Suzuki loathed this part of the job.

He was in some high-end lounge, the kind where billions upon billions of yen changed hands. He hated this part of the job, mingling, being social. Brokering the deals that were the lifeblood of Claw. Not every single yen came from donations. Some of these were legitimate business deals with legitimate businessmen. The sort that crowded into this smoky room to drink, smoke, and congratulate themselves on being the masters of the universe. Suzuki had no such need for such places as this. He knew he was the master of the universe already.

But to stay the master of the universe he was going to have to keep the money coming in.

This was very much like the socializing father used to have to do at the end of his day. Father had been the first President Suzuki. President of his Department, his Division, and before he had perished, he had been on track to be president of the entire company. Well, he would have been if, after the crash, it hadn't been parceled out and sold to others. The company father had given his life to. The company that Father had spent so many smoky, crowded evenings brokering deals and keeping up employee morale. The company that had fed and clothed their family for the first eighteen years of Suzuki's life. The company that had left Father the money that had ultimately passed to Suzuki. The money that had formed the basis of Claw.

It had died a slow death.

Father would have been rolling over in his grave if he hadn't been blown into various pieces of meat and then cremated if he had seen what had become of his work. He would have been proud, too, of Suzuki for not only following in his footsteps but surpassing him as well. Father had always considered himself a master of the universe. He had said, so many times, that a man wasn't a man until he had power over other men….well that and the fact that a man wasn't a man until he had a family, but that had nothing to do with this place. Father would have been proud of the man he'd become….he would have eaten his words, too, if he could have seen what Suzuki had done with his life. Father had said…he had said….

'You can't conquer the world, Touichirou, nobody can. It isn't feasible. You need feasible goals.'

Father had always been a fan of feasible goals. Even when Suzuki had been a boy of ten, maybe a little more, and he had wanted nothing more than to get off this miserable planet. He had wanted to be the first Japanese man to colonize Mars, to go to the stars, and then to ultimately spend the rest of his life on either a generation ship or, if faster than light travel had been invented, an explorer of the cosmos. Father had told him that, at the age of ten, he needed to start thinking like a man did. Then father destroyed his cardboard rocket ship. And then Father had forced him to spar without armor on until mother screamed at him to stop. And then….and then…

And then there was an odd blank spot in his memory.

He hated those. The lost time. The fact that he just…had times in his life that he couldn't account for….he still didn't know why that happened. He wished that he knew the mechanism by which that operated. Then he could have mastered it, controlled it, and used it to his advantage. He could have used it to fast forward, or skip, through the parts of life that he hated.

Like these.

"Better than Tokyo, ay Suzuki-sama?" asked a person who wasn't important enough to know. Suzuki hated this. Tadashi usually did these things for him but he was at the base, the apartment building, because….Mukai was very small and accident prone. That was it. It had nothing to do with the fact that he'd allowed Tadashi to penetrate him anally to the point of mutual orgasm over and over again and now things were awkward. They weren't! Fukuda was just needed elsewhere and…and Hatori needed practice! Yes, he hardly socialized and if one day Hatori was to be at his side then he needed to learn how to handle these things.

He nudged Hatori with his aura.

"He says yes." said Hatori quickly as he shoved his phone back into his suit pocket. He shifted in place. Suzuki used his powers to straighten him out. He shouldn't have been slouching like that, he was going to ruin his suit. Suzuki didn't care if he was seen, the interloper had been pulled away, but really it didn't even matter. Everyone knew who he was, here, and what he was capable of. He was Suzuki Touichirou, the most powerful man on Earth, and also someone who was…in need of some funds. He knew that he didn't do well in these situations but…well that was what Hatori was for!

He just…had to learn, that was all.

"Hold still." Said Suzuki as he straightened Hatori out. He ran his powers through Hatori's hair, too, for good measure. It was amazing that a man his age had never worn a suit before….or combed his hair. Well it did make sense. He didn't have a father to teach him these things. That was how this sort of thing was passed down. Men taught male grooming and women taught female grooming. He wondered if Shigeko…no, no, she knew how to groom herself. She had found a teacher in Minegishi. Sho needed someone to teach him….but no, on second thought he didn't. He would never have to inhabit a space like this. He would never be this sort of man. He had no idea what sort of man his first born son would be but he knew that his second born son, Tetsuro, would need to learn….so much….and at this rate Suzuki might not have been around to teach him. Not at the are he and Shiori were going but….

But that was what Hatori was for. He was twenty-one years old. If no one murdered him he would live long enough to pass down to Tetsuro what Suzuki couldn't due to death or old age.

"I am! You're just pulling me really hard. How much longer do we have to stay, anyway? This is so boring." Said Hatori. Suzuki looked around. The place was still packed, for some reason. Normally when he had to be somewhere, absolutely had to, then he made sure Tadashi was by his side. This really was more of his domain.

"Tada-Fukuda normally decides that." Said Suzuki quickly. He looked down at the floor. His shoes, there, across from Hatori's. Loafers across from sneakers…an oversight. Obviously Hatori couldn't be trusted to dress himself. Tadashi knew how…but Tadashi wasn't here. He was…tending to other matters…probably watching television or….or at some brothel….not that Suzuki cared what he did with his time! His time was his own! Suzuki just…he just would have preferred the company of an experienced partner.

"So he just tells you when it's time to go home? He just decides that?" asked Hatori

"Yes, this is his element and I trust his judgement." Said Suzuki

"Want me to ask him now?" asked Hatori. He reached down to pick up his phone again. Suzuki held his hand back with his powers.

"No!" said Suzuki. He could feel eyes on him. Normal people didn't need auras to make him feel….he didn't feel anything at all! He was normal and this was a normal situation and he…he just…he could handle himself!

"I can, it takes like five seconds. I can even make sure he answers. It's a Thursday night, he's probably-" said Hatori

"Watching Terrace House or visiting a brothel, one of the two." Said Suzuki

"What?" asked Hatori. He stopped trying to take his phone out. Suzuki let him go.

"Tadashi's been following Terrace House for years. I find it banal and Shiori agrees. We're more partial to Love on a Bus, not The Love Bus though. It's gotten too banal." Said Suzuki with a shrug. He would never understand Tadashi sometimes. His tastes in…everything….were terrible. Shiori had the superior taste. Shiori was the superior partner. Even if she couldn't decide what she wanted she…she was still the superior partner.

"I meant the brothel thing." Said Hatori. Well now he knew there were eyes on him. Apparently Japanese was more widely spoken than he had imagined. He wished people would have minded their own business. It wasn't like he had said…wait, no. Hatori was the one speaking. Suzuki had no reason, therefore, to feel self-conscious…not that he felt self-conscious! He wasn't anything and he felt nothing!

"He's prefers prostitutes, he finds the entire process to be more efficient. In a way it is, every man pays for sex in one way or another." Said Suzuki, trying to sound natural and not like he could feel a thousand eyes on his back. He wished that people still hung clocks on walls. Then he could have seen if he had been here for an appropriate duration of time…not that he even knew what an appropriate duration of time was. That was Tadashi's specialty….but he wasn't around….and Hatori didn't know either.

Damn it.

"But…why?" asked Hatori. At least he asked questions that Suzuki knew the answers to. He thanked God for the small mercies.

"Because women care for men and men provide for women. Marriage is expensive, even a basic partnership….well Shiori makes her own money…but that's outside of the norm for women. Besides, if we marry…once we marry….I will provide for her…and she will provide better company for these functions." Said Suzuki. There was something to talking to Hatori, something soothing almost. He could focus on what he said, on the man in front of him who hung on his every word, instead of focusing on the people staring at him just waiting for him to make a mistake…to say the wrong thing….to reveal that he didn't belong and would never belong….

"No, I meant why is he still going to hookers if you and him…are you?" asked Hatori. Why had Suzuki been worried about HIM saying the wrong thing? Did Hatori have no concept of-of-of anything!?

"That is none of your business! And not so loud! And-and never ask me about my…which I am not even certain I-" said Suzuki. He knew that he was coming dangerously close to losing his temper. He knew that he was coming dangerously close to raising his voice. He knew that he needed to stop. He just…how dare Hatori...who did he think he even-why would he-?

Someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Immediately Suzuki forced his aura and emotions back under control. He was the one in command here. He was going to rule the world one day. How could he rule the world if he couldn't even rule over himself? Himself and the people either stupid enough or insane enough to touch him! It hurt, in a way, being touched…or maybe that was just the feeling of adrenaline flooding his body. Nobody touched him, not without his permission, and the list of people who had his permission was very short.

Asagiri Masashi.

"Suzuki-sama, a word?" asked Asagiri. Suzuki turned away from Hatori. If he was being touched, physically touched, then this must have been a matter of the utmost importance….not that he had any idea what matter Asagiri could have been coming to him with, let alone why it would have been of the utmost importance. He was an important backer, of course, so Suzuki have him the time of day…but he could be annoying at times.

Like these. Like now.

"Thank God! I mean, President Suzuki will-" said Hatori

"I need to speak to you on a matter of the upmost importance." Said Asagiri

"Speak." Said Suzuki. Well he had been right about that, at least. There was a tone in his voice, something that made Haori's aura retreat inwards towards his body. Suzuki didn't care. He just wanted this over and done with.

"It's about my daughter." Said Asagiri. Suzuki…was lost. Why would he have…oh, right, their daughters were friends. Asagiri Minori. Such an unpleasant girl. Why Shigeko chose to be friends with that girl he would never understand. She could have done so much better for herself…though that girl wasn't male in anyway, which was good, so he would hold his tongue when it came to Asagiri Minori.

"Will she be joining my daughter in…what are Shigeko's plans?" asked Suzuki. This was the sort of small talk he had never engaged in, the parental kind. Mother, when he had been a child, used to complain about how none of the other mothers would speak to her….and then how when they did speak they did so only to practice English…and then that when they spoke Japanese they spoke to her slowly and loudly as if she were deaf…and then if they did speak to her normally they spoke much too quickly for her to understand….

Parental small talk was annoying. He would have preferred silence.

"Disneyland." Said Hatori quickly.

"Will your daughter be joining my daughter at the theme park? If you're looking for her or need confirmation of her plans then I suggest you speak to her directly. Either her or Shigeko. Hatori can put you through to her." said Suzuki

"No, I know where Minori is. Paracelsus. In Switzerland." Said Asagiri. Another tone to his voice. Once which, once again, frightened Hatori.

"And I am being informed of this because?" asked Suzuki. Tadashi would have handled this if he'd been here. Obviously this was well outside of Hatori's area of expertise….wonderful. Simply wonderful.

"Your daughter-! Forgive, I spoke out of turn. Your daughter…no, I am not speaking out of turn! Your daughter…your daughter got my daughter addicted to cocaine!" said Asagiri. Loudly. Very loudly. Loud enough that now they were being stared at. Hatori's eyes darted around. That disorder he had was flaring up, it seemed, the one where he was frightened of everyone and everything. Not ideal, not ideal at all. Especially with the situation Asagiri had put them both in. This was not small talk. This was…complete and total nonsense.

Shigeko didn't even know what cocaine was.

"That…does not make sense." Said Suzuki slowly. He needed Tadashi…or maybe anyone other than Hatori. Someone who could have stood there without trembling in terror. Someone who could have dealt with Asagiri, who could have found some socially acceptable way of telling him that he was insane. Suzuki wanted to tell him that he obviously had something wrong with him and that he needed to stop drinking, there was something amber colored in the glass in his hand and Suzuki assumed that it wasn't apple juice, and really reevaluate his life. That was not socially acceptable of course,

"Your daughter gave my daughter cocaine. At her birthday party. Her thirteenth birthday party. I had to charter a plane to come and….my daughter overdosed! Your daughter gave my daughter cocaine and my daughter-" said Asagiri

"Yes, I heard you. Your daughter overdosed on cocaine. I don't know why you're implicating my daughter. That is not her preferred method of intoxication. Don't accuse my daughter of-" said Suzuki

"Uh…" said Hatori. Suzuki stopped, verbally, in his tracks. He reached out and held Hatori in place with his aura. Well then, it looked like someone was doing better….though he had nothing to offer, of course. He was shaking, the lights were flickering. He wasn't well. He needed to go….was his an excuse? A socially acceptable one? Suzuki had no clue.

"I think your son has something to say." Said Asagiri

"He is not my son and I doubt he has anything to offer." Said Suzuki. This was a good excuse. Hatori was not well. He was overtired and overstimulated. He needed to go home and so did Suzuki. He was overly tired, mentally. He was so overly tired that he was actually entertaining the thought of Shigeko…that she even knew what cocaine was…that she would have offered it to that friend of hers.

"Don't shoot the messenger but…uh….Mob…she uh….I've never seen her do it but she talks about it and-" said Hatori

"You. Message my daughter right now and ask her about this." said Suzuki. No. No. A thousand times no. Shigeko did not…she was smarter than that! She knew better than to do that to her body. The smoking and the drinking…he'd largely made his peace with those…but cocaine was something else entirely! She was…how could she have been so stupid to…no, no, no. She knew better. Hatori was mistaken and Asagiri was mistaken and Shigeko…she would clear this up.

He didn't like the look on Hatori's aura.

"She says…not right now, going to the triads tomorrow. They have everything. Do you want some? Please tell me now." Said Hatori. Suzuki kept himself under control. He was proud of himself. He was very proud that he hadn't killed every single human being within a thousand meter radius of himself. He felt like it. He felt like he was about to lose control…and he felt like killing someone. He felt like shoving Asagiri right through every single floor of this building until he was nothing more than a smear of red on the pavement. He was proud of himself for not acting on that impulse.

He was taking this rather well, he imagined.

"We are leaving this instant." said Suzuki. There. He was the man in charge here. Everyone here was present into order to gain his favor, the privilege of being able to back Claw in all that it needed, and he was free to leave whenever he wanted to…and he was leaving now.

Right. Now.

"Suzuki-sama, if I may? I think that it would be best if our daughters no longer…if you and I only spoke in a professional capacity…an if our daughters had some time apart." Said Asagiri

"Shigeko can manage her own social affairs and she keeps company with whoever she chooses to. Excuse me." Said Suzuki as he grabbed Hatori by the wrist and maneuvered hm through the crowd. This was…he was calm. The ground was shaking. He was calm. The lights were flickering. He was calm. There wasn't enough air in the room. He was calm.

He was perfectly calm.

Shigeko…Shigeko was….her own woman….she was only twelve years old! Where in the hell had she even gotten her hands on…well triads, obviously, and most likely other underworld types. The sorts of people who he was used to dealing with. The sorts of people who he employed….Shimazaki had been mentioned. Of course. Shimazaki Ryou…he was going to die. He was a dead man. Suzuki hoped that he'd enjoyed his last day on Earth-

There was no killing him.

Shigeko would have never forgave him if he went through with it. She had an attachment to this man…one that had better not have gone beyond friendship…but even friendship had it's limits…but not to her. She would have mourned him and hated Suzuki. No, killing his daughter's friend was out of the question…as was killing his daughter…

Where had THAT come from?

He loved her. He loved Shigeko even if she was…apparently doing cocaine. Not only doing cocaine but sharing it with someone else. How could she have been so stupid! Not only to jeopardize what was a very important backer of Claw but also to endanger herself lie that!? Suzuki was aware of the affect cocaine had on the human body. He had experienced it firsthand and it had not been good. When he had been young, stupid, and in University he'd tried his hand at it. Cocaine and other substances. Cocaine was the worst. It had sent his heart pounding, there had been a burning in his nostril and all the way down the back of his throat, and his mind had raced…away from him. There had been a gap between his mind and his body, one that he hadn't been able to close. There had been a gap between himself and his powers as well. He had gone from feeling like the master of the universe to…to someone small and afraid and vulnerable…

Why would Shigeko have done that to herself?!

He was going to find out. The car ride home had been a short one. A silent one. Hatori occasionally babbled something out about not shooting the messenger. Suzuki would deal with whoever needed to be shot later. He didn't have the mental space to plan out any executions right now. If he even thought about the word 'execution' he knew that he would just end up planning one that could never happen…one that should have happened. Shimazaki Ryou….how he loathed that man. What did Shigeko see in him? Why did she waste so much of her time with him? Why would she…he had no idea why she did the things she did and he…he was never going to find out, was he?

He was at least going to try.

Before the car came to a complete stop, before it fully pulled up to the curve, he jumped. He jumped right out of the car. He was fine. He didn't have time to wait for the car to stop and park legally. He had to confront-he had to speak to Shigeko. She was…she was home. He could feel her aura. This was a Claw building. Out of all the auras hers shone the most brightly. She was like the star on the top of a Christmas tree, or maybe more like Mars right after the moon set. She was bright and…and normally he would have been happy to see her…and part of him was…

But the rest of him was a different story entirely.

He wondered what sort of story she would spin….no, no. That was Sho. Shigeko never lied. She always told him the truth…and it would have been illogical if she had chosen now to lie after she had confessed. She may have been intoxicated….he was getting so sick of her being intoxicated….but there was nothing that he could do. He was…he was her father and he was fully within his rights to command her but…but if he alienated her then she would leave. She was a woman and that was what they did. They never told you what was wrong, they just left, and they left you to pick up the pieces of…of yourself. She was…she was going to leave him if he said anything….

He had to say something.

He had no idea what he was going to say. He'd had an entire car ride and elevator trip to figure out what to say…but he came up with nothing. He made it to the door of his apartment with no idea how to even begin this conversation. If she had been Sho then it would have been different. He could have simply picked her up and put her through a wall for even thinking of being so incredibly idiotic. Sho….somehow he had more sense than Shigeko…what was the world coming to? Sho with more sense than Shigeko….nonsense. Complete and total nonsense. That was what all of this was, nonsense.

So then, logically, what he said wouldn't have mattered….but it did. Everything mattered when it came to Shigeko.

"…don't like the 3D….gives me a headache…" Shigeko's voice carried through the door. He could feel her, he could see her aura, he knew she was there. She was there with…he closed his eyes. She was there beside Serizawa. Sho wasn't home, he was with Tadashi. The others were in their own apartment. Shigeko was sitting there like…like she hadn't just dropped a bombshell right on top of him!

He opened the door.

"President Suzuki! How was your-" said Serizawa. Suzuki didn't have the energy to deal with him. He reached over with his powers and pulled him to his feet.

"You. Go home. Now." Said Suzuki. He didn't wait for a reply, he just sent Serizawa out into the hallway. He didn't have time for this.

"Dad!" said Shigeko as she jumped to her feet. She slid a bit on the floor in her haste to save Serizawa. If this was how she felt about Serizawa then she would never have accepted Shimazaki's death or vicious beating….but to hell with what she expected or accepted or…or….or-!

Calm. Down.

He needed to stay calm. He needed to figure out what in the hell he was even…calm. He had to stay calm. He just…he focused on her. He focused on how small she was and…and she used to calm him. Just being near her, at one point, had been enough to clear away even the worst…even the…Shigeko had at one point been the best thing to ever happen to him.

Now she was the very worst of his problems.

"Shigeko. Stop." Said Suzuki. He held out his hand and put up a barrier between them. With the other hand he slammed the door shut.

"Serizawa!" shouted Shigeko. She pounded on his barrier. She put both hands on it and pushed…it bent. He reinforced it. She was…small. Maybe because the t-shirt she was wearing dwarfed her. Her hands were still so small but her powers and the rest of her had grown up.

"I-I ok, Miss Suzuki! I can go home on my own…um….goodnight!" said Serizawa. Suzuki held his barrier. Shigeko pushed against it again. She was strong…but he was still stronger. He was always going to be stronger.

"Wait for me, the hallway is long and-" said Shigeko as she pushed against his barrier one final time. He let it down. It had nothing to do with the way his barrier had started to give. Nothing to do with that at all.

"I don't care about the length of the hallway." Said Suzuki

"Well I do. Serizawa gets scared when he's on his own and-" said Shigeko

"I don't care about Serizawa and his irrational fears." Said Suzuki

"Dad! How could you say something like that?! And about one of your friends, too?" asked Shigeko. How could….what did she even….what was she SAYING?! How could he...how could he!? How could she!?

"Me? Shigeko, how can you pick up your phone and tell me that you're on cocaine? And that you're sharing it with your unpleasant friend? How can you-" said Suzuki

"I'm not on coke, dad." Said Shigeko. Lying, his Daughter was lying. His Daughter, his Shigeko, was lying to his face. Blatantly. She was….he was calm. He was going to stay calm. If he lost control Now then this entire building was going to come down right onto the whole of the Shanghai branch of Claw.

"You are not going to lie to me. I was there. Hatori read me the message you sent him." said Suzuki. There. Nothing she could say. No more lies she could tell…or…whatever it was that she had been saying. She just…he needed to think. He had no idea what he could even…he needed to think and he needed to stay calm. She was…she was still his Daughter….but she had….no excuses! There was no excuse that she could come up with that could make this alright! She just…there was no excuse for cocaine! She was…she was just a little girl, she didn't know any better….she was a grown woman, she should have known better….

"No, I mean I'm not on coke right now, Dad. I don't have any more coke and even if I did I don't feel good. Coke would just make me feel worse and…and you can have some if you want. I mean I didn't even know that you knew what coke was. The powder, I mean, not the soda." Said Shigeko. He would have preferred the lies to the…that was too much honesty….and he-he needed to stay calm! Yes! That was the prerogative here!

"Of course I know what cocaine is, Shigeko, and I have no idea why you would want to do that to your body." Said Suzuki. He forced his powers into submission. He couldn't lose control. Claw didn't have enough money for anymore massive rebuilds. Also if he lost control he would have been setting a terrible example for Shigeko…not that it mattered since she was already on cocaine…why in the hell was she on cocaine!? He just…calm. He needed to stay calm.

"Because it makes me feel good, Dad, like…like I'm on top of the world and I can do anything and my powers listen really well. Better even then when I'm drunk. You should try it sometime, Dad, it might make you feel better." Said Shigeko. What was she….no! There was no way he was getting intoxicated with her again! Not after that first time and…and why was she…she didn't even have the decency to feel remorse!? She just…this was….he was her father and she dared to-

Stay. Calm.

"I feel fine. I mean I felt fine. I mean I feel….never mind what I'm feeling. I don't feel anything right now. I am without emotions at this moment in time." Said Suzuki. He was not angry. He was not shocked. He was not disappointed. He was not ashamed of himself. He was fine. Placid. Steady. Calm.

"Oh….that's not good. I mean I kind of wish that too, sometimes, that I didn't have feelings. Like now, Minegishi is mad at me because of…of stuff that I don't want to talk about. I wish that I didn't feel anything but also I just want to feel better….oh! I know! I don't have any more coke but I have plenty of oil left in my pen and-" said Shigeko. She was still suggesting that they get intoxicated together. She wanted to share that part of her life with him…he didn't…he couldn't. He had long ago accepted that there were these sorts of….parts to her life that he didn't like but now she was going too far…

This was not his fault.

She was her own woman. She was old enough to be his second in command at times, run the household, and have a child of her own if she chose to. She was not a child and therefore what she chose to do with her time and her body was not for him to decide. A bit like how, as father had said, a man had no right to tell his wife how to dress or criticize her clothing in every way even if she made every single attempt she could at making herself unattractive. Shigeko had destroyed her hair but she was a woman and that was her right. Shigeko wore makeup but she was a woman and that was her right. Shigeko spent her free time snorting cocaine. She was a woman and that was her-

No it wasn't!

This was NOT the Daughter he'd signed up for! This was NOT how he had seen her life going! This was NOT what he'd had planned for them! She was only twelve years old and she was still his to command! She still had to obey him and she…she was a child! She had no idea what she needed! Not only was she destroying her body, making herself and Claw look bad, but also she was deliberately disobeying him! He had told her time and time again that he was sick and tired of the constant, never ending, intoxication but she never listened. She always had excuse after excuse ready and….and he was sick of it! He was the father and she was the daughter! What he said went and…and….

How could he possibly rule the world if he couldn't rule over his own family!?

"No! Shigeko! Stop talking!" said Suzuki. She did not command him, he commanded her, and for once in her life she was going to LISTEN!

"Dad! We're in an apartment building, be careful!" said Shigeko. She was still commanding him!? She was still….how dare she!? Who did she think she was!? She was Shigeko, he was Father to her, and there was no greater disrespect than to be disobeyed by his own child….well she wasn't really his but….he was her Father! He'd adopted her and he employed her, too, and she was not beyond his command!

"No! You do not command me! I am your father and I command you and right now I am commanding you to stop with all of….of this! No more getting intoxicated. No more drinking, no more smoking, and no more cocaine! I don't care what sort of emotions you're having or whether or not you have control over your powers! You are forbidden from-" said Suzuki

"You can't do that!" said Shigeko. She stomped her foot, the building shook. He put up a barrier…and she stomped right through it. She shattered it like glass….he had been going easy on her! That was all! He had LET her do that like he let her do everything! Anything she desired she did even if it was bad for her…even if it embarrassed him….well the days of doing whatever she wanted were OVER!

"I just did! I am your father and I can command you to-" said Suzuki

"No you can't!" said Shigeko

"I just did! I forbid-" said Suzuki

"Stop it! You can't do that! You can't just-" said Shigeko

"I am your father, I can do whatever I want. I pray that when you have a daughter she puts you through half as much as you put me-" said Suzuki. A wave of power, of Shigeko's power, nearly knocked him off his feet. She was hiding her face, now, and….well he had no idea what she was saying but he knew her aura. She was…angry? Or…forlorn? But….but why? She was the one who'd hurt him.

"I'm not pregnant!" shouted Shigeko, her voice barely muffled by her hands. Was she offended? Had he offended her in some way? But how!? It was obvious that she wasn't pregnant. She was wearing her black footless tights, she only wore those when she menstruated.

"I never implied that you were, it's very clear that you're menstruating." Said Suzuki. That got him another shriek. What was she so angry about now? Well she was menstruating so maybe this was all hormones? Or maybe he'd done something…well he had raised his voice to her several times. Also he'd forbade her from partaking of what seemed to be her intoxicant of choice….but he was her father and it was his right to command her! But…but he didn't have to exercise that right. Not if it alienated her….

"Dad! Don't EVER talk about my-my-my about THAT!" screamed Shigeko

"What? I was simply stating that you cannot be pregnant at this time since you're currently menstruating. I assume that you thought that I had implied that you were currently pregnant and took offense." Said Suzuki

"I'm not! I'm not! I'm NOT! I'm not having a baby and-and-and Shoko isn't going to be born-" shouted Shigeko

"Who's Shoko?" asked Suzuki. Well now he was lost. Another friend of hers or…well now he was just being childish. It wasn't as though she'd gone to the future, met her daughter, and now had to make sure that her daughter was born. That was insane…though no more insane than the idea of her snorting cocaine. His twelve year old daughter…..

"Nobody! I'm not having a baby and-and-and it's none of your business! I just…I'm going to-to-to see if Serizawa needs me!" said Shigeko. Her eyes were darting to the door. Her aura was flaring against his. She didn't get to leave. He may have alienated her but-but she didn't get to run away!

"Shigeko, don't you move! I forbid-" said Suzuki. He didn't get to finish his sentence. The days of her doing whatever she wanted were back. She ran right past him, shoved him out of the way even, and left. He heard footsteps going down the hallway followed by the slamming of a door. He could see her aura through the walls. Surrounded by other but so bright, like Mars as the moon set. But blue, of course, maybe like Europa if it could be seen from Earth. She was pink, too, like a cloud at sunrise. She was…still Shigeko. Still the brightest thing in his life…and still beyond his command. He could have gone after her, he could have dragged her back by her pigtails and showed her what happened when she disobeyed him, but he just…didn't have it in him.

He didn't want to hurt her.

He didn't want to alienate her…but he had. She was still the brightest thing in his life even though she'd done all that she could to make herself dim. She was still the ten year old he'd stayed up all night watching the ice queen with. She was still the five year old he'd taught to play Chinese checkers. She was still the two year old who'd raised her sleepy head one day and called him 'daddy' for the first time. She was…he loved her…and it had made him weak. She had made him weak….and now this was who he was. This was who she was, too. A woman beyond his command. A redhaired women who lived with him and fought him about every little thing. She was still Shigeko but…but a new version of her…one that he'd lost….one that he didn't know how he could ever find again….

He hated feeling this way. He was going to bed. He was calling Shiori first. Anything to make this feeling go away.