Notes: This isn't an April Fool's fic, it's just a small fic I wrote the other night.
There's no real warnings except spoiler warnings. This was originally supposed to be a prequel to a story that RinoaRed and I wrote recently, but changed to something different. Hope you like it.
Remember, reviews and critiques are openly embraced.
-
There were times where Hisoka thought he knew Tsuzuki better than most people. His co-workers thought so and even Tatsumi had told him, at one point, that he knew Tsuzuki better than himself. And it was at those times that Hisoka honestly believed that.
But he was only kidding himself...
Several months ago, Hisoka had been making up excuses to himself to spend more and more time with his partner, which surprised him. He knew he liked being in Tsuzuki's presence, he felt comfortable whenever his partner was around. He just didn't know when Tsuzuki's presence started to become more of an addiction now. Just being in the same room was a comfort to Hisoka.
Over the past months, both of them engaged in conversations that were on a more personal level. Before, their conversations either dealt with casework or were on a casual level. Back then, Hisoka felt the relationship they had was good enough for him.
Then it started to change. The first conversation they both had that went outside of "the norm" was when Tsuzuki told Hisoka about his little small garden at home.
Hisoka never knew that Tsuzuki liked to garden. When asked to talk about it more, Hisoka noticed how passionate and how knowledgeable Tsuzuki was about gardening. It was a side to Tsuzuki that Hisoka was completely ignorant of.
And then came the day where Tsuzuki invited Hisoka over to show him his garden. As he lifted his hand and rang the doorbell, he realized that this would be the first time he would go inside Tsuzuki's house. The few times he went over there, he stood outside while he waited for Tsuzuki to come out. When Tsuzuki opened the door, greeting Hisoka and taking his coat as Hisoka looked at the interior of the house, that was the first time Hisoka realized he really didn't know much about his partner than he thought.
The room was tidy and neat, which surprised Hisoka, as judging from when they stayed at hotels overnight for cases, Tsuzuki seemed rather messy, like throwing his coat somewhere, the leftovers from their take-outs on the table the next day, the way he got up in the morning and forgot to make his bed and the way he left the bathroom a mess, in some cases, claiming that's what room service was for. So Hisoka automatically feared what his real house looked like.
But everything was in its place at home.
Pictures, from paintings to photographs of the people at the Shokan division, lined the walls. There was a very old record player on a stand next to a small television that looked well past its time. The small couch and armchair in the center of the room looked old and worn, but in fair condition. A small bookshelf sat in one corner, books that ranged from cooking, gardening, dancing, and history. Candles aligned themselves upon a small shelf in another corner and when Hisoka asked what they were for, Tsuzuki wistfully smiled and simply told him the past was sometimes hard to let go.
There were some things that Tsuzuki had that kept up with times, like the cordless phone on the wall and the small microwave in the kitchen. But, to Hisoka, he felt like he was walking into a totally different world and learning a whole other side to Tsuzuki that he never knew he had. He stayed quite a while that day, asking Tsuzuki about his garden and how he kept some of the things he owned for so long.
Soon, the visits continued to increase, and Hisoka learned that Tsuzuki was a totally different person behind his happy-go-lucky self that he played at work. Although he knew Tsuzuki had a serious side to him that he hid, it came out more and more as the visits increased from sporadic to daily.
On warm sunny days, Tsuzuki and Hisoka would sit outside on the back porch or at the small table near the garden. On rainy days, they sat inside over something warm to drink. If the day was really nice, sometimes, they went for a walk and would come back a few hours later.
And if Tsuzuki was in a chatty mood, he would initiate a conversation. On some days, Hisoka wouldn't get a single word in, content to let Tsuzuki talk about himself. Sometimes, it would be a small tale of what happened in the past with his partners. Sometimes, he spoke of his sister, how she taught him to dance and cook (Although Hisoka failed to mention to Tsuzuki that he was good with the former and terrible with the latter).
And then there were times where he spoke about deep personal issues. Those were rare times, and those were times that Hisoka listened the most intently. Sometimes, Tsuzuki would muse about what the future might hold in store for him, with a wistful look in his eyes. Other times, he would talk about his fears and doubts and not even know it. When he realized it, though, he would apologize and change the subject.
It was after those conversations that Hisoka slowly came to realize that he didn't truly know Asato Tsuzuki. Sure, he was his partner, he knew a few of his hobbies and that he was a glutton for sweets. He knew his handwriting was atrocious and that he used his 'kicked puppy eye look' to get what he wanted.
But beyond that, he really knew nothing about his partner. He didn't know his hopes and dreams, what interested him; his serious nature was totally non-existent to Hisoka.
He knew Tsuzuki, his partner, not Asato, the person...
On this day, Hisoka asked Tsuzuki to come over to his house for the first time. Tsuzuki had said he was only over Hisoka's house once, when he carried him home, which seemed so long ago. When Tsuzuki entered the house, he remarked how it didn't change much from when he was first here as he hung up his coat.
It was on this day that Hisoka suddenly found himself blurting that he didn't know him very well as he thought he did. All Tsuzuki did was smile and said, "You never really asked until now, Hisoka." Hisoka stood there, feeling a little stunned at the answer, but snapped out of it as Tsuzuki asked about one of the books on Hisoka's shelf.
That night, Tsuzuki left a small tulip in a flowerpot in Hisoka's care, as he promised himself that he would bring something over to liven Hisoka's house up more. The tulip would be long gone in the future, but the pot still remained and every so often, there would be a flower in the pot.
As Hisoka waved goodbye to Tsuzuki, he sighed softly to himself as he looked up at the sky...
'I don't know you...'
'But I'm slowly learning...'