Closing up the box, the shinigami whistled merrily. This should be the last thing that needed to be taken care of before he and Draco left for their vacation. It had taken a while, and lots of nagging, but Tatsumi finally relented and gave them the week off. Then again, it wasn't as though he or Draco had taken a true vacation in the past two years that the reaper had been in Japan. Smiling, Watari thought about the boxes of Pocky he was sending anonymously to Taka at Hogwarts... His brother might be considerate, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the teen would enjoy those about as much as he did the chocolate frogs.

"Watari? Are you ready yet?"

Author's notes:

For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name). This fic is a continuation of 'Enter the Reaper' and 'The Reaper's Journey'.

Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing at any time in this fanfiction. We claim no ownership over any character that does not belong to us... Itami Korin and Ishida Nanjiro are mine... those I claim and abuse at will.

The Reaper's Ascent.
Chapter one.

"Hei, just let me send the owl off..." Turning towards the pristine white bird, the blonde felt more than a little sorry for it... because there was also a chemistry book for the wizard in that box. "I told Snape-san that we will be out for a week, and to please not send any owls for the time... since I truly don't want to come back and find a dead bird on our doorstep."

"Someone would take care of it. Tsuzuki or Wakaba are softies for things in need."

The older blonde looked down and picked up Puss... who looked like he was about to start stalking the owl. "But still it would be neglectful..."

"True..." The smaller blond walked into the room, carrying a small bag. "Are you sure this is all I'll need? I mean... I know you said they would supply us with clothes, but..."

Watari handed the shiki over to it's master. "Yes, I am positive... this is will not be like when you went on Puss's challenge... "

"Thank goodness." He held his shiki close petting him absently. "That was... a nightmare."

"This time, we will be mainly in the area controlled by Sohryu... the water dragon." The older blonde commented as he sent the owl off through the window.

"A dragon? Really?"

"Hei."

"Wow... and I'll get to see him?"

"Well, you will definitely see his children..."

"He has dragonlets?"

Picking up his own bag, the shinigami thought for a moment, "I suppose that they could technically be called that."

"Interesting."

There was a knock at the door before Nanjiro happily let himself in and started to set up his laptop, "We have to do this quick... I have a date soon with Naoe-kun."

"Naoe... isn't he that young brunette?"

The blue haired shinigami flipped a victory sign, "Hai! Young, brunette, sexy as all heck... incredible blue eyes that I could lose myself in... Shy too. Makes me want to just drag him to the nearest horizontal surface and..."

"I am glad you like him," Watari interrupted before Nanjiro could say anything more intimate.

Draco was smirking. Very occasionally could he get Watari to be intimate beyond their sleeping in the same bed. It amused him how embarrassed the scientist could be, especially in the wake of what had happened a few years ago.

/wait, you still don't know?/ Nanjiro asked telepathically as he started hitting in coordinates on the laptop.

/know what?/ He'd gotten better at mental speech, although he couldn't initiate conversation.

/why Watari is so damn Uber conservative when it comes to sex.../ Mismatched green eyes concentrated on the screen/come on, no one is that much of a boy-scout all the time.../

/something bad must have happened to him... but he doesn't wish to talk about it, and I didn't want to pry./ And maybe make him want me to go away.

/forget it, he loves you too much to want you to go away. when you get back, I might tell you what the 'boy-scout' is all about,/ Nanjiro winked as the gate opened.

/stop answering my unvoiced thoughts.../ "Have fun with your sexy brunette!"

When the two were gone, Nanjiro started to pick up his things... fun with my sexy brunette, eh? But of course, that is if his guardian lets him out with me tonight... especially with what I have planned. The blue haired shinigami smirked. Yup, this was going to be a really fun evening.

---

An elaborately dressed teen greeted Watari and Draco when they arrived. Bowing politely, he introduced himself to the reaper as Kijin. Draco had to admit... the teen's robes were exquisite. Finally, people who knew how to dress. Excitedly, Puss jumped off of the teen's shoulder and darted off into a pack of similar shiki's. "Oh... family?"

Kijin gave Draco a curious look as he led them into the palace, "Does it seem odd that a shikigami would have family?"

"No... I guess not. I've never seen any others before."

The blue haired teen gave a refined laugh, "You have seen them, but were not able to identify them..."

"I don't understand."

"Years ago, when you were on the challenge issued by your guardian... Suzaku was there, and claims that you looked right at her."

"Suzaku?" Draco flicked some hair out of his eyes. He had allowed it to grow a little longer and didn't slick it back anymore.

Kijin nodded, "Yes, she is one of Tsuzuki-san's shikigami."

"Oh. I heard Tsuzuki has a lot of shikigami." Stopping suddenly, Kijin took a few steps backwards and guided Watari and Draco back as well before a man wearing dark clothes and a visor landed explosively in front of them. The man leapt high into the air away from them narrowly avoiding the woman attacking him with a sword which was almost as large as she was. Draco watched with huge eyes. "Wow..." Now THAT is a sexy man...

Watari just chuckled, "Those two still aren't getting along..."

"Still? How long has this been going on?"

"Since about the time that Touda tried to kill Tsuzuki." The shingami responded.

"Why did Touda do that?"

"Because Tsuzuki asked him to."

"But..." Draco looked confused. "I guess it must be personal." Once shown to their room, their escort excused himself, but informed them that if they needed to locate him, his room was in the next hallway. The Reaper looked around the room, pleased. "This is nice!"

Dropping onto the oversized bed, Watari sighed, "hei... it is."

Draco took a deep breath and could feel all the tension and stress falling off of him. "Vacation..."

"Was the... Dragonling... all that you expected of him?"

"What dragonling?"

A dismissive motion was made in the direction of the door, "Kijin... even though he might take offense to the term."

"Kijin?! THAT was a dragon?!"

"Wait, what were you expecting him to look like?" Watari sat up on the bed where he had previously been lounging.

"Like a... a dragon!"

"What else is he supposed to look like, if not a dragon."

"He looked like a person... a dragon looks like... well... a dragon. Do dragons here change form?"

"Not all, only the more powerful ones do..."

"Oh... I didn't know that. Dragons in Europe are very different."

The older blonde nodded, "I would imagine so... even if their ancestry is similar, there is enough time and distance for any differences to become more marked."

The teen wandered over and flopped on the bed. "oooh... soft."

Rolling over, the shinigami draped one arm across the slender blonde. "Much nicer than the full-size back at home," he murmured into Draco's ear.

The Reaper shivered, the scientist's voice affecting him the way it always did. "oh yes... bigger..."

"i wish something like this would fit in the house..." he halfway sulked.

"I know... but smaller beds are fun too. Cozier." He turned his head and smirked.

Watari pulled Draco closer and nuzzled into the teen's neck. "wakatta..."

The smaller blond sighed. He loved this, Watari was so gentle... it made him that much hotter. Unfortunately, unlike him, the shinigami didn't have to deal with rampaging teenage hormones. "mmmph... do we have to be anywhere soon?" He took his turn nuzzling and kissing Watari's neck.

"hmmm...not that i know of..."

"Oh good." Draco smirked and pounced, kissing the shinigami all over. Yelping, Watari squirmed delightfully under the enthusiastic onslaught from his partner. The smaller blond squirmed, sighing at the wonderful friction. The clothing was getting in the way though.

Catching the teen's mouth in a deep kiss, the older blonde let his fingers slip up under the hem of Draco's shirt a few centimeters. The Reaper arched his back and shivered. He traced the inside of Watari's lips with his tongue. Sliding a hand up inside the shirt, the shinigami rubbed pebble hard nipples... Draco whimpered, impatiently he sat up, straddling the older blond. He started undoing the buttons to his shirt, intent on removing it as quickly as possible.

Sitting up, Watari started to kiss up his partner's neck. The teen let the shirt fall open. He carded his fingers through the long golden hair. "oooh... that's nice." Latching onto a nipple, Watari wrapped his arms around the reaper and pulled the slender form closer as he suckled and nipped at the sensitive bud of flesh between his lips. "Aaah..." He arched again, shivering. "Feels good."

Running hands up and down Draco's back, the shinigami shifted his attention to the other nipple.

"Hmmmm..." He wiggled his rear in Watari's lap. Moaning, Watari ground his still trapped erection against the sexy rear in his lap. "Oh... too many... clothes..."

"Then lets get rid of them..." Watari said in a hurried whisper as he nibbled on the teen's neck.

"Ok..." Draco rolled off to the side and started to work on his pants.

Smirking, Watari started to work on his own clothes that had become far more restricting than he originally remembered them being. Draco finished peeling off his pants and tossed them onto the floor. He stared at Watari hungrily. With a full body blush, the older blonde got the rest of the clothes off. The smaller blond smirked. He started to crawl back up the bed, like a panther stalking his prey.

In Draco' opinion, this was something that they did with too little frequency. The wait made it all the better, but all the time between sex? It was almost enough to drive a teen insane. Kneeling beside the scientist, he leaned in close. Looking up at the shinigami through the platinum bangs, he started to lavish the same attention he had received to the pale chest. With a moan, the shinigami shivered under the reaper's incredible touch. Draco pulled Watari down to lay next to each other. He twined their legs, rubbing his heel up the back of the scientist's calf.

Chuckling, the older blonde looked at the teen and started to go after a few spots he remembered as being sensitive on the boy's neck. The Reaper moaned loudly, arching his back so their members rubbed. "aaah..." Gasping, Watari's hand traveled down the teen's stomach and slowly traced a line up, down and around the heated member. Draco whimpered. One hand tangled in the long blond hair, pulling the scientist's head back so he could kiss him ravenously.

Allowing himself to be led, the shinigami nearly purred at the kisses...

Once he had the shinigami's mouth, his hand slid down the length of that trim body. He slipped that questing hand between them, seeking out the older blonde's erection. Hips bucked forward involuntarily as the shinigami moaned in pleasure at the touch. Draco teased him for a bit, with fleeting touches and gentle strokes. Moaning, the older blonde ground his erection lightly against the teen's... Draco jerked. "OH!" He reached down and grabbed Watari's hip, pulling him closer.