History.
1: Mystery.
T: Am new to fandom but not to fan fic. net in general, please feel free to give me constructive criticism, etc etc! Feel like I've been typing that sentence a lot recently! Welcome, traveller, to what I hope will be an interesting AU! This 'madness' has been inspired by the total lack of Tsuzuki back story in the series so far and thus contains a lot of my of suppositions. Set post Kyoto so beware the angst and the possible plot spoilers. More anime verse than Manga, though Hisoka is a hybrid of his sullen manga attitude and his cutesier anime nature. There will also be slash, though if you've read any of my back catalogue this should not surprise you. I do not own the wondrous complexity of the series or the characters, the idea is, however, my own!
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She has ruin for hours now in a desperate attempt to catch him, to bring him back before he does something foolish.
"Ototo, where are you? It's only me…please ototo, it's getting cold out…" She has been shouting in this manner for hours and her voice begins, at last, to suffer from the strain of this exertion.
Despite this discomfort, despite the fact that her skin is damp still from an earlier rain storm and the evening air has turned chill enough to fog her breath, she can not yet give up…
Her little brother is, after all, the entirety of her world.
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A moment after waking Kurosaki Hisoka is filled with a sense of disorientation that, as with all shows of 'weakness' fill his heart with a bitter self loathing.
Eventually the disorientation, along with the self loathing it has spawned, fades and he is left with one burning question:
'Who was Luka?'
Something in the woman's mannerisms had been familiar to him and yet he could not quite say why.
Nor could he understand how the emotions of someone who had been living in the Meiji era could affect him now.
It was a mystery that he would, under normal circumstances, have let go and yet…
Something about that woman, about her desperate want to have her little brother again at her side, had touched a nerve.
Thus, once he has showered and changed into his 'work clothes' he heads out for the library.
The Gushoshin greet him in their normally cheerful manner and then return to the time consuming task of sorting and cataloguing the most recent arrivals.
He stands watching them for a little while, his retracted nature filling him with a foolish nervousness that suppresses his vocal cords and thus, in turn, suppresses his ability to ask for help.
Eventually he is forced to grit his teeth and, the tension singing through his whole being, he enquires,
"Can you help me find out more about someone?" The brother's give one another a wary look and, the heat of a blush staining his cheeks, he says, "I do not plan on breaching protocol again."
There is a moment of tense silence and then the elder brother enquires,
"What can you tell us about the individual?"
"She lived during the Meiji era, her first name was Luka and she lived somewhere in Tokyo." The elder Gushoshin makes his way over to the computer and, after typing in relevant search parameters, he allows the machine to do its work.
After a moment the thing admits a high pitched beep and the elder Gushoshin says, "Given the vague nature of the information there are several results," before he turns the monitor so that Hisoka might see the display.
He scans the faces until he spots the woman from his 'dream,
"That's her." The elder Gushoshin double clicks on the image and, once the woman's information appears on screen, the creature says,
"Myagi Luka, wife of Dr. Myagi Senichi, the man who's dedicated research into mental illnesses has proven invaluable in the advancement of the treatments given to those suffering from such conditions…hmmm…"
"What?"
"According to the record she died naturally five years ago and yet, if that's the case, she shouldn't be in our records."
"Because the bureau deals with unnatural deaths?"
"Precisely."
"Is it possible that her death held an element of the uncertain to it?"
"Perhaps…give me a moment." The creature types a few lines of shorthand code onto the screen and then presses the enter key.
The machine bursts into life and the small hourglass graphic appears upon the display.
"This shouldn't take a moment." The creature remarks, the words more as a way to fill the silence than as a sooth for Hisoka's impatience.
It takes five minutes for the graphic to disappear, any illation he might have felt at this 'development' squashed as the machine admits another high beep and the words 'PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD' appear in a stark grey text box.
The elder Gushoshin types in five separate passwords before he says,
"It seems that someone is desperate to keep the matter of this woman secret."
"Why?"
"Perhaps that is something you should investigate, I suggest you start your line of enquiry with her son."
"In other words I am going to have to talk to Chief Kanoe…thank you Gushoshin elder."
"You are welcome, Hisoka-san."
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He is surprised to find Tatsumi sat in Kanoe's chair, the amusement the sectary finds in this surprise washing over him in a subtle enough manner that he knows the emotion is intended as a tease.
"Where is the chief?"
"He has been unexpectedly called away on a confidential matter. He has asked that I act in his stead and thus you may feel content to discuss with me whatever it was you had wanted to talk to him of."
"I wished to ask for permission to visit Tokyo."
"Might I ask why?"
"There is someone there I wish to talk to."
Tatsumi is still curious as to his motives and yet this emotion is all but swamped by that of concern.
"This is something I am pursuing on my own, Tatsumi-san, thus for that reason and because I do not believe I shall be at any risk on this trip, I do not believe that Tsuzuki need be involved."
The wave of relief tells him that he had not only guessed correctly, but that his poor attempt at comfort had been appreciated.
"Technically you are still on medical leave, Kurosaki-san and thus you should not even be sitting here with me. However, I do not believe that you would have requested this 'favour' unless you thought it an important matter. Thus I shall give you a week to find out what you will and then I will expect you to return home."
"I understand, Tatsumi-san and thank you."
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He spends the short walk to the infirmary concocting a suitable cover story to give his partner in order to explain his absence and also to soothe the other enough that he would not be concerned for Hisoka's welfare.
The necessity for such a lie aggravates him both because he had through to never again directly lie to Tsuzuki and also due to the fact that it was only necessary because the elder Shinigami seemed unable to believe that Hisoka could survive on his own.
This aggravation must show somewhere on his face for, all but the moment he crosses into the infirmary, Tsuzuki is enquiring,
"What is the matter, Hisoka?" He can not respond to the question truthfully, thus he simply turns the focus elsewhere,
"Are you certain that you should be eating in here?" He enquires as he gestures to the chocolate pudding balanced on his partner's chest.
"Watari gave it to me and before you say anything else I made him have the first bite." The childish note in the other's voice is, along with the presence of the dessert, a subtle sign that, outwardly at least, his partner is getting better.
If he were in the mood to push at the restraint the other held about his mind, he was certain that he would feel still the painful myriad of emotions that had been within the other since Kyoto.
Now is not the time for him to dwell on such things, however, and schooling his face into an emotional mask he says,
"I'm going to be away from JuChoOh for a while,"
"Why?" The word is empty of anything other than curiosity, yet Tsuzuki's worry, along with his strong sense of abandonment, is clear despite his attempts to block it."
"Idiot! This has nothing to do with you. I'm doing a few favours for Tatsumi, in order that I can get away from everyone's concerns and also so that I build up my strength a little more."
"Hisoka…" Tsuzuki clearly has want to tell him, yet again, that he should not push himself and yet, almost as though sensing his mood, the other instead enquires, "When will you be back?"
"Next week. Until then you'd better keep off of the sweets and out of mischief."
"Meanie!"
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After questioning a few of the locals he finds his way to a large, yet homely looking, building that supposedly belongs to Luka's son.
He had woven a convincing tale to explain his need to talk to the other of his mother, one that he was certain would lead him to the answers he was after.
When the owner of the house finally comes to the door Hisoka realises that such questions are unnecessary, but also that he is a little out of his depth.
For stood in the doorway is a man who could easily pass as Tsuzuki's twin.
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T: Not really a cliff hanger given that some of you would have seen this from the first sentence, but it's a dramatic enough point to end the chapter so it stays! All the questions you are most likely asking yourselves will, hopefully, be answered as we go along, but don't be afraid to ask anyway! R+R, I'd like to know what you all think.
