Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Yami no Matsuei. If I did, then the anime would be longer than 13 episodes and the manga would be finished.

Summary: After much insistence from Hijiri, Hisoka reluctantly agrees to go to a host club his friend often visits. There he finds himself drawn to a particular host named, Tsuzuki, who showers him with attention and kindness. Hisoka begins to frequent the club on almost a regular basis, just to see Tsuzuki and he soon finds himself falling for his host. But Hisoka is beginning to have doubts...Is Tsuzuki's affection for real or simply the duty of being a host?

A/N: I've had the idea for this fic running around in my head for the past two months and I figured I should start writing it out before it drives me crazy. This will be my second attempt at a multi-chapter fic i.e. longer than three chapters. I'd like to point out that this is an AU fic so I don't get a flood of complaints. None of the characters are shinigami and are very much alive. No one has any magic powers however, Hisoka is still an empath. For plot purposes, Hisoka and Hijiri are both 18 and seniors in high school. The train system the boys use is loosely based on the NYC subway system since I've never been to Japan. The only thing that bothers me is Hijiri's characterization. Hijiri's hard to write because he doesn't have a major role in the anime/manga except for the Devil's Trill arc. His personality is hard to pinpoint so I'm sorry if he's OOC. I've always pictured Hijiri as a sort of anti-Hisoka, more carefree and outgoing. Anyway please enjoy and remember to R&R!

'Italic' are the characters' thoughts or emphasis on a specific word

Aa- Yeah

Gomen- I'm sorry

Daijoubu- It's alright

Kami- God

Konbaha- Good evening

Moshi moshi- Hello (used when answering the phone)

(Hisoka's POV)

I heard a chair scrape and a soft thud as someone sat next to me. "Hey, Hisoka-chan."

"Don't call me that, Hijiri," I said, my gaze remaining on the page I was reading.

"What are you reading?" Hijiri tilted his head as he tried to read over my shoulder. I turned the book and showed him the cover. Hamlet by William Shakespeare could be read in broad black lettering.

Hijiri made a face. "You're actually reading that for fun? I think it's bad enough we have to read it in class."

"There's a test today, you know."

"On Act 1, not the entire play. Which reminds me, I have to finish reading that."

"We had a week to read it, Hijiri. It doesn't take that long." I pointed out.

Hijiri crossed his arms. "I'm sorry I'm not a speed reader like you, Hisoka. Not everyone can read an entire book in half an hour."

I shot him an annoyed look. "I don't read an entire book in half an hour." I marked my page and closed the book. "Besides, how do you expect to pass the test if you haven't read?"

"Well you are my best friend, Hisoka," Hijiri smiled. "You're really good at English too and it doesn't hurt that we sit next to each other in class so-"

"You're not copying my paper again, Hijiri." I said flatly. "We almost got kicked out of class the last time we did that."

"You know English is my worst subject though," Hijiri protested. "And I need to get a better grade this semester or my parents will kill me."

"Hijiri, it's not my fault you don't care about school."

"But I do care about school!" he insisted. "Just not English."

"You care about music, not school," I retorted.

"True," Hijiri grinned. "I would have rather gone to that music high school across town anyway."

I sighed. "Then why don't you just transfer if it makes you feel better?"

"It's our last year here, there's no point in transferring now. Besides, I'd never be able to convince my parents." Hijiri replied. "Our family has gone to that high school for generations, Hijiri-kun," he said in a high pitched voice.

"Then maybe you should have tried harder. That way you'd be over at that music school bothering some other guy instead of me."

"Thanks a lot, Hisoka-chan," he said. "I'll remember that when I'm buying Christmas presents this year."

I rolled my eyes. Hijiri was a bit annoying sometimes, but I really didn't mind. He was still a good friend.

"I've read about some universities that specialize in music near Tokyo," I offered. "Maybe you could go to one of those?"

"Aa," Hijiri said wistfully. "Maybe." He sighed and stretched his arms above my head. "You're lucky you don't have your parents constantly breathing down your back, Hisoka. It's a real pain."

I scoffed. "Hijiri, I could fall off a cliff and my parents wouldn't care."

"Exactly," Hijiri rested his head against his hand. "If my parents didn't care, then I'd be able to concentrate more on music. I'd rather have your parents than mine."

I bit my lip and didn't reply. 'You wouldn't, trust me, Hijiri,'I wished my parents would actually care about what I did or the fact that I existed for that matter. Instead, they seemed to think that spending their money by living abroad was more important than raising their son. For as long as I could remember, I had always been alone. Hijiri had no idea how lucky he was. No idea how I'd give anything to have parents as caring as his.

"We need to hang out more often," Hijiri said, leaning back in his chair. "Outside of school, I mean."

"Didn't we just go to the festival that shrine was having?" I asked.

"But Hisoka, that was like two weeks ago," he rolled his eyes.

"Let's hang out this weekend then,"

"Why don't we hang out today?" Hijiri asked.

"Today?" I repeated.

Hijiri nodded. "You're not busy, right?" I shook my head.

"Great. What should we do though?" He tapped his fingers against his desk, before suddenly grinning. "I know just the thing." He leaned towards me. "Meet me at the train station around five o'clock. Make sure you dress nice, okay?"

"Why?" I gave him a puzzled look. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see!"

"Hijiri-" I began, but was cut off as the bell rang.

"Come on," he grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. I snatched my book off the desk as Hijiri dragged me towards the door.

"Why can't you tell me where we're going?" I asked as we stepped out of the classroom. The crowded hallway was filled with laughter and chattering as students hurried to their next class. Ugh, school was always so crowded. Why did people have to be so loud all the time? I slowly rubbed my temple as I felt my head begin to dully throb with pain.

"It's not that I can't tell you, I just don't want to," Hijiri explained as we made our way further down the hall.

"You're not going to tell me are you?" I asked as we reached our next class. I slid open the door and Hijiri followed me inside.

"Nope," Hijiri smiled as we took our seats.

-o-

I leaned against a wall and watched as the people around me rushed in every direction. A woman's voice could be heard above the noise of the station, announcing the ten minute delay of an arriving train and how they were very sorry for the inconvenience. I sighed and checked my cell phone. 5:30 pm flashed across the screen.

'He's late,'I thought, snapping my phone shut. Where was Hijiri? It didn't take that long to get to the train station from his house.

"Hisoka!" I turned to see Hijiri hurrying towards me.

"What took you so long?" I asked as he reached my side.

"My mom almost wouldn't let me out of the house," he sighed exasperatedly. "It's a school night, Hijiri-kun. You and Hisoka-kun shouldn't be going out this late!"

"You could have told me you were running late at least." I pointed out. "You're lucky I decided to wait a little longer."

"Gomen," Hijiri gave me an apologetic smile. "I'll make it up to you by buying your train ticket."

I smiled faintly. "Fine." We headed towards one of the ticket machines near the front entrance.

"You look nice by the way," Hijiri commented, his eyes flickering over my frame.

"So do you," I nodded.

"Thanks," he smiled and grabbed our tickets from the machine. We checked to see when our train was coming and began to walk towards the platform. We fed our tickets to the turnstiles and stepped onto the slightly less crowded platform. Flashing platform lights and a loud roar of an engine indicated the oncoming train. Hijiri hadn't let me see our tickets but I had managed to catch a glimpse as he had bought them. I knew we were going to Shinjuku but I wasn't exactly sure where. The train finally arrived at the platform and slowly rolled to a stop. I felt an uneasiness in the pit of my stomach as I stared at the crowded train.

"Hijiri, why don't we get on the next train. . .?"

"But I don't want to wait for the next train," Hijiri grabbed my wrist and began to tug me towards the train. "Come on, let's get on this one before it leaves."

We managed to make our way through the crowd and onto the train before the doors closed. Most of the train's passengers were standing since all of the seats were taken. The train jerked to a start and

Hijiri and I quickly held onto a pole to avoid falling over. Although if we had fallen over, I doubt we would have hit the floor due to the crowd of people around us.

I shot my friend an annoyed look as I was jostled by the person next to me. "Can you remind me why we couldn't take the next train?" My headache was making me more irritated than usual. There were too many people on this train and half of them couldn't keep their thoughts to themselves or keep their emotions in check to save their lives.

"Because I bet you the next train probably would have been as crowded as this one. So it wouldn't have made much of a difference." Hijiri replied, his eyes wandering over the people around us. "Besides, where we're going is only a couple stops away, so stop complaining."

"I'm not complaining. I'm just-" I paused and stared at Hijiri as he mouthed words and made gestures at something behind me. ". . .Hijiri, what are you doing?"

Hijiri grinned. "There are some cute guys over there and they want to meet up with us at their stop."

"What?"

"Come on, it'll be fun." He nudged my arm. "Besides, Daisuke's friend thinks you're cute."

"Who?" I said, confused.

"That's the guy's name." Hijiri explained.

I looked over my shoulder and spotted two college guys near the middle of the train. The taller of the two, who I assumed as Daisuke had black hair and dark brown eyes. He nodded and gave a small wave. Hijiri waved back. Daisuke's friend had brown hair and light blue eyes. He winked and flashed me a smile. I blushed and quickly turned my head away. Hijiri was right, they were pretty good looking.

"Hijiri, we don't even know them." I hissed.

He waved a dismissive hand. "Daijoubu,"

"I thought we were suppose to hang out, not pick up guys." I pointed out.

"They're really cute though!" Hijiri insisted. "And they seem nice enough. I'll get Daisuke and you can get his friend. We can get them to buy us drinks."

I rolled my eyes. "Right. Hijiri, those guys could be serial killers for all we know."

He sighed exasperatedly. "Look you don't have to sleep with Daisuke's friend if you don't want to. We'll just leave before it gets really late."

"Wha. . .?" I flushed with embarrassment. "Hijiri, that's not-"

"Shinjuku station, Shinjuku station," a voice announced over the loudspeaker. "Now arriving at Shinjuku station."

I inwardly sighed with relief. The train doors opened and people began to get off the train. I quickly grabbed Hijiri by the arm. "Come on," I said moving towards the doors.

"But Hisoka," Hijiri protested, looking back over his shoulder. Daisuke and his friend gave us puzzled looks as we got off the train. Hijiri stared as the train closed its doors and sped off towards the next station. "What was that for?"

"We're notmeeting up with them, Hijiri." I said flatly. "We agreed that we were going to hang out tonight, not get drunk and sleep with the first guys we met."

He frowned for a second before sighing. "You're right. I'm sorry I got distracted, okay?
I nodded, acknowledging his apology. A few awkward seconds passed before I broke the silence. "So are we going somewhere? Or did you drag me to Shinjuku just to hang out at the train station all night?"

"Of course not. Where's the fun in that?" Hijiri laughed. We left the train station and began to walk along the crowded street.

"Can you at least tell me where we're going?"

"You're going to like it," he assured me. "I promise."

I rolled my eyes and didn't reply. We walked for a few more blocks and turned onto a side street, away from the hustle and bustle of Shinjuku. I nearly walked into Hijiri as he suddenly stopped. He glanced back at me and smiled. "We're here."

I turned and looked at the building we had stopped in front of. A large ten story apartment building stood in front of us, it's glass windows reflecting the setting sun and the red orange sky. Overall the building was pretty average looking and there wasn't anything fancy about it. If this was where we were going, then I really didn't see the reason why we had to dress nicely. I gave Hijiri a puzzled look. "Are we visiting someone?"

Hijiri winked. "Something like that," He walked ahead and entered the building's lobby through a pair of automatic doors. When I made no move to follow him, Hijiri motioned for me to come inside. I hesitated for a second before entering the building. I immediately felt cool air hit my face, the building's air conditioning was a sudden change from the warm weather outside. The lobby was large with pristine beige tiling. A receptionist sat at the front desk, a large plant flanking either side of the wooden desk. A row of silver elevators lined the far wall. As I reached his side, Hijiri nodded towards a door next to one of the elevators.

"Wait," I said, catching his wrist.

"What?" he said, looking confused.

"Tell me what's going on," I dropped his wrist and crossed my arms. "Where exactly are we going?"

"I wanted to surprise you, but that's obviously not going to happen." Hijiri reached into his wallet and took out a small card. "This is where we're going," he said, handing me the card. The card was a cream colored business card. The words Blue Moon-unisex host club could be read in dark blue curved lettering along with the business' address and telephone number.

"A host club?" I looked up at him and frowned. "This is where we're going?"

"See this is why I didn't tell you," Hijiri sighed. "I knew you were going to say that."

"Then why did you bring me?" I asked, annoyed.

"Because it's so boring going by myself," he whined. "Please come with me just this once?" Seeing the look on my face, he quickly added, "If you don't like it, then I promise you don't have to come with me again."

"Promise?" I asked uncertainly. Hijiri nodded. ". . .Fine," I reluctantly agreed. "But if we're going to this host club, then why are we here?"

He pushed open a door next to one of the elevators. "Because the host club is right below us," Hijiri explained as I followed him inside. The door shut behind us and we were now standing in a stairwell.

"In the basement?" I said surprised as we headed downstairs.

"Clever, right?" he smiled. "The building looks perfectly normal from the outside, so you'd never guess that there was a host club here." Hijiri added. "That's why I like coming here because not a lot of people know about it."

"How did you get inside in the first place?" I asked as we reached the bottom of the stairs. "You're not even old enough to drink."

"It helps being friends with the receptionist," Hijiri grinned. "I'm sure she won't mind that I brought you along."

Hijiri and I were standing in a room surrounded by glass-like walls filled with flyers advertising local bars and clubs. To the far left we could see the club's main entrance, a pair of glass doors surrounded by a chrome-like entry way. Above the door was a sign with the words Blue Moon written in the same curved lettering as the club's business card. I felt the familiar sense of the uneasiness in the pit of my stomach as I stared through the glass doors. I really didn't like crowded places and was beginning to regret agreeing to come with Hijiri in the first place.

"Kami," Hijiri breathed as he opened the door and we slipped inside the club. "I don't know why it's so crowded today, especially since it's the beginning of the week. The club must be having a drink special or something."

I didn't reply as my eyes wandered over my surroundings. The club's lobby had a black marble floor along with the same mirror-like walls we had seen earlier. Gaggles of girls stood near the walls, waiting to be seated or checking their reflections. The lobby was well lit and I could hear loud music coming from the back of the club. The line for the front desk was mostly made up of girls with only a few guys. I shook my head. I really didn't see what the big deal was. What was so appealing about paying money to have drinks and talk to a complete stranger?

"Do you come here a lot?" I asked Hijiri curiously as the line shifted and we moved closer to the front desk.

My friend nodded. "I try to come at least once a week," he replied. "It's kind of expensive but. . ." Hijiri shrugged. "I think it's worth it. I really like coming here."

A pair of girls in front of us moved away from the front desk, giggling loudly. Hijiri and I stepped towards the front desk. Behind the desk sat a girl with a laptop in front of her. Her long wavy light auburn hair was tied with two pink ribbons. She looked up from her screen and I noticed that she had two different colored eyes, one brown while the other was orange.

"Konbaha, Hijiri-kun," the girl greeted.

"Konbaha, Wakaba-chan," Hijiri smiled.

"Your usual table I presume?"

"Not exactly." Hijiri nodded towards me. "This is my friend, Hisoka."

"Konbaha, Wakaba-san," I nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Hisoka-kun," Wakaba replied.

"Would it be all right if he came with me?" he asked.

Wakaba frowned. "I don't know," She leaned closer towards us. "It's bad enough that I let you come inside and-"

"Please, Wakaba-chan?" Hijiri pleaded. "Nothing is going to happen, I swear."

She bit her lip before sighing. "Oh all right." Wakaba glanced at the line behind us and lowered her voice. ". . .But you have to promise me you guys won't have any drinks."

"We won't," Hijiri assured her. "Could I see the book by the way?"

Wakaba nodded and handed him a black binder. "I'll let you guys know when there's an open table." Hijiri nodded his thanks and grabbed my arm, tugging me towards the far side of the front desk.

"First timers get to sit with as many hosts as they want," he pushed the binder towards me.

"Why do I have to look" I frowned. "I thought we were sitting with your host."

"It wouldn't kill you to look."

I sighed and began to flip through the binder. Each page had a picture of a particular host with his name listed below it. I turned the page and saw a picture of a man with long wavy blond hair tied back with an orange bandanna. He wore glasses and had brown eyes.

"That's Watari," Hijiri pointed at the picture. "He's an inventor and he always brings his latest inventions to the club. He's really funny and he has this cute owl named 003."

I turned the page and he pointed at another picture. The man had brown hair and bright blue eyes behind a pair of glasses. "That's Tatsumi. He's too serious for my liking, but he's okay once he's had a few drinks." I turned a few more pages and Hijiri pointed at another host. "Don't sit with him," he warned. "That's Terazuma." The man had short black hair and black eyes, his mouth formed into a permanent frown. "I'm not even sure why he's a host because he never seems happy to be here. He has a short temper and he's hard to talk to. Wakaba-chan's the only one he seems to get along with."

I flipped through the pictures aimlessly, none of the hosts catching my interest. Hijiri continued to babble about the various hosts, advising me whether or not they were worth sitting with. I half-heartily listened as he spoke, nodding every so often. I carelessly turned another page and paused, staring at the picture. The host's name was Tsuzuki Asato. He was a man in his mid twenties with dark brown hair, but it was the color of his eyes that had caught my attention. His eyes were violet like amethysts.

"Someone catch your eye?" Hijiri asked curiously. He peered over my shoulder at the page I was staring at. "Ah!" his expression brightened and I felt his emotions shoot up. "That's my host, Tsuzuki. He's the most popular host at Blue Moon, you know." Hijiri pointed at the wall behind Wakaba. Pictures of Blue Moon's hosts were arranged in a pyramid shape, a number listed beneath each host's name. Tsuzuki's picture was at the top of the pyramid. "The club ranks it's hosts every month based on the number of customers they attend." Hijiri started and took out his phone from his pocket. He glanced at me as his phone vibrated in his hand. "Sorry about that, do you mind if. . .?"

I shook my head. "Go ahead."

"Moshi moshi," he answered. I watched as his normally bright expression faded. "I don't understand. Why did you change the order? I thought that-" Hijiri winced and pulled the phone away from his ear. I could hear the sound of someone yelling on the other end of the phone. He hesitantly pressed the phone to his ear again. "Okay. . .Now?" He frowned, looking slightly dejected. "N-no, no it's fine. I'll be there as soon as I can. See you there." He hung up and sighed.

"Is everything all right?" I asked.

Hijiri shook his head. "Not really."

"Why?"

"That was the president of the Music Club," he explained. "He's decided to change the order for the concert we're having at the end of the month. He wants me to meet with him to go over a new practice schedule, so I have to go."

"I could come with you if you want," I offered.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine," Hijiri answered nonchalantly. "But I feel bad about dragging you out here and then just going home. You stay here and have fun."

"I don't think-" I began. The thought of being here without Hijiri made me nervous.

"Don't give me that look. I'm not leaving you with a pack of hungry wolves, Hisoka." he joked.

'You might as well be,' I thought dryly. The thoughts and emotions of some of the customers were making me uncomfortable.

"You'll be fine." Hijiri assured me. "Tsuzuki's really nice and he's easy to get along with. I'm sure you'll like him." He stepped away from the front desk and turned towards the door.

"Hijiri, wait!" I said and reached out to grab his sleeve in a desperate attempt to hold him back. But he had moved out of reach and I missed.

"Text me later and let me know how it goes. Tell Tsuzuki I said hi," Hijiri gave a small wave and moved towards the entrance.

I bit my lip and watched as Hijiri left the club. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

A/N: Wow this chapter came out ridiculously long...Don't expect that for every chapter though! Remember that reviews are greatly appreciated, especially when it comes to a new story. Arigatou gozaimasu!