"Touichirou? Are you arguing with a toddler right now?"

Yes. He was.

Or maybe arguing wasn't the right word for it. He knew over fifty thousand words…so he needed to find another one. They were…debating? No, no, no. He knew why Shiori was looking at him like that, why she had said that. It was an odd thing, to debate with someone so young. Maybe he was pleading with her? No, no, no. Fathers did not plead with their children, children pleaded for mercy from their fathers. So then what was the word for this?

Discussing.

"We're having a discussion." Said Suzuki. There, that should have satisfied Shiori. She nodded and then pulled her blanket closer around herself. If she was cold then they could have just gone inside. It was still winter, technically, even though the snow had melted long ago. Shiori's back garden was cold. It was, however, the only place where they could observe the heavens. That had been her gift to him this Valentine's Day, the heavens.

Also homemade omelets and the promise of future sex.

"Disgusting! We're disgusting!" shouted Mukai. He pulled the phone from his ear. She was still too small to properly modulate her voice. Three was too small for that, right? He hadn't read a child development book in years, not since Shigeko and Sho were at that age. This was normal behavior, right? Masami would have known…but she was gone. If she had wanted a say in how he raised the children then she should have stayed…not that Mukai was hers…well she wasn't Shiori's either. He was Shiori's now, she was his, and his children were hers.

She must have had some sort of an interest in being his wife, or maybe she was just wearing that ring on her finger as a fashion accessory.

"Discussing, Mukai, you and I are discussing whether or not you should apologize to your mother. I think that you should and I am your father so you should do as I say….please." said Suzuki

"Father!" said Mukai. Suzuki….he had never heard her call him that before. There was an emotion settling in his chest, one which disturbed the delicate balance of power within him. He wasn't going to explode, no, but he was going to rattle some plates. The picnic in front of them, the picnic under the stars that Shiori had made them, began to rattle. It stopped as suddenly as it started. Shiori's doing.

She shook her head.

Which was preferable to Hatori's actions. He hid his head in his hands, his Gameboy, or whatever they were called now, falling to the ground. Honestly. Did he have to be so dramatic. Suzuki knew that he had never been an expert at reading the atmosphere but he could tell that Hatori was ruining it. Next year he needed a girlfriend of his own, or a boyfriend. It was about time that he found someone, and about time that he took some responsibility for himself. He had let Shibata slip right through his fingers. They had been such a good match. Hatori was small and fearful, Shibata was large and capable of protecting him. Also Hatori was the sort of person who would die if left to his own devices. Shibata loved caring for people. Really Hatori had let the perfect partner slip right through his fingers. All he had left, really, was Serizawa. Not a good match at all. Hatori would not do well in the roll of caretaker. No, Hatori needed someone who complemented him. He needed to find his most perfect person, as Suzuki had found Shiori.

But that was a project for another Valentine's Day.

"Yes…I am your Father…and you should obey me. Now please, apologize to your mother." Said Suzuki

"Father….mother…too much! I'm going now! Over there! Ok, I love you, goodbye!" said Mukai before the line went dead. Well then…that had been a bit much for her. She had never called him that before…he wasn't even sure if she knew what a father was. She had been raised, largely, by her mother. Tsuchiya had never married despite being surrounded, back when she had been assigned to the Seventh Division, by single men. Of course very few of those men were attractive…and Tsuchiya herself was not particularly attractive…but still. He would have thought that she had chosen one of them…though perhaps it was better that she hadn't taken a husband.

Suzuki wasn't sure if he could have handled his daughter calling another man 'father'….even if he hadn't been much of one in the first two years of her life.

"I love you too." Said Suzuki despite the fact that the line had gone dead some time ago. She couldn't hear him…but she must have known it, right? Out of all of his children he loved her the most. His eyes went to Shiori's stomach…out of all of his children who currently existed in the world he loved her the most. Tetsuro…well of course he would favor his son, his good son, above all of his other children.

That is if he got another son, it was a 50/50 chance after all.

"Do you want me to call her back so you can tell her?" asked Hatori. Suzuki shook his head.

"She is well aware of the fact that I care for her, now go back to playing your game. You're ruining the atmosphere." Said Suzuki as he used his powers to hand Hatori's game back to him. Next time he would bring Serizawa too, so Hatori would have someone to keep him occupied. Of course then he would have to bring Shigeko since Serizawa would have died without her at his side…and then if he was brining Shigeko he would have to bring Minegishi too since they were best friends…and then if Minegishi came Shimazaki would have to come with them since they were romantically involved…and then of course he would have to bring Sho since Shimazaki was the only person he listened to…and then of course Tadashi would want to tag along since he used Sho as a surrogate son…

Tadashi and Shiori. Together. Occupying the same space….the same atmosphere….

No.

"I can just go inside, you know. Since you guys are on date and this is kind of…weird." Said Hatori

"Hey, that isn't your house." Said Shiori with a snap of her fingers and a flare of her aura.

"Can I go back to our house, then?" asked Hatori

"If you want to live with Minegishi then go right ahead…though I have no idea why you would want that." Said Suzuki. He didn't want Hatori to go. His company was…enjoyable. Pleasant. The sort of company which put him at ease…not that he knew why he was so nervous. Maybe it was the ring on her finger, and the fact that he was certain that it was making him uncertain. Uncertain about it's meaning…about their future…..he hated it, uncertainty, but that was what came about when other huma beings were factored into the equation. There were so many variables to keep track of he didn't even know where to start…

Maybe with the ring on her finger, the pounding in his heart, and the fact that this was the worst possible time for her to begin gestating their future offspring.

"They're staying out in the country with Matsuo. I think they said something about helping with some spirit or something." Said Hatori

"Oh God, Touichirou, don't tell me that you're responsible for that thing!" said Shiori. Suzuki shook his head. He wished that he had been the one responsible. He wished that he had the power to bind spirits to him, to get them to bend to his will. He wasn't. He couldn't control…whatever it was. Maybe a spirit or a group of them clustered together, or maybe just a rumor…

Whatever it was it would be his. Eventually.

"No, I don't control it but I will possess it. Has it settled here?" asked Suzuki

"I wouldn't say 'settled' but I did have to chase it away. It felt like…I don't know how to say it….I guess sort of like when you ride the train and some creep tries to stick his hand up your skirt. Not like…possession? More like just….intrusion." said Shiori. Suzuki's eyes narrowed. His aura focused. A man had touched her? A man had dared to put an unwanted hand on her body? What man? Where was he? And how quickly did he want to die?

"Who?" asked Suzuki

"Who what?" asked Shiori

"Who touched you?" asked Suzuki

"Oh for the love of…Touichirou, you may not have noticed but I am perfectly capable of defending myself." Said Shiori

"I still want to kill him." said Suzuki

"Well then you're too late. The Osaka Loop Line took care of him already…really it was his own fault. I mean he was pressed right up against the door and the emergency open handle was right there." said Shiori. Hatori made a gasping sound, his face had gone stark white. Suzuki wondered, vaguely, if he should have left him behind in Shanghai. If he was planning on dying here then he had better have held off of in until he got him back to Tadashi. He couldn't have his second best friend dying on him.

"Wait….that was you?" asked Hatori

"Technically it was the train. What, are you getting squeamish? Seriously? Touichirou, where'd you find this kid?" asked Shiori

"An orphanage." Said Suzuki

"Well then send him back, he clearly doesn't have the stomach for this life." Said Shiori. Suzuki nodded. Hatori was powerful-sih….but weak, very weak.

"He is fragile, true, but he has his uses. He's good company and invaluable when it comes to money laundering and industrial espionage. His constant anxiety attacks can be a bit grating, though." said Suzuki

"Hey! I'm right here!" said Hatori

"Oh, right, you wanted to leave. Well if you can find an unoccupied Claw house then feel free to move in…though we won't be staying long." Said Suzuki

"I'll figure it out." Said Hatori as he got up. Suzuki wondered if it was right to let him go. He was small, fragile, little more than a child really. Even if he'd had the means to defend himself it wasn't as though he would have been able to go through with it. He would have just cowered in fear until he died. There were dangers all around them. Human and spirit. People who sought to kill him and destroy all that he had made as well as the cloud which had been hanging over Japan since…he wasn't even sure. There had been reports of the thing but so far nobody had even been able to get a good look at it. It settled in an area and then the weak started to die. Those who had been marginalized. Petty criminals, low level thugs, street prostitutes, people who nobody cared for. People who nobody had thought to look into it.

Whatever this thing was it prayed on the weak and vulnerable…and Hatori was the weakest-no. Hatori was the second weakest and second most vulnerable man he knew.

He contemplated it, as Hatori left the garden. He contemplated getting up and following him…but the pull of Shiori's aura was too great. She was also small, vulnerable, and weak. In terms of her telekinesis she was above average but physically she was still so small…it was something primal, he decided, that kept him near her. The desire to protect his partner at the expense of his friend…well he could always make more friends.

There is, was, and would always be only one Sakata Shiori.

"How far do you think he'll make it?" asked Shiori. Even in the darkness her smile was radiant.

"I'm confident that he'll be able to find his way out of your garden at least…though I do have my fears. He's a very small man and he has no ability to defend himself…I should have someone assigned to protect him if I can't do it myself." Said Suzuki

"What's stopping you?" asked Shiori

"You." Said Suzuki

"You know I would never keep you from your kids, Touichirou." Said Shiori with a roll of her eyes. She did that a lot. He suspected that it was some kind of female instinct. Masami had done the same thing, and Shigeko as well since she had begun puberty.

"I didn't father Hatori, there's no chance of it. I wasn't even in the area when he was conceived and-why are you laughing?" asked Suzuki. Shiori laughed out loud, he could see her teeth. She didn't do that thing that women did where they laughed behind their hands, he liked it better this way. He could see her happiness, and he could feel it too. Her aura…the force of her emotions….it was almost enough to knock him off kilter.

"Because, Touichirou, you're adorable. I know you didn't father him but you treat him like he's one of your kids. It's sweet…to watch, of course, not to live. If I were his age and another adult treated me like that….well let's just say that the Osaka Loop Line would claim another victim." Said Shiori

"I…treat him like a child because he acts like it…but I do not treat him like one of MY children. He doesn't cause me anything near the headache that those three cause me. Shigeko and Sho more for their behavior than anything. Mukai…well she's just a loud person in general but I think that's due to her age." Said Suzuki

"Uh-huh, her age…or maybe the fact that you refuse to tell her to quiet down. And I mean tell. Not 'discuss'. You can't discuss thing with kids, Touichirou, you're the parent. You don't start discussions, you give orders." Said Shiori. That was so much easier said than done. His children had come from him, he was their boss, but ordering them around was so much more difficult than ordering around actual employees and Awakened. There was just…the relationship was different. More complex. Something that you couldn't understand unless you yourself were a parent.

"I…can see what you're saying…but the situation becomes more complex the older that they get. It was easier when they were small, well Sho has always been a trial but he'll be irrelevant soon enough, and….and I suppose that this is just the march of time. They get older and they want to be more independent….and then suddenly they're wearing makeup and high heeled shoes and insisting on coloring their hair and there's nothing that you can say about it-" said Suzuki

"You can say a lot of things, Touichirou, like 'wash that crap off of your face' or 'stop dressing like you're getting ready to go clubbing' or 'either you dye your hair back to black or I'm cutting it off in your sleep'. See? It's not hard." Said Shiori

"You don't have children." Said Suzuki. She wouldn't know until she lived it. He had been a very good father, the best father in the world, before he'd had children. He never would have thought that his children would have behaved the way Sho and Shigeko behaved. He never would have imagined that his children would have been so comfortable openly defying him…and he never would have thought that he would have abandoned one of them either. He so hoped that Mukai forgave him…and he so hoped that Sho didn't do as he had done. He had such a nice little girlfriend, fiancée, and he knew that Sho's children would be better than the sum of their parents…parent….father. Yes, Sho's grandchildren would eclipse him in every way…that is unless he continued to live by his father's example.

"Yeah, and we never will if you don't start putting your foot down with yours. It doesn't inspire confidence, you know, the way you let your kids run wild." Said Shiori

"Things will be different with Tetsuro." Said Suzuki. He let it sit for a moment. He knew what was coming, she was going to tell him that there would be no Tetsuro, that she needed more time, and that he needed to drop the subject.

"You're going to buckle down and do some parenting?" asked Shiori. That moment…it was a short one. She didn't even have to sit and think. She just spoke…so…so there would be a Tetsuro…he used every bit of mental energy within himself to keep from floating off the ground.

"I'm always parenting, but no. He's going to be different because he's going to be half of you." Said Suzuki. She…she wanted to have a child with him…they were going to be parents…they were going to create a new person…one that was half of her and half of him….

"He? And what if we get a girl? Are you going to throw her down the well and try again since you're so hellbent on us having a son?" asked Shiori

"I would never do that. Honestly I think that I like daughters more than sons, at least when they're young, and also I haven't killed a child since I was a child and even then it was on accident. Also we live in a city with a municipal water supply. Where would we even find a well?" asked Suzuki

"We could dig one, since we're going to be living here…." Said Shiori

"We can live…my work will take me away from you but this can be my home…our home….if you're planning on making one with me." Said Suzuki. There. He had asked her…and now she was thinking. Had he been wrong? Had she only been speaking in hypotheticals? This…this was too much…

"I'm…thinking about it. Let me try it on for size for a while before I make any commitments." Said Shiori

"Oh…alright then." Said Suzuki. She needed more time. She needed to think…she was currently menstruating. She was going to do so again next month…and then the next…and then the next….so many potential chances for children…she said that she needed more time but he had no idea how much time they had left. He was a man, he could father children until the end of his life. She had such a short amount of time in which she could mother a child…but there was nothing that he could do. He couldn't force her to do anything she didn't want to do…and she was very stubborn, there was no convincing her to do something she didn't want to do otherwise. She…she was her own person and she made her own choices…

And he got very little, little to no, say in her choices.

"But let me tell you, if we end up having a girl then we aren't calling her…what was the name you picked out? Mattel? Like the toy company?" asked Shiori. If they had a child…it was still an 'if'. He lathed onto the 'if'. An 'if' could so easily turn into a 'when' and a 'when' was an inevitability…

"Maetel, as in Maetel from Galaxy Express three Nine…but if you don't like that I am also partial to Emeraldas." Said Suzuki. He liked those names, he would have used them if he and Masami had conceived a daughter together…but she hadn't liked them. Maybe Shiori would be better…

"Touichirou, I would prefer it if our hypothetical child wasn't mocked in the streets." Said Shiori. Right, she was her own person and…and she thought that he would have allowed their child to be mocked? How had that thought even crossed her mind?

"No child of mine will ever be mocked anywhere." Said Suzuki. If anyone mocked his children then they would find themselves dead in a hole. Slowly, by starvation…no, no, that was too good…he'd think of something.

"With names like that they'll be mocked the moment they step outside the house." Said Shiori

"What names are you partial to, then?" asked Suzuki. If she chose a name then…then that was turning that 'if' to a 'when'. She was…she had chosen names….which meant…calm, Touichirou, you need to stay calm….

"I like…Mizuki, with the character for moon…or maybe Hoshiko as a given name with the character for star….I don't know. There's no point to even discussing this. It's shark week, it's not like we're going to do anything." Said Shiori. Suzuki nodded. That was…a lot to take in. She…well the promise of sex was more than enough to get his aura riled up but…but the thought of having a family with her…what even were their chances of conceiving right now? He had no idea. He had never set out to conceive a child, his children had all just sort of…happened.

"I don't mind, not really, unless you want oral sex. In that case I'll have to come back another time." Said Suzuki. Sex. He would focus on the sex part and then read about fertility later.

"Obviously I'm not going to ask you to go down on me…but if you want to ring in Valentine's Day then we can…but no more talking about conceiving a kid, ok? Keep you condom on, at least for now." Said Shiori

"I…am amenable to that plan." Said Suzuki. They wouldn't be having a child but….but they would be having sex….yes, that was….he would enjoy that…he wasn't going to argue with her, even if they weren't going to be conceiving a child anytime soon.

Though a son, or a daughter, would have been the best Valentine's Day gift he'd ever gotten. Even better than a picnic of omelets followed by sex under the stars.