki had the idea in his head and it wasn't coming out until he…well until he died. That was the only way that idea was getting out of his head since Fukuda….there were some lines that not even he could cross. He'd defect before he crossed that line…any more so than he had…

But that was his problem. Right now he had to worry about Sho.

The walk to Serizawa's room had been fraught with peril in the form of what could only be called a fire hazard. The entire hallway was choked with plant life. It was like walking right through Minegishi themselves. Not pleasant at all. Unpleasant.

Though not any more unpleasant than the sound of either rage, terror, or joy that came from the door marked 'Serizawa's room' which was, presumably, Serizawa's room.

"Hatori? You're needed." Said Fukuda as he knocked on the door. The polite thing to say would have been something along the lines of 'Good evening, Hatori, if I may borrow you for just a moment'. He didn't want or need to be polite right now. He just needed to find Sho and get the hell out of here unscathed.

Mostly.

The house shook. Something on the other side of the door broke…a lot of somethings. He could feel the ground under his feet shaking…the floor. Right. Serizawa was on the other side of this door. Claw's most unstable powerhouse. He was even worse than Suzuki and Shigeko…put together. Fukuda got his footing and knocked again. This was more important than a few broken….whatever it was on the other side of that door that broke.

Apparently, everything.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Can't you read?" asked Hatori as he pulled the door opened. He pointed to the sign that Mob had put up. Serizawa's room. Knock softly. God…this guy. This had to have been the most annoying guy in all of Claw…and Hatori that was saying something. He had no idea what Suzuki saw in this guy. He had a girlfriend who loved him and shit…well a girlfriend who was back on Tinder but she'd get bored once she realized she wasn't getting any matches anymore. He had a girlfriend, that was the point. What did he want this asshole for?

Well the childhood friend did always win in the end, if anime was to be believed…anime that he only watched because Mob liked it!

"I can but that's not the point. I need you to-" said Fukuda before he was slapped over the head…by a leaf. A sharp one. He reached up…blood…but the cut was closing already. Head wounds always bled the worst.

"One bath, that's all I ask for…I can't even take one bath around here." Said Minegishi as they pulled their aura back. That hadn't been for any particular reason, just to let off some steam. Mob had pulled a disappearing act. She was probably off with Minori again…but still. She could have called. Mob was a powerful esper but she was still Mob. She shouldn't have been out there on her own.

"Minegishi." Said Fukuda

"Fukuda." Said Minegishi

"Fukuda." Said Hatori

"Hatori." Said Fukuda

"Serizawa…sorry. We were just…just…sorry!" said Serizawa from behind his door. This was so bad! Miss Suzuki was going to be so upset with him or-or disappointed. He didn't know which and he didn't want to find out. He hadn't meant to do…to do any of that…but he had and when she came home from whatever fun place she was right now she was going to be so sad or mad or just-just-she was going to feel some way that someone as nice as her shouldn't have felt.

"It's ok, Serizawa. Just stay in there while I deal with whatever the fuck Fukuda wants." said Hatori

"By 'this' I assume Fukuda's here to deal with Shibata's stab wound." Said Minegishi. Served him right for bothering Ryou like that. Yeah, ok, he'd had a crush on Mob but that was done with now. Mostly. He wasn't going to act on it, that was the point.

"No, it has nothing to do with that. This doesn't concern you." Said Fukuda. Minegishi crossed their arms and raised the space where an eyebrow would have been. Water ran down into their eyes from their hair. They had just come out of the bath…not a mental image that he wanted at all.

"Well now I'm intrigued." Said Minegishi. Well this could only indicate that something terrible had happened, hopefully to Suzuki. Hopefully he was lying dead in a ditch somewhere….or at least seriously injured in some way.

"Then go and be intrigued somewhere else….whatever. Hatori, can you find Sho for me? He's been gone all day and he's only twelve." Said Fukuda. Hatori actually rolled his eyes as he pulled out his phone. The kids didn't even do that. How Suzuki could have stood to be around him he would never understand….but there was a lot that he would never understand about Suzuki.

"Mob too, while you're at it." Said Minegishi. They got the feeling that there was some kind of a crisis brewing…well of course there was. This was Claw.

"Find Mob….find Sho…find my keys…find where Mukai left my phone….it's in her overalls! It's always…alright. Sho, or at least his phone, is next door. Mob is…huh. Mob's phone is off…and now it's not…and she's in Seasoning City for some reason…what's even in Seasoning City?" asked Hatori. That was…not good. Suzuki would kill him, and pretty much anyone between the two of them, if something happened to Mob. He didn't care about Sho but Mob was his favorite or second favorite kid…and she was all alone in an entirely different city…

"Stupidity. Stupidity is in Seasoning City." Said Minegishi with a shake of their head. Well then. They knew, now, that they had put entirely too much trust in Mob. She had said, in plain Japanese, that she was going to stay AWAY from the kid who was on one of her father's many lists. Mob….she loved making extra work for Minegishi now didn't she?

They would discuss this at length as soon as Minegishi finished dragging her back home by her braids.

"A lot of things…the Seventh Division…excuse me. Thank you." Said Fukuda. The thank you was more of a reflex than anything. Sho…Sho was where Shigeko was. He knew what had happened. He could put two and two together. Sho and Shigeko were together…Shigeko had followed him and…and he knew what Sho was doing there…

Oh. No.

Fukuda made it three steps away before his phone started to vibrate…a lot. It could have been Sho or…or something to do with him. It wasn't. Another memo, list of orders from Shigeko. Apparently everyone was to stay where they were and party until she told them to stop…distractions. She was trying to distract the whole of Claw…why? What could she have possibly needed to….

Nothing good.

"Well this can't be anything good." Said Minegishi as they leaned over Fukuda's shoulder and read his phone. Mob was either high, drunk, or up to something….up to something. That boy…that stupid boy that she thought she was in love with….Minegishi knew Mob. They knew she had something going on…something that she needed their help with…

Yeah, Minegishi was not a fan of these Mob based crises at all.