Teenage girls sure did love to talk.

"…so then I said to Tsuchiya, I told her that we weren't going to talk about this anymore, but then the next day she tried to talk to me about it? Even though I said no to. That is not being a good friend, not at all, at least I don't think so. I've been kind of being a bad friend lately. I mean I let all of my friends leave and…well ok, I was kind of a jerk but Tsuchiya was a jerk first. She can go wherever she wants, if she doesn't want to be here then I won't make her, but she is not going to take my little sister from me. It's just not ok. Do you know what I mean?" asked Shigeko, finally taking a break for air. She'd been going on and on and on about some fight she'd had with the Scar Tsuchiya about her little sister…important information. It really was. Suzuki was notoriously cagey about himself. He was a man of few words and most of those words were answered by other people. He loved giving speeches but hated basic conversation.

His daughter hadn't taken after him.

Every single kernel of information she gave him was important. Every little piece of information, no matter how innocuous sounding, could be the key to taking this whole house of cards down. There was infighting in the inner circle, and a custody dispute or something around the youngest known Suzuki child. President Suzuki had been right to keep his cards near his chest. If it got out that things were so unstable in his inner circle then…well off of the top of his head Joseph could think of about four groups that would have loved to destroy Claw and then tear apart the carcass.

Four non-government groups that is.

He worked for the highest bidder and right now that bidder was the Japanese government. He wasn't above working in the underworld if he had to but government money was much more stable. Also there was the whole 'doing good' or whatever thing that was supposed to make him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He was working to take down a dangerous cult and criminal syndicate, one that stood to destabilize the world. It was impressive, really, how one man had managed to build all of this. It was nearly a shame to knock it all down but, hey, the Japanese government didn't much care for a dangerous new religious movement that made open threats to take over. A massive criminal organization that actually pulled in as much as some countries. A cult of personality around one family that eclipsed what was left around the royal family.

President Suzuki would have done well to teach his daughter to keep her head down and her mouth shut…but from what Joseph could gather President Suzuki was kind of a moron.

"I know that it must be hard for you, your own father undermining you like that. I don't have any brothers or sisters but I knew that if someone tried to tear my family apart I would have been devastated. It's got to be really hard for you right now." said Joseph. Always empathize. That was key. Empathize and keep them talking. Lots of eye contact, maybe even touch them if you felt them waning. Thankfully it hadn't come to that. He had done a lot of terrible things in his time but, somehow, sitting here and smoking with a thirteen year old girl felt like the worst of it. He felt like a creep. Anyone looking would have thought that he was a creep.

Anyone normal.

The open air mezzanine was a popular hangout spot in the Tokyo HQ building. How this place had passed earthquake regulations he would never know. They were surrounded on all sides by Awakened, Scars, and various ranks of Claw personnel…and nobody even batted an eye in their direction. No, most of them were engaged in what looked to be the world's most intense game of frisbee. A few of them were just standing around smoking, some were talking…he resisted the urge to start reading lips. His full attention had to be on her.

Nobody's attention was on them, that was a good thing.

"It is…it kind of really is. I mean Tsuchiya's always been kind of bossy but it's always made sense, she is a mom after all and it's a mom's job to be bossy. She's not MY mom, though, and that means that she doesn't get to tell me what to do…well she is Mukai's mom but that doesn't mean that she gets to take Mukai away from me. She's my little sister and we share blood and blood is thicker than water." Said Shigeko. The blood of battle was thicker than the water of the womb…he kept it to himself.

"It really is." Said Joseph nodding in agreement.

"It is…and…and I wish that it didn't have to be so hard. We could have all been happy…well not all of us. Hatori isn't going to be back for a while. I took a look at Dad's plans and he's going to be moving all over until past Christmas. He's going to miss the party…Hatori I mean, not Dad…well of course Dad would miss it since Dad hates parties and all but I kind of miss Hatori a lot." Said Shigeko

"Maybe you could move the party to wherever he'll be stationed. I mean Claw does have Divisions on every continent, right?" asked Joseph

"No, not all of them. We don't have one on antarctica because Dad says that it doesn't have any strategic importance. I think it's just because a penguin bit him when he went there…well Fukuda says that he got bit by a penguin, he told me when I was little, but he lies a lot and is kind of mean…I hope he doesn't come to the party. No matter where the party is if he comes to it then it's not going to be fun…and also I can't move the party because I can't move. Even though I really like Europe. Disneyland France is there and also Santa Clause lives there, it's just pretend though, and also there was this one place we went to with glow in the dark minigolf that Sho liked a lot….and Minegishi likes Russia a lot, but mostly Moscow….I don't like it that much since I don't speak Russian and I don't think that they would translate for me." Said Shigeko

"Because you're fighting?" asked Joseph, nodding in sympathy. Damn it. She needed to learn to keep her mind on one topic for once. He had been so close. Nobody knew just how many cells Claw had. The big Division buildings were easy to spot, Suzuki's architectural inspiration seemed to come from seventies cartoons and comic books, but the cells….it was nearly impossible to tell a cell from the buildings around it. Houses, mini malls, skyscrapers even. These people could hide in plain sight when they could. Not every esper had a visible aura, in fact Claw mostly had low level espers in those cells….hard to spot, even for him…

She'd probably circle back. She normally did.

"Yeah, because we're fighting…but we're not really fighting. We're not yelling at each other, I don't like to yell at my friends, and we're not calling each other names or anything like that but…but she keeps on talking about leaving and I keep on telling her that we aren't going to talk about it anymore. I even told her that if she didn't stop I wouldn't be her friend anymore and…and I still want to be her friend but I don't know why she wants to leave. Dad said that she could but Dad isn't here right now and…and I don't know why she'd want to tear our family apart…or maybe she just wants to go back because she misses her friends. I understand that…I miss my friends a lot, the ones that left. Do you ever miss your friends?" asked Shigeko. Joseph took a drag off of his cigarette and thought carefully. She seemed genuine…he had been trained to look through what people said to find out what they meant. Nobody was ever completely transparent. He had been taught that and he hadn't met anyone who contradicted his wealth of experience…

But then again he hadn't ever spent this much time talking to a teenage girl.

"I honestly don't have that many friends. Moving from place to place the way we do…it'd not exactly conductive to friendship." Said Joseph. Shigeko gasped, she actually put her hand to her mouth….over exaggerated. Usually when people made those over exaggerated gestures they had something to hide…but he got the feeling that she was once again being genuine…she was a lot more expressive than Suzuki.

Or maybe he just hadn't been able to get close enough to Suzuki….thank God for chatty teenage girls.

"That's terrible…but it's ok. We can be friends. I mean I thought that we already were kind of friends but maybe just smoking break friends. That's how me and Minegishi started out…well ok, we were plant friends before we were smoking friends and then we were smoking friends and now we're best friends…I mean we used to be. They're mad at me too…but I don't want to talk about why they're mad at me…and they still say that they aren't mad but I can tell. I hate it when people are mad at me. It's almost as bad as getting mad at people." Said Shigeko. Joseph nodded again. He committed this to memory. Minegishi was her right hand, it wasn't a secret. So their fight hadn't been resolved…maybe that was the way to take them down, sowing discord from the inside…

This branch, at least.

Tokyo wasn't the first Division but it was headquarters. If Tokyo fell then the rest might have come down like dominos…it was worth a shot. The only other course of action had been trying to assassinate Suzuki himself in the hopes of cutting off the head and hoping that the body would die. None of those attempts had ever worked. Between Suzuki's powers and that healer he took with him everywhere it was damn near impossible to get so much as a scratch on him.

Taking Claw down from the inside would prove to be much easier.

"It's never easy when the people you care about are hard on you. My best friend used to be the same way when I was your age…well my best friend was also thirteen but it's kind of the same. We used to play hockey together on park team, nothing special, but then when we hit middle school I made into the travel team and he didn't. God, he was so pissed at me he didn't speak to me for weeks. Of course whenever I asked him what his problem was he told me it was nothing." Said Joseph. He had been taught to always tell the truth whenever he could. if your story was true then you didn't have to keep anything straight. Empathizing was always good, too, to keep people talking.

And this girl loved to talk.

"I'm sorry about your friend. That's a terrible reason to treat someone like that…um…no offense. I know you like hockey and it's important to you, I just don't get sports and they just don't seem like a good enough reason to anyone, let alone your very own best friend, to treat you like that. I hate it when people do that. I don't like fighting but I'd rather we get the fight out of the way instead of just waiting for everything to explode. It's like with my brother. I don't like it when he gets mad about stuff, he'd a lot nicer than he used to be but he still gets mad a lot of the time, but at least he tells me when he's mad at me. Like when we both liked the same boy, well Sho liked him but…it was complicated. He loved me but I didn't love him…it was really complicated…but at least it was easy with Sho. He told me that it was weird for him and then we talked about it and now we're ok. I just wish that Minegishi and I could just talk…but they won't do say anything to me besides that they aren't mad…even though I can tell that they are." Said Shigeko, putting the end of her cigarette out on the ashtray. He offered her another. It was getting to that time of the day again, lunchtime was winding down and with that came her afternoon duties and meetings. He probably wouldn't get a chance to see her until tomorrow.

He had to get something useful out of her today. His handlers were getting impatient.

"I didn't know that your brother way gay. That must be really hard for him." Said Joseph. That was…he could use that. Someone could use that. He couldn't imagine that Suzuki was happy about having a gay son….blackmail? No, no, something more than that…something Suzuki himself had done…but the man lived like a saint. A murderous megalomaniac of a saint.

"Not really. Out Dad was mean to him for a while but then I told Dad that if he didn't stop being upset and stop upsetting Sho that I would run away and take Sho with me. I meant it, too, I didn't think it all the way through but I meant it. I don't know why Dad's so upset. He's worried about our bloodline and stuff but I think that Sho being happy and fining true love is more important than our bloodline. Nothing's more important than true love…and Dad could just have another kid anyway." Said Shigeko. Her aura pulled inwards. She took a long drag off of her cigarette. She slumped back in her chair. He did his best not to perk up.

That was news.

Suzuki was having another child…well a man like him obviously had a few illegitimate children out there, but a planned child was different. From the sound of it he was planning on replacing his son. Plans for a dynasty…but that wasn't news to anyone. Trouble at home, instability in the Suzuki family…the growing Suzuki family. You needed a woman to have a kid. So there was a Missus Suzuki out there. Another one. The first one didn't show any signs of coming back. Rumor was she ran away…heh…if Suzuki knew what people said about him…heh…

Pay attention. Empathy time.

"That's gotta be rough, another brother or sister, and a stepmom to boot. I mean I'm an only child, I haven't been there, but I can imagine." Said Joseph

"It is hard. Sho likes her but I don't. She's mean, really mean, and we had a bad fight…she made Dad fight with me. I don't see why we need a new mom anyway…a stepmom…Dad doesn't need a girlfriend even if it is true love. I mean I know I should want him to be happy but it's just…I'm glad that he's all the way in Europe now and not anywhere near Japan…even if he did take Hatori with him…it would have been nice if we all could have gone, though. I mean I know that Dad's mean a lot of the time and I know that we've been apart before but…but it's never been like this before." Said Shigeko

"It always sucks when things change." Said joseph

"It really does. I mean I'm happy that Dad left me in charge, since I can make people happy here and stuff, but I kind of miss how we used to go places together and just…it was easier when we didn't have anything to worry about." Said Shigeko

"Nothing but the lines at Disneyland." Said Joseph

"We always get the ultimate fast passes but we couldn't have gone to Disneyland anyway. It's all the way in France and Dad's in Zurich right now, that's not in France." Said Shigeko

"That's in Sweden, right?" asked Joseph. He knew exactly where Zurich was. He just needed to keep her talking. Suzuki was in Zurich…but where? And why? If they knew where he was going to be then they could try to set another trap. Maybe this time would be the charm. Everyone had to let their guard down at some point, right?

"Switzerland, that's a whole other country. It's ok there, there are a lot of beaches…but I used to love beaches a lot more than I do now. They're more fun when you're little. That's why Mukai likes beaches but Sho and I don't….well Sho has his own reasons but still, beaches aren't that fun….but that's not fair to everyone else…hey? Do you think that people would like going to the beach or to Disneyland better?" asked Shigeko

"Hmm…well if you're planning a company trip then the beach would be cheaper, though Disneyland would be more fun. Maybe poll everyone and see. I mean a lot of the times when people think of fun they only think of their own idea of it. I mean, I can't imagine that your Dad's idea of fun lines up with yours…unless he went to Zurich for the beaches, that is." Said Joseph

"No, he went to Zurich because of business deals. Sometimes people take him places, well him and Hatori and Fukuda and try to show them a good time so Claw does business with them. Dad hates those times. He mostly just has Fukuda go places for him…but I guess it's Hatori now since Fukuda ran away. I don't want to look for him. He'll come back when he wants to." Said Shigeko. Joseph nodded and took another drag off of his cigarette. He exhaled slowly, the smoke getting thick. This was good. This was…ok. Suzuki was out there sans healer. Just that tiny little nerd for protection. This was good.

He was getting a bonus for this.

"He and your Dad have a falling out?" asked Joseph, leaning back.

"I don't know, maybe?. Sho said something about some lady dumping him or something.. I didn't even know that girls liked him. I've known him for my whole life and he never once mentioned a girlfriend. I hope he didn't get his heart broken…but knowing how he can be with people I think that it might have been his fault. I know that it's mean of me but he's kind of mean to it balances out. I shouldn't be mean, though. I've been having a lot of mean thoughts lately. I think that they'd go away, though, if people would just…just stop being mean to me all the time. I love my friends and I just don't want us to fight. We've never fought like this before, or at least I never fought with them. Shimazaki fights, fought, with everyone. Almost as bad as Fukuda. Almost. One time when we were all on a plane Fukuda actually said that Minegishi's chest wasn't anything to write home about. They felt realty bad about that for the longest time. I've never going to forgive him for that. I mean I know that I should be forgiving…." Said Shigeko. He nodded when he had to nod, agreed when he had to agree, and made as many mental notes as he could.

There were kernels of useful information.

He just had to listen closely enough. He just had to pick out what he needed…even though he already had a lot. His handler was definitely hearing about this. What his handler, or rather his handler's handler, did with this information was out of his hands. Well he knew what they were going to do with it. Take Suzuki out, bring Claw down, and then fill the power vacuum with something more easily controlled. Yeah, fun times weren't coming, but he'd have been long gone to his next assignment by then. He might have even been able to buy enough good favor to go home…God…it had been so long…but he knew better than to count his chickens before they hatched. There was a big chance it wouldn't work…but whatever, they could always try again with better information.

After all, teenage girls did love to talk.