A phone call would have been nice.
A phone call, a text, a telegram, a messenger pigeon…some way of letting Shiori know that she'd be having company for the foreseeable future would have been nice. Not that she didn't enjoy Touichirou's company, she had agreed to marry him after all, but it would have been nice to have had some kind of a head's up.
From Touichirou himself.
It had been one hell of a day. It was at least forty degrees out, maybe hotter. August was hell on earth. Really. This was where the devil took his holidays. The sun beating down on her, the feel of the sidewalk under her shoes, the way her shirt clung to her, the way her blazer kept her shirt plastered to her body…this was hell on Earth. She could practically feel the metal chain around her neck searing into her flesh. The ring at the end of it, one of the many Touichirou had given her, was trying to cook the flesh just above her heart. A bead of sweat, salty and stinging, trailed down from her forehead into her eye. She needed to get inside before she melted or cooked or just passed out from the heat. Her house was right there, she could see it as she rounded the corner. She hated having to take such a roundabout way home but, unlike Touichirou, she cared if she had people watching her every move. He came and went as he pleased. He gave no thought at all to the fact that people knew he was here…that they were curious as to why he was here…
Shiori could take care of herself.
She felt like her shoes were going to melt. Boots. She had to wear boots, they were good for fighting, and this had been that sort of day. Touichirou being in Osaka meant that other people, many of whom had a vested interest in his death, had followed. Some of those people were smart enough to go after, or stupid enough to go after, the woman he had been seen in the company of many times. People just loved making more work for her, didn't they?
That was all that it was, work.
Closer, much closer…but not close enough. She needed to get inside and then out of these clothes. Black was not ideal. Sure her black blazer, the nice one with the butterflies, went with everything but maybe red would have been ideal. It would have hidden the blood just as well. A white shirt had been a mistake today, but to be fair she hadn't had a kidnapping attempt on her agenda. No, today was more money laundering, a little bit of terrorizing the local population, and getting the lunch special at that new Chinese place that just opened up. She hadn't expected to be accosted on her way to lunch, she hadn't expected to be overpowered, and she hadn't expected the fight that had followed…a fight that she had won.
So now all that was left was to wash the blood off.
That would be her first move when she got in the door. Touichirou would have to understand, she wasn't giving him any choice. She was covered in blood and sweat, it was coming off, and then…well it depended on how she felt. She had skipped lunch, she had a lot of gardening to catch up on, and there was a starfish tank that hadn't been cleaned in days calling her name. She had things to do in her life and she wasn't going to drop everything just because Touichirou had forgotten how to work a phone.
Though maybe she could move the starfish tank cleaning if he'd turned the air conditioner up.
He was in her house, she had sensed him from down the block. Another reason why he should have called her…right? They were going to get married and have kids so wasn't her house his house too? But that was her house…she had spent her hard laundered money on it. She had built it up, figuratively, into her home…he could have asked. She shook her head, her ponytail painting the back of her neck with sweat. She didn't even know who she was arguing with…maybe the sun had driven her crazy. Maybe this was all a heat mirage and she was back in the clutches of her dastardly kidnappers, a damsel in distress waiting for her night in shining armor, or dull navy blue suit, to swoop in a save her…
She needed to get inside. Now. Before her brain fried like an egg in her skull.
"Honey, I'm home." Called out Shiori as she let herself inside. She didn't feel like putting up a front of normalcy and struggling to get her key out. She would probably have just wound up burning her hand or something. It was hot enough outside…cool enough inside, though. She slipped her shoes off in the genkan and put them beside Touichirou's. God, had it really been that hot? Her feet felt like they were going to burn holes in the floor…or maybe she was just going to slip from the collective sweat in the feet of her hose….she couldn't take it anymore.
It wasn't like Touichirou had brought a friend.
She tugged her hose off and tossed them in the corner. She'd deal with those later. Now that was better, sweet relief…mostly. She tossed her blazer off into the corner too. She felt like a teenager again, tossing her uniform off as soon as she got home from school. Well you were as old as you felt and right now she didn't care if she felt like she was sixteen again. It was too damn hot outside to be self-conscious and too damn nice in here to have all of these layers on. She reached behind herself and took her hair down as she walked, once again calling out to the man she knew for a fact was in her house.
He didn't respond.
"Honey, I'm home! And I know you are, too!" said Shiori as she pulled the hair tie out of her hair. She shook it out as she walked…frowning as she passed a balled up pair of socks tossed haphazardly around. Well someone had decided to make himself at home…but it was sort of his home, too. That as what marriage was…she bit back a mean comment. She was fine…she but back profanity. Her hair was caught in her necklace chain…but that had nothing to do with her mood. It had nothing to do with the man she loved, the man who had let himself right into her house, the man who'd…she smelled eggs. The man who'd made himself a snack without taking into account the fact that she had been down to four eggs. Two for breakfast today and two for breakfast tomorrow…she could feel the annoyance showing on her face for the man who she had decided to marry her life to.
The man who was currently taking a nap on her couch.
"Really, Touichirou?" asked Shiori with a click of her tongue. He was laying down on her couch deep asleep. His button down shirt and suit coat were tossed onto the floor. There was a ketchup encrusted plate sitting on her coffee table. Apparently he'd also either made himself some ketchup bread or had been drinking ketchup out of a glass again like he pretended he didn't do but she'd seen on two occasions now. He had ketchup down the front of his shirt, too, and she thanked God that her couch was black otherwise he would have had hell to pay.
"Touichirou, wake up!" said Shiori as she reached over and nudged him. He woke up instantly…but nowhere near peacefully. He didn't do that thing where his eyes fluttered opened and he yawned and stretched and came to life. No, his eyes burst opened and he sat up so fast that he nearly hit her…but that wasn't the real danger.
Not even close.
There was the shattering of plates as he sat up. His powers were reaching out, trying to protect him, or maybe just punish the person who had dared wake him up. Normally she would have been all for punishment, certainly the unnamed person had done something to deserve it, but not when it was her. She put up a barrier and held it as best as she could…but she still wound up flat on her ass.
In her defense it had been a big day.
"Shiori!" shouted Touichirou before he jumped over the couch and landed on the ground beside her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her up and down, his eyes wild, and his powers even wilder. He was holding her so hard she could feel herself bruising. Bruises on top of bruises. Great, just what she needed…and right after she'd bought that new tank top too….she pushed him away…or at least she tried to.
It was like trying to push a brick wall without the use of her powers.
"Shiori? Shiori?! Oh my God…I am so…I apologize! I didn't mean…oh God…" said Touichirou, his breath coming out faster and faster. She heard something else break…that had better not have been one of her tanks. She tried to push him away again but, once again, it was like trying to knock over a brick wall with her bare hands…or maybe something even harder that time. He just wouldn't budge and he just wouldn't let go no matter how hard she pushed…
Though, to be fair, she was tired.
"Touichirou, let me go. I'm fine." Said Shiori trying to give him one last push. This was…she just wasn't in fighting form, that was all. She'd just killed three people and sent two more running back to their leader or boss or master or whatever. Some enemy of Touichirou's. Her enemies didn't give her nearly that much trouble. She was a big fish in a small pound here and she could admit that. Touichirou was a big fish in an ocean of big fish…fish that she could handle, of course, but fish that she needed to recover from after handling.
She wasn't helpless.
She gave him one last push, this one with her powers behind it…and he didn't move. She had done it hard enough that it should have at least phased him but…but nothing…but that was understandable. He was the biggest fish in the ocean after all. Compared to him she was…well she'd have to figure out what he was, first. A shark, maybe? But what sort. Maybe something close to a sand shark, terrifying to look at but deceivingly gentle. In that case she was a jellyfish, beautiful to look at but God help you if you got near…or something. Something that could fight if it needed to. Something that you had better not have touched.
Something that you didn't attempt to squeeze the life out of…or something.
"Touichirou! I'm fine!" said Shiori, using her words…which also didn't work. She tried to maneuver out of her blouse but that just made it worse. He directed his eyes downwards, for once not at her breasts…she would gladly have taken his barely disguised staring above the look of pure terror he was giving her. What? Was it so shocking that she wore the damn ring on a chain…
Oh. Right.
"You're bleeding! Stay still and I'll-I-'ll-I'll-" said Touichirou
"Touichirou, it's not my blood! Now let go before you break my shoulders, then I'll actually be bleeding." Said Shiori in her firmest tone, she one she reserved for the truly incompetent people who worked under her. It worked on idiots and it worked on Touichirou, who could be deceptively idiotic at times. He instantly let go of her and even had the decency to look like he was ashamed of himself.
Good. He should have been.
"I…I apologize. I panicked." Said Touichirou
"Yeah, I know. Now why don't you go and panic somewhere else while I try and get feeling back in my shoulders." Said Shiori as she rolled her shoulders around in an attempt to get everything back where it was supposed to be. He was strong. Whether that had been his powers or the fact that men were just so damn strong, stronger than she would ever hope to be, was beyond her…she was fine. She'd been through worse. If she'd been at one hundred percent she would have had that, natural strength advantage or not….
She was fine.
"I really do apologize. I don't know what came over me." Said Touichirou as he reached behind himself and began to subtly rub his back. She filed that one away for later. Well, her mind did independent of herself. Some psychology thing she didn't feel like breaking out her old university textbooks to figure out. He would have never really turned on her, the chances were slim, and if she did have to fight him…she had to stop that train of thought before it even left the station.
"I'd imagine waking up to the sight of me covered in blood is what did it. Just a hunch." Said Shiori
"Yes…that's it. You startled me. I hadn't expected to see you." Said Touichirou. Shiori stopped rolling her shoulders and cocked an eyebrow.
"That's strange, considering the fact that it's my house you let yourself into. That is unless you got confused. What, do you have another woman stashed away in Osaka somewhere?" asked Shiori, clearly kidding. She had hoped that she'd put enough of it into her voice, and her face, that he finally got it…but no, once again he had to take everything literally.
"I would never-" said Touichirou
"Relax, I was kidding. I know that you would never cheat on me. You spent long enough trying to get me, over a year, and I know you're not about to throw all of that away." Said Shiori as she crawled over and began to rub his back. The floor felt cool against her legs. She was right beside a vent now…thank God for central air. She knew that she should have been yelling at him, not only did he show up unannounced but he trashed her house too….but he didn't need that right now.
She'd yell at him later.
"I wouldn't….I would never do anything to throw this away." Said Touichirou with a groan as she worked on his back. He was tense…though maybe it had something to do with the fact that he'd thought he'd hurt her. Jumping over the couch couldn't have helped matters. She was grateful that she hadn't hit that particular ailment of middle age yet…though sitting on the floor wasn't as easy as it used to be…
This was not the place.
"Do you want to move this to the bedroom?" asked Shiori as she worked on his back. His aura flared there and she instantly, instinctively, put up a barrier. She dropped it as soon as it materialized, of course, but that didn't change the fact that she'd completely overreacted.
Nerves. Just nerves.
"I…don't want to have sex right now…or for the foreseeable future." Said Touichirou. She stopped rubbing his back. That…was not like him. It wasn't like she was rearing to go either right now, not before a long bath and an even longer meal, but normally…well everyone had their off days. She would have assumed that even with this little setback he would have been counting down the moments until they could really be together again. It wasn't like she didn't missed him as much as he missed her, too, and he had been going on before about them having a kid together despite the fact that they had a combined age of nearly one hundred….
This wasn't like him. He was an odd man and this was even odd for him.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, I just thought that sitting on the bed might have been a little easier on both of us than sitting on the floor." Said Shiori
"Oh…yes. That makes sense." Said Touichirou as he got up. He had to use her for stability. He was either still freaked out or it was his back. She would have believed either…she'd ask him about this later, right now she had to change. A bath would have been preferable but right now it looked like he needed her.
She could deal with that.
The walk to her room was a short one, she didn't exactly live in a mansion after all. She could change, sit with him until he got whatever it was off of his chest, and then she could get on with her day. Really, it wasn't so bad. This was what it was to be in a relationship. It wasn't though she'd never done this before…she had just vowed to never do it again. Being in a relationship was a bit like having a vampire attached to you, but for emotions. Men always got so…so needy when you were with them. She had never seen Touichirou as being needy, never imagined him like this, but she hadn't known him this well when they'd started this thing.
She never thought that it would have gone this far.
They'd originally just been sleeping together. She hadn't planned for it to go this far…actually after he left she had expected that she never would have seen him again. She had just, in her mind, been the latest on a long list of conquests. It wasn't that she had minded the casualness of it, she'd minded the fact that he'd just run out on her after he was done. It had been an insult and she had never been one to take an insult laying down, and now here they were.
Together. In her room. Soon to be husband and wife…if she could ever settle on a date.
But that wasn't on the agenda. No, she wasn't settling on a date or other marriage plans. Right now all she wanted to do was settle into bed. The minute they got to her room she cast off the rest of her clothes. Blouse, skirt, bra, all of it. He didn't look away from her…but he didn't look at her the same way he usually did. His face was impassive…almost disingenuously so.
He actually looked relieved when she pulled a nightgown on over her head.
"That's new." Said Touichirou as she settled down onto the bed next to him. He'd laid down on his side flat on his back. He was talking to the ceiling, now, and to her at the same time…he could have faced her when he spoke. He'd let himself into her house and trashed the place. The least he could have done was look at her when he spoke…and explained himself, too.
If something was going on it would have been nice to know. For the sake of common courtesy.
"I bought it last week." Said Shiori as she sat on the bed facing him.
"You look lovely, though you always look wonderful. I have no real opinion on your clothing beyond that." Said Touichirou
"Good, because I didn't ask for your opinion on my clothes." Said Shiori
"What do you ask for? Whatever it is I'll give you….provided it's something I can give you." Said Touichirou
"What I want is an explanation." Said Shiori
"About?" asked Touichirou
"What you're doing here unannounced." Said Shiori. That time Touichirou did turn to face her. He looked puzzled. To the untrained eye, of course, he looked normal but she knew better. She knew him.
"We…are together. You said, explicitly, that I was always welcome in your home. There is also the implicit…well to me it is implicit, that we are always welcome in each other's home. It's contingent upon our relationship, of course, being as close to marriage as we are and the implicit permission will end if we were to break up…at least that's the way I see it. I'm not sure anymore…I'm not sure of anything anymore." Said Touichirou quietly. She took his hand in hers. He held eye contact with her.
Any anger, any annoyance, anything negative at all that she'd felt toward him washed away in that moment.
"Yeah, you're always welcome here…now tell me, what are you doing here? This isn't like you, Touichirou, and right now I'm just too tired to deal with anything big and out of the ordinary. If something's wrong tell me, don't make me play guessing games all night. It's been a long day for me and right now I need dinner, a change of clothes, and I need a bath too. Preferably a nice, long, salt soak." Said Shiori. Touichirou kept silent, she could see the wheels in his head turning. That could have been very good or very bad. She braced herself for the worst. He was dying, someone else was dying, he was making his final move, he was leaving the country for over a year, the polar icecaps had finished melting, Love on a Bus wasn't getting renewed for another series, he'd accidentally let her cat out again and it was going to come home covered in ticks….
Well that last one was easy to fix. He would be the one giving the cat it's damn tick bath.
"You came home covered in blood and you're tired as well, as you've stated multiple times. What happened?" asked Touichirou after very long deliberation. The parliament in his head had to come a consensus and this was what they were going with. She smiled a bit at the thought of a bunch of little Touichirou's arguing with one another trying to settle on a course of conversation.
A small smile, though, was all that she could manage.
"Idiots, that's all." Said Shiori with a wave of her hand…a hand that he grabbed out of the air. He sat up, now, much too suddenly if the pained sounds and grimace he made were anything to go off of.
"Did someone harm you? If they did…I hope that they did." Said Touichirou. She pulled her hand free.
"Touichirou, I want you to think about what you just said because I get the feeling that it came out wrong…at least it better have been." Said Shiori. Another crazy thought. He had people who disappeared other people, he had people for everything, they even said that he was responsible for half the disappearances in the esper community….the world wide esper community…but that was insane. She was already on his side….
And if it came down to it she could fight…but it would never come down to that.
"Nothing, someone morons just thought that they could…wait, no, I'm not telling you." Said Shiori
"Shiori…please don't keep secrets from me. I don't know if I can deal with secrets between us. There are already too many secrets between Tadashi and I…and Shigeko and I…even between Hatori and I. I don't need them from you as well." Said Touichirou
"Ah, so that's what this is about." Said Shiori. More trouble at home. Well he did kind of invite it with the way he treated both his daughter and his underlings…though that was what children were, wasn't it? Just underlings that you didn't have to pay. He gave his people too much freedom, he made his own problems…
And she had to be here for him, didn't she?
He so clearly needed her. He did that thing where he looked away and smoothed down his aura. Clearly he needed her, especially if he was being this vulnerable. She wondered what Shigeko was up to this time, the little brat…and that was the best word for her. Touichirou had all but washed his hands of her and she was still giving him grief. Shiori could admit that his methods had been a bit harsh but Shigeko didn't seem like a normal case. What she did went beyond the realm of normal teenage rebellion after all.
Though maybe Touichirou needed to change tactics since, really, it didn't seem like his current plan of shout at her and hit her until she cried was working out for him all too well.
"This is…about you. Why were you covered in blood?" asked Touichirou
"I asked you a question first." Said Shiori
"I…I'm not sure if I can answer. I don't want to think about it…I'm sorry. I know how this must look to you, me being this…this weak. Weak and uncertain. I have never felt so weak and uncertain in my life-" said Touichirou
"I think that the word you're looking for is 'vulnerable' Touichirou." Said Shiori
"Yes…yes. I suppose that I am feeling very vulnerable. I don't like it." Said Touichirou
"Yeah, nobody does." Said Shiori. What did he know about vulnerability. She clutched the bedspread under her free hand. Touichirou was practically king of the world. People made attempts on his life every single day and…and she was fine. She had been in complete control for most of that situation. She was fine and…and it wasn't every day that she had the most powerful man in the world practically weeping on her bed…
It better not have been every day, she didn't think that she could handle this if it was an everyday thing.
"I'm aware and that is why…why I am choosing not to say a word. I don't want you to see me like this…like that." Said Touichirou. Shiori rolled her eyes. She couldn't help it. He was just so ridiculous sometimes.
"I told you before that I don't give a damn about all of that. I'd rather you just tell me what's bothering you so we can move forward and I can get in the tub already than sit here playing twenty questions until we die of old age." Said Shiori
"We aren't playing twenty questions…though if you wanted to I doubt we would be here until we died of old age. My average is-" said Touichirou
"Why are you like…ok, ok. I don't actually want to play twenty questions, I want to know what you're doing here. This isn't like you and, honestly, not telling me is making me more worried than anything you could actually tell me. So just tell me already." Said Shiori with a groan. He could be charming, sometimes, in his clueless….but this was not one of those times.
"I'm…upsetting you?" asked Touichirou
"Yes. Now we're getting somewhere." Said Shiori, running a hand through her hair. There was an uncomfortable tug. Her hair was still tangled in her chain. There was a reason she wore this chain under her clothes, and not just because she wanted to keep Touichirou close to her heart or whatever. She liked having hair, thank you very much, and normally she would have put the ring back on her finger when she got home but she hadn't had the chance….Touichirou hadn't given her the chance.
"That was not my intention and I apologize. The last thing I want to do is upset you and…and you are not Masami. We have come to that conclusion already and…and I will tell you…but only once. I only want to speak about this matter once and then never again for the rest of my life. It's too horrible to speak of more than once." Said Touichirou. That wasn't a lot to go off of when it came to Touichirou. It could have been something truly horrific or his daughter could have just done some bratty, teenager-ish, thing that he didn't know how to cope with…though he had mentioned those other two…
Whatever. She could handle it.
"Is it about your kid again? What's she done this time. You know you really just need to keep on laying down the law with her. If you set clear rules and boundaries then you won't have any repeats of-" said Shiori. Really. She wasn't even a mother but she was more adept at parenting than he was. Raising a child was a lot like managing an underling. You had to make your expectations clear, as well as what would happen when those expectations weren't met. In doing so you saved yourself a lot of heartache. Touichirou's problem was that he had this strange line in his mind between his homelife and his work life. His daughter was a part of Claw's power structure. If he couldn't manage her as a daughter then he should have at least been able to manage her as an employee. She had been about to tell him as such before he interrupted her.
"She's having sex." Said Touichirou. Any words that had been on her tongue shriveled up and died instantly like the last time her starfish had escaped from it's tank. Really, they knew that they couldn't survive outside of their tanks but still they crawled out if she didn't put the top on tight…was the top on tight? She needed to check…she needed to check right now…
She did not want to have this conversation. Touichirou had been right.
"That's…yeah. That's not my area of expertise. That's really more of-" said Shiori. This was not her problem. Not her goldfish, not her fishbowl. If Shigeko had been her daughter then she would have in her room with the doors and windows nailed shut since, obviously, she could not be trusted. She was thirteen years old! What business did she have having sex?!
Not her problem.
She was not Shigeko's stepmother. She was just the woman her father was marrying and the future mother of her half sibling…she had no obligation to Shigeko. None. The only time she'd met the girl was when she'd shown up here unannounced, Shiori knew where she got it from, and tried to make trouble. She had just come in here making demands like a little princess, not exactly endearing. Touichirou had been a little harsh with her…but clearly not harsh enough if this was how she was going to carry on!
Really.
"I don't know what to do. I beat him three quarters of the way to death and…and that didn't fix anything. I cannot undo what has been done and-and Shigeko is so young and I have no idea what I'm even supposed to do in this situation. I'm not her mother-" said Touichirou
"Well neither am I and if you think that I'm going to talk to her then you've got another thing coming! I'm serious about this, Touichirou, I am not getting involved in-" said Shiori
"I wasn't going to ask you to. I know that you are not her mother…Masami is her mother…but Masami is gone and she's left me to be both mother and father…and I can't do it. I…I have never been afraid to admit when something was beyond my ability…but admitting to this just…there is emotion behind it that I do not like and I wish that I could exorcise but I cannot no matter how much I try…" said Touichirou
"Yeah, I'm not her mother and I don't want to be! I don't…I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here, Touichirou. You…why are you even here right now?" asked Shiori. That was the billion yen question, wasn't it? If Shiori's daughter had been out there sleeping with whichever boy gave her the time of day Shiori wouldn't have been here moaning and groaning about it. Of course not. She would have been right by her daughter's side…for the rest of her life since obviously she could not be trusted. Thirteen was too young. Shigeko was obviously not an intelligent little girl and she obviously couldn't be trusted with a responsibility like this.
That was what this was, a big responsibility.
When Shiori had been young, two years older than Shigeko was now, her mother had sat her down and told her that nobody wanted a used car. Which sounded better? A car that looked like new or a car that actually was new. Mom had slapped her across the face when she'd said that, no, she wasn't a car. She was a human being and she was in love and she was going to marry that boy and they were going to have ten kids and live in a house on the coast and go fishing and swimming in the ocean every single day.
She had been a moron.
Mom had been right to slap her. Of course Mom had gone flying through a wall but that was neither here nor there. Shiori had thought that mom was terribly unfair…an understatement…but now she knew better. She had been fifteen years old. She had been in middle school. She had been way too young to deal with that kind of responsibility. It hadn't been about being or not being a virgin, it had nothing to do with your value on the imaginary marriage market, it was all about the fact that middle schooler had no business having babies! They had no business gambling like that. Having sex was like playing Russian roulette but with a hundred thousand bullets in the chamber….
Not her goldfish. Not her aquarium.
"I'm here because I couldn't stand to be…I couldn't stand to be around the others. I couldn't stand to be in my home. Everything reminded me of her….of my daughter…and Hatori has some kind of idea in his head that Tadashi was sleeping with Masami-" said Touichirou
"How…how in the hell did THAT come up?" asked Shiori. She got the feeling that she was missing A LOT of context here. More than a lot. It was like a DVD that skipped or…or whatever the hell people used now. She had no idea…more of Touichirou's bizarre problems. This was just another one of Touichirou's bizarre problems….
Kidnapping was easier to deal with than this.
"Hatori found photos of Masami on Tadashi's phone and now he has this idea in his head that Masami was sleeping with him. It's insane, of course, Tadashi would never do that to me." Said Touichirou. She had no opinion on this. She had never met the first Missus Suzuki and she didn't want to meet her. If she did then…well she'd have words for her. Harsh words. Violence too, of course, though she didn't have any specific violence in mind. Not yet…not for her…
This Tadashi person on the other hand…
She knew that name. Tadashi….Fukuda. That man Touichirou had done some university level experimenting with. Why in the world…not her goldfish, not her aquarium. She had no idea what in the hell he was on about but she did know that she didn't have any kind of opinion on this. She didn't know these people and she had her own problems to deal with….her shoulders hurt.
She pulled her hand out of his grasp.
"I don't know what he would or would not do to you….but maybe if you think that your underlings are sleeping with your ex-wife or were sleeping with your life then, I don't know, lay down the law with him?" asked Shiori as she rubbed her shoulder. She needed to soak. She didn't want to deal with this. She didn't want to deal with any of this. She just….she needed to lay down. Or soak. Or eat something. Or just stare at the wall and wait for tomorrow to happen. She didn't think it would be very stimulating but, really, it was at least something she had done on her own terms.
"I don't think that he did. In fact I know that he didn't. He would never have…I know him. I know that he would never hurt me…." Said Touichirou, his eyes narrowed and his aura still.
"Alright, alright, your ex-wife was a saint. Whatever. It's none of my business." Said Shiori
"She's no angel. You're an angel. She is…she was…she is and was completely unknowable. Not like you. You're simple." Said Touichirou. Oh. Well thank you very much. She scooted away from him. He could be a real moron sometimes. He didn't always know what he was saying. That was…that was all. He didn't know what he was saying and…and he didn't care about his ex-wife anymore and she didn't care about the last Missus Suzuki either.
She wasn't in competition with anyone, especially not someone who amounted to little more than a ghost.
"Touichirou, I need you to think about what you just said…because it just sounded like you called me stupid….and I am trying my best to stay calm here." Said Shiori slowly.
"I would never! I simply…you are easy to understand. You say what you mean and mean what you say and if I don't understand something that you said you always elaborate. You don't…you don't withdraw from me and you don't expect me to just…to just know what you mean. You are not knowable. She was." Said Touichirou. Shiori nodded and kept on rubbing her shoulders.
"Yeah…yeah. I should have known you didn't mean it…whatever. I love you, ok?" said Shiori. She was such a moron sometimes. She had been out in the sun for too long. She'd overexerted herself. She…she was just dealing with a lot.
She was fine.
"I love you too." Said Touichirou. He leaned in and kissed her…it felt distant. She had no idea how he could have possibly felt so distant when he was sitting right there beside her.
"Touichirou, right now I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here. This is…I don't know what you want from me. Your daughter…she's your problem. OUR daughter will be our problem but your daughter, not that I'm pregnant! Don't get your hopes up." Said Shiori as he pulled away from her. Daughter problems…he was dealing with daughter problems. She wondered if this was a preview of her own coming motherhood. That is if they were even going to have a child. She was forty one, not exactly a spring chicken, in fact the term geriatric pregnancy was used. Geriatric. Old. Like she was one of those old ladies that spent the day feeding koi fish in the park and doing tai-chi and…and playing mahjong or something. She wasn't old…just older.
Maybe too old to have a child.
An out…she didn't know if it was an out she wanted to take. She didn't know if she wanted to wake up one morning to a baby crying beside or an empty crib…not that she knew why she would have bought the crib if she didn't have a baby to put in it. It was an odd thought…and an odd feeling, not knowing what she wanted. She didn't know if she wanted that out, the out of being too old. The thought of having a child was terrifying but the thought of not being able to have a child…there was a sort of loss there. Like a window had been closed for her before she had even known that it opened. She had thought about it, having kids, but…but she had never met the right person…
Until now.
She did want…if she had a baby then she wanted it to be Touichirou's. Mostly. She didn't want her baby to turn out like his children had. She didn't want to have a repeat of this conversation in thirteen years with their own daughter or son. She didn't need to raise a brat…Touichirou had a talent for raising brats. She didn't know if she could deal with this again…
But it was neither here nor there.
"They aren't. I know that you aren't pregnant, we haven't had sex since we were last together…and I do not wish to right now. Even the idea of sex, or any kind of physicality, disturb me greatly. All I can think about…and I don't like this. Being out of control like this. All I can think about is…my mind alternates between picturing my ex-wife and Tadashi…which is painful-" said Touichirou
"Well then don't let it be. You're divorced, you're over her, you told me to my face that you were completely and totally over her. You told me, Touichirou, and I know that you're not a liar. It's over and done with. She can spread her legs for whoever the hell she wants to spread her legs for. If she wants to lay down and let every one of your underlings and lieutenants take their turn then let her. It's not your problem." Said Shiori. Touichirou was practically green now…maybe she had gone too far. It had come out, just come out, she had been out of control there…it wasn't a good feeling for her either. She didn't know how she could have stopped herself. It had just been so…so irrationally painful. What did he care what his ex-wife did? She had left him.
He had said that he was over her.
Touichirou didn't hear her waxing poetic about her exes. She had been with her ex for fifteen years, the was eleven years longer than he'd even known his ex-wife. He didn't hear here worrying about who he was sleeping with. He could have been going to town on half the country if he wanted to. She didn't care. She didn't…she didn't care about anything. She was here and…and she was tired. She wasn't anywhere near one hundred percent.
She needed rest. She needed food. She needed a bath. She needed to be alone.
"It's not about her…it's about Tadashi. The thought of him betraying me like that…it pains me greatly. That's all. I wish that it didn't and…and I suppose that I came here because I need to feel less out of control. You make me feel in control. You…you make me into someone better than I am." Said Touichirou. He reached over and took her ring in his hand. She hadn't taken it off yet. The chain was still hopelessly tangled in her hair.
"Touichirou…I love you…but I don't want to make you into someone better than you are. That's too much work for me and I have my own problems to deal with. The only person who can make you into a better person is yourself so…I don't know. I don't even know why you're so twisted up over this. The whole thing sounds shady as hell to me. I don't keep pictures of other men on my phone…and what kind of pictures are we talking about here? Because if these were nude pictures then you're…I don't know, having a stroke or something?" asked Shiori
"I am confident that I'm not going to have a stroke….mostly confidant." Said Touichirou. He got a look there that she had never seen before…one that she would deal with later. When she wasn't so tired….when she wasn't so sore…when she didn't feel so rundown.
"Good, we don't need to deal with that….you don't need to deal with that. You have enough to deal with. I mean your second in command has nude, or whatever, pictures of your ex-wife. That's a lot." Said Shiori. He would be the one to deal with his own problems. She had never asked him for help and…and he hadn't asked her for help but…she didn't need this turning into a two way street. Right now this was a no way street and that was how she liked it. She had gotten this far on her own, literally.
She had made it home on her own.
There had been a lot of walking, some time spent on busses, but mostly walking. She had done it all herself. She couldn't fly, not in any serious way, and even if she had been able to fly as fast as some people could she couldn't turn herself invisible. She didn't need that kind of attention and…and she had gotten home. That was what was important here.
She had gotten home on her own, this far on her own, and she didn't need to give Touichirou an excuse to start treating her like she was some kind of porcelain doll or something.
"She wasn't nude. She was sleeping and…and cooking…and reading….and also they used to email but he tells me that they were friends and I believe him…Hatori thinks otherwise and he just would not leave me alone no matter how many times I ordered him to and….and I just had to leave…so I did, and now I am here and…and this is very difficult for me. Speaking about this…but it's easier because I know that you will listen without judgement." Said Touichirou. She didn't know what she was supposed to say to that…to all of this. She just did not have the energy for this. Her shoulders felt sore and heavy. Her entire body felt sore and heavy…she had been out in the heat for too long. That was it.
They had taken her a long way out of Osaka.
It had been her fault, of course, she was the one who had let her guard down. She was the one who hadn't been paying attention. Normal people…she needed to learn to pay attention to normal people. She was used to looking out for other espers but normal people, given the right circumstances, could be just as dangerous. One normal person going unnoticed…a curse…darkness…and then waking up outside city limits. She'd made her way back, of course, with minimal…nothing had gone wrong. She'd fought and she'd won. Now there was no need to think on it. She was…she was feeling heat sick. It had been the heat that had gotten to her. The heat and the fight and…and she needed rest. Touichirou wasn't helping matters.
She loved him…but she had her own problems to deal with right now.
"I will, you know I will, but…but right now I need a bath. I was in a fight today, a bad one, but I won…and before you say anything pretty much everyone's dead and I don't need you to swoop in and finish the job or send your people out or whatever you're planning on doing." Said Shiori
"I have no concrete plans for dealing with the people who's blood you spilt but your ideas are sound ones and I will take them into account. I can easily dispatch with-" said Touichirou
"No! No. You have your own problems and I have mine and I'll…I can be there for you but after I take a bath. Ok? I'm going to take a bath, how about you order Chinese, and then we can catch the finale of Love on a Bus and we can catch up and then I can help you figure out what to do about your daughter and your friend and whatever else you need help with. Ok?" asked Shiori
"Yes. I am amenable to that plan…and thank you. I was beginning to lose control there but somehow just by listening you've made things better. I am not sure how but I get that feeling." Said Touichirou
"Yeah, I don't know either. I guess sometimes you just need a sympathetic ear or something…so…yeah. I'm going to go and take a bath for a while. You order the Chinese and clean up my living room, too, while you're at it, and don't argue with me. Just because you treat me like a queen does not make you a king and this is my castle, not yours." Said Shiori as she got up. Leaving him…she didn't know what she wanted. It felt wrong to leave him but she didn't have it in her to stay. She had forgotten how draining love could be, how draining it could be being there for another person. It wasn't like Touichirou hadn't been without his bizarre problems before but this…this felt different.
Heavier.
This whole thing left her feeling heavy. She felt heavy in her heart and her bones and her soul…so she needed to float for a little while. She just needed to take a bath and then…and then she would be ready to deal with all of this. This was what it was to be with someone and she didn't want to leave so…so this was it. Well she could do it. She'd taken Osaka hadn't she? Well taking care of Touichirou couldn't have possibly been harder than that had been….she had this. She had him…she was going to be his wife and this was what wives did…
Though the common courtesy of a phone call would have been nice, just to give her time to prepare.