Suzuki knew better than to criticize a woman's clothing.
But really, that shirt was just too much.
"Shigeko. Explain." Said Suzuki, his eyes locked onto Shigeko as she moved from the refrigerator to the counter. She was making dinner of some sort, it didn't matter. What did matter was her shirt. Neko milk. Cat milk. A shirt which read Neko Milk in English and Katakana. He had no idea what that meant. Either her shirt was advertising milk made specifically FOR cats or milk made specifically FROM cats…
He prayed that it was the former and not the latter.
"I'm just making dinner, Dad, that's all." said Mob as she stated chopping the vegetables. Carrots and bok choy. That was all that Sho could eat, really, without fighting about it. He didn't like them but he could eat them. She'd stir fry this with noodles and chicken. There. That was a good, nutritious dinner with most of the food groups. She had to think of Sho's health after all. He might not have been feeling well, that was the only reason that she could think of as to why he had been spending all of his free time with Fukuda lately….
Or maybe he had just been avoiding Dad. That would have made sense too.
"No, I meant I need you to explain your shirt to me. Right now." Said Suzuki. He reached above his laptop and motioned upwards and downwards so she would know exactly what he was talking about. She looked down and pulled her shirt away from her chest. Good. It had been much too tight.
"What's wrong with my shirt?" asked Mob as she looked down. It wasn't dirty or anything. She had no idea why else Dad would have been complaining…but he had been a real complainer lately. Mostly about her hair, though, so really complaining about her shirt right now should have been a nice change of pace….it should have been but it wasn't. Why did he have to pick on her like this? He didn't pick on anyone else about the way they looked. He never used to say mean things to her…he used to be nice….
But like Elsa had said, the past was in the past…and she hadn't only meant the bad things.
"It's very tight and draws attention to your breasts but that's not what I'm asking about." Said Suzuki
"Dad!" said Mob. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned around. No! Goss! Her DAD had been looking at her-her-her….he was NOT supposed to look there! And he wasn't supposed to say things about them either! Mob knew that they were there, she didn't need to be reminded by her Dad of all people. They reminded her themselves with every step she took, when she tried to lay down at night to go to sleep, when it got cold and she had to wear a sweater even if she wasn't in the mood to wear one. They were there and they weren't going away. She didn't need that simple fact pointed out to her.
And certainly not by her own DAD!
"What's the matter with you?" asked Suzuki as he pulled his phone from his pocket and clicked on the third most useful application he had, right behind his email and the game where the little man ascended various floating platforms. According to this she shouldn't have been menstruating right now….so why was she acting like this?
"The matter with me? Dad, what's the matter with YOU?! Why would you say that!? Why would you talk about my-my-my-why do you have to talk about personal things like that!?" said Mob
"You asked me what was wrong with your shirt and I told you. It's too tight and it draws attention to your breasts. You shouldn't draw attention to your breasts like that, it makes men think of you in sexual ways…unless you want that…but I don't know why you would want that sort of attention. You're my Daughter, you don't need to resort to that. If you choose a man to be yours simply point him out to me and I'll bring him to you." Said Suzuki. Women. They were so strange. He didn't see what she was so worked up over. She was the one drawing attention to them, not him. He had simply pointed out that they were prominently displayed….he hoped that his next child was male just so that he didn't have to deal with this again….
Though with his luck Tetsuro would most likely develop some sort of gynecomastia.
"Dad! Stop talking!" shouted Mob. She turned to face him. He was just sitting there working, or playing Minecraft, like this was just a normal conversation that normal people normally had! Well it wasn't normal! Why did he have to be so weird!? She had to calm down, she was in an apartment building and if she lost control a lot of people would die, and also Sho was home and she couldn't scare him off.
They hadn't had dinner together in…she didn't even know when.
"What are you guys fighting about?" asked Sho as he stuck his head into the kitchen to investigate. Big sis was pointing at Dad and her aura was flaring. Dad was just sitting there like normal. He better not have been saying mean stuff to her…but maybe if he was it was kind of a good thing. Maybe then, if Dad was enough of an asshole to her, she would have been more likely to join his side when it came time to take Dad down….
"Nothing." Said Suzuki. They weren't fighting and even if they had been then Sho should have had enough sense to stay out of it. What was he even doing home? Didn't he have some sort of social engagement with Tadashi? One that Suzuki hadn't been invited too….well he didn't care. He didn't want to go anywhere that Sho was. He could barely stand the sight of his son. All of his failures bundled into one inexplicable human being.
He so wished Shiori would make up her mind already and marry him so they could get on with it.
"We're fine, Sho, so you don't have to worry. I'm starting dinner now and it would go faster if you helped-" said Mob
"I'm going to have dinner at Fukuda's tonight." Said Sho
"You've had dinner at Fukuda's every single night for…well a long time." Said Mob
"Yeah, I know, so what? It's one less person you have to cook for, you should be happy." Said Sho. He didn't care if he and Fukuda spent the night planning strategy or making lists of potential allies or just watching TV and practicing doing tattoos. Anything was better than sitting there at the table with Dad.
"But I already bought the food…." Said Mob. He was twelve now, he could decide who he was going to have dinner with, and…and even if that person as Fukuda she wasn't going to beg him to change his plans or anything like that. She loved him and she just wanted him to be happy…even though she had no idea how anyone could have been happy with Fukuda of all people.
"So? Then it can be leftovers. Anyway I have to go before my hamsters starve to death." Said Sho. They really did need him so he wasn't lying, technically he wasn't, to Big Sis. He had lied to her about so much already and that was after making a vow to never lie to her again. Maybe he just sucked as a person…or maybe all of this would pay off once he took Dad down. Beat him up so bad in front of all of Claw, even the Awakened, that nobody wanted to follow him ever again.
Yeah, once he did that…and not murder, then everything would be ok.
"But it's only bok choy and carrots. Those are the vegetables you eat and-" said Mob
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Said Suzuki with a wave of his hand. He picked Sho up with his powers and sent him on his way. Really. If he was going to do something then he should have just done it. Suzuki didn't have the time or the inclination to deal with at sort of indecision.
"Dad!" said Mob as Dad threw Sho out. She didn't know how she, Sho, and Mukai could have come from him. He was mean, most of the time for no reason, and in ways that went beyond saying weird stuff about her shirts and breasts and stuff. Why couldn't he have just been normal? Not even normal like a normal person, just normal like…like she was, or her friends, or anyone else in the world that had some idea of what was and was not ok to say and do to someone!?
"Stop shouting. You're giving me a headache and I can't see Tadashi…Fukuda….for reasons." Said Suzuki
"I'm giving you a headache? Dad…why do you have to be so mean all the time? And weird? I mean I know that it's a mean question to ask but…but why are you like this?" asked Mob
"I…am no different than I have been at any point in my life." Said Suzuki. He had been asked that question many times before and by many different people. His parents, his teachers, his classmates, his lovers, Tadashi, his friends, Tadashi, even his own wife…ex-wife. The only person who hadn't asked him that was Shiori…
He wondered what she was up to right now.
Maybe…he checked the time and did some calculations. She was home, now, and unwinding. Tonight was the premiere of 'Does This Look Infected to You', apparently enough plastic surgery procedures went wrong that an entire television show could be created around it. He didn't know why she wanted to watch something like that, it was disgusting and also there was no need to educate herself on any aspect of plastic surgery since she was completely flawless, but he would never have gone so far as to call her weird and ask her why she was the way she was. He may not have always understood her but that didn't change the fact that he respected her and she respected him right back as a wife should have respected her husband.
There. That was the problem. At some point his Daughter had stopped respecting him.
"And I resent you asking me that question, I am your father and you will show me respect. Now watch your mouth." Said Suzuki. There that should have…wait, no. He had spoken to her as though she had been a child…which she was. She was his child. She was a woman, she had made that abundantly clear, but he was still forty five and she was still twelve. Also he was still her legal guardian and he had the court papers to prove it…court papers which she could never see, of course, unless he wanted to lose her forever…would that have been so bad? She was, essentially, a woman with no blood relation who lived with him….but she was also his Daughter. She was his Daughter and he was her Father and he still loved her…
Even if she had at some point turned into….this person.
"You….you resent me?" asked Mob. She knew what that word meant. He didn't love her anyone. He…he had been so mean to her for so long and now he was admitting it. She didn't know…why did he have to BE like that?! She didn't want him to smother her but…but she wanted Sunday back…and when they would watch TV together…and even when they would play Minecraft together even though he was really bossy. She just…she had spent so long trying to be free of him and she should have been happy but now….now he resented her…like he didn't love her or like her and…and….and….
She needed Minegishi…but they were mad at her.
Did they resent her too? They had caller her 'stupid' a bunch of times just because she had been sad that Shoko wasn't going to be born. Shoko or Shigeo, she didn't care which. She knew that babies were hard work, she knew that having a baby meant that she would be it's mother for the rest of her life and not just until she got bored, and she knew that twelve year olds didn't normally have babies. She also knew herself and she knew that she would have loved her baby forever and taken the best possible care of it that she could have.
And she knew, too, that when it got older she wouldn't make a single one of Dad's mistakes…she wouldn't act like him at all.
"I do not resent you as a person. I resent the fact that you would ask me that question. I have been asked that question numerous times in the past and…and I don't like it. I don't like hearing it from anyone let alone my own daughter." Said Suzuki
"So…I hurt your feelings? Is that what you're trying to say?" asked Mob
"I…suppose that in a way, yes, you did cause me a twinge of emotional pain." Said Suzuki
"Well I'm sorry about that Dad but you hurt me first. You made me feel weird about my bre…my body and you were mean to Sho and…and you've been acting like you don't like me. You never want to spend time with me anymore and every single day, at least twice a day, you tell me that you hate my hair." Said Mob
"I do hate your hair, though." said Suzuki
"I know! I know how you feel and…and it hurts my feelings when you say things like that." Said Mob
"I…apologize." Said Suzuki. He had been stating facts, he hated her hair. Objectively it was terrible. That shade of red looked more like she had fallen into a vat of that artificial fruit drink Mukai liked than something that could have grown out of someone's head. It did not suit her or anyone. She had been blessed with hair in the most perfect, average, shade of black. Her hair granted her a level of anonymity that he would have killed for, or dumped a bottle of shoe polish onto his head for, at her age. She shouldn't have altered her appearance since she had been perfect as she was…
But it was dangerous ground criticizing a woman's appearance.
Mother used to go into hysterics whenever father would ask her if she needed to be wearing so much makeup, if her heels needed to be so high, and if her dresses had to be so short. Shigeko…well she was hysterical now…and he could see, now, that both she and mother had been hurt by comments about their physical appearances just as he had been hurt, as a child, when people pointed out his differences. It wasn't just about the stress women caused you but the pain they felt….and there was nothing lower than a man who intentionally caused a woman pain…
And pain didn't just come from causing physical harm to someone.
"You're….you're really sorry? About saying mean things and…and acting like you don't like me anymore?" asked Mob. Dad was…sorry? But…Dad was never sorry about anything….
"Yes. I apologize for criticizing your appearance. I knew that it was dangerous ground to criticize a woman's appearance but I did so anyway. Please, forgive me." Said Suzuki
"I…ok. Does this mean that you want to hang out with me again? That we can have Sundays and sleepovers and play Minecraft again or whatever other games we both like?" asked Mob. She would ever have sat through their millionth re-watch of the Galaxy Express show if it meant that they could just be ok again. She may not have been a mom, or had a mom, but she at least had a Dad…even if he was really weird and mean and stuff.
"I…would be…amenable to that." Said Suzuki. Truth be told he had Mukai now. She was a child and, well, she was more pleasant to spend time with. Shigeko was a woman. He didn't know how he could spend time with her. Wouldn't it be odd? To spend time together at her age? He…he honestly didn't know. He had never sought out the company of either parent. Not that he could remember, anyway.
"Thanks Dad….I love you." Said Mob. She did, she really did. She loved him even if he was mean and weird and stuff. He was…he was her Dad.
"I love you too, Shigeko, but….and please don't get upset at me….but what is 'Neko Milk' and why are you wearing it on your chest? Is it milk for cats or is it milk from cats?" asked Suzuki. Shigeko once again pulled her shirt away from her chest and looked down. She made a face like she had just bitten into a lemon….he prayed to whoever was listening and more powerful than him, if such a thing even was possible, that she was not getting ready to fall into another fit of hysterics.
"Milk…from cats?" asked Mob. She'd heard of soy milk, coconut milk, oat milk, but not cat milk….gross! She had just bought this shirt because it had been pink and she liked milk. She hadn't really thought about it…but now she couldn't stop thinking about it….and how gross the idea of cat milk was!
"So it is milk from cats then? Vile. I don't want you drinking it." Said Suzuki. He had heard of soy milk, oat milk, and coconut milk…but this was going too far. When he came to power he was putting an end to all of these strange milks!
"I…think that it might just be for cats, Dad, not from cats." Said Mob. That was it, the alternative was too gross for words, so that must have been it.
"That would….yes, that would make sense. Very good. Thank you, Shigeko." said Suzuki. Well that was nice to know. The world hadn't completely lost it's mind…and Shigeko hadn't lost hers, either. He still hated her hair, and he wasn't a fan of that very confusing shirt, but…but he wasn't going to criticize her appearance. It hurt and, yes, she had hurt him first…but the last thing he wanted was to cause a woman pain. Especially not his own Daughter…even if she did, sometimes, make the worst decisions when it came to clothing.
Still, though, he knew better than to criticize her appearance.