The day had started poorly. Hisoka's alarm clock had not gone off, and he woke up 5 minutes late. Of course, this isn't really that much of a difference, but Hisoka liked routine, and now his was off. He was forced to cut conditioning from his daily shower ritual, and that made him grumpy. Even more so than usual.
Once he arrived at EnMaCho, he was greeted with an enthusiastic Tatsumi (which meant more work) and a spacey Watari (which meant more explosions). It was raining, so Terazuma was hiding somewhere with Wakaba. And Tsuzuki had failed to show up at all. And of course being that he was Tsuzuki's partner, Hisoka was told to go find the errant Shinigami.
Hisoka was nothing if not logical, so he started at Tsuzuki's apartment. And judging by the way his day was going, he was not at all surprised to find it vacant. Next, he went to the living world. He stopped at the Cinnapon, at the café where Tsuzuki got apple pie, and at all the best bakeries. He went to the candy store. He even went to the tamest looking bars and peered in the windows, on the off chance his partner had decided to get bombed.
But Tsuzuki was nowhere to be found.
Now Hisoka was feeling slightly panicked. Tsuzuki was a creature of habit. He knew what he liked. The only times Hisoka had failed in finding the man were times that Muraki had kidnapped him. This was an option Hisoka did NOT want to consider.
He decided to do as they did in cliché movies. Think like Tsuzuki. So Hisoka did. He thought like a hyper, emotional, semi-suicidal dead man who was most likely flamingly gay. But as he thought, Hisoka found himself drifting to the rare smart side of Tsuzuki.
And that's when it hit him.
Where would you hide when everyone KNOWS where you hide? The last place you would ever go, of course.
Hisoka took off for the Meifu library.
***************************
Tsuzuki was very comfy. He'd arrived at Meifu, and decided he did NOT want to work on such a gloomy day, it would only make his day worse. Plus, he'd had a very… ehem, awkward dream about Hisoka, and seeing him face-to-face had not been a comforting thought.
So instead, he wandered off to the library. After all, who would think to look for him there?
Too bad the GuShoShin banned him for afterlife.
Tsuzuki instead found himself wandering sedately around the many gardens surrounding Meifu. The rain had stopped, and everything was shining in the droplets.
Tsuzuki, having always been able to appreciate beauty, began singing softly to himself.
"You are there, I am here, and the wind blows between us."
It was an old song, one that he had heard often as a child. As a small boy, he had been struck by the fact that despite the melancholic lyrics, it was a lovely song.
Arriving at the base of one of the many sakura trees, Tsuzuki flopped down, leaning against the trunk. It was calming, sitting under the tree, its ever-blooming branches swaying above him. Every so often, a rain of petals would float down to swirl around him.
"The sigh of autumn
If I were a leaf floating on the river
I would drift to your dwelling.
The autumn night becomes darker.
If I were a cricket in the grass
I would sing by your window
Throughout the night."
His soft voice carried the melody a bit farther than Tsuzuki meant it to, but he didn't particularly mind. As he finished the song, he began another. This one Ruka had loved.
"I tied up my black hair with strong feelings in my heart.
My hair was loose on the pillow at night.
I was alone.
He never truly loved me.
Only the temple bell was heard in the still night.
This morning I left my love still dreaming.
The snow is getting deeper, deeper
and does not feel my sadness."
Tsuzuki felt the familiar tingle in the corners of his eyes. But even as a few tears escaped, even as they trickled down his cheek, he didn't feel sad. Nostalgic, sentimental, maybe a small bit lonesome, but not sad. His mind's eye was flooded with images of his sister. She was singing as she taught him to dance. She was singing as she taught him to cook. She was singing as she tended to his scrapes and bruises that he got from other children. And as Tsuzuki remembered these times of comfort and safety, he slowly relaxed, until he drifted off to sleep.
***********************
Hisoka had to make an effort not to run. He didn't need to run. Tsuzuki was fine. Tsuzuki can take care of himself; he's just goofing off.
But despite constantly reassuring himself, Hisoka was terrified that once again, he'd failed in keeping Tsuzuki safe. Sure, Tsuzuki protected Hisoka, but Hisoka kept Tsuzuki safe. A subtle, but important difference.
Hisoka felt his heart leap when he spotted the library.
And he felt it catch when he felt Tsuzuki's familiar brush on the edges of his empathic senses, from the other direction. Turning around, he squinted, hoping to catch sight of the shinigami. Not seeing his partner, Hisoka jogged towards the sense. He followed it like a hound on a scent.
And there was Tsuzuki.
Hisoka stopped. He stood about ten feet away from Tsuzuki. The boy just watched the sleeping man for a few moments. He could see (by the blanket of fallen blossoms covering Tsuzuki) that the shinigami had been in that spot for a while.
Walking forward, Hisoka kneeled beside his partner. Preparing to wake him, he lifted a hand to shake Tsuzuki's shoulder, but paused. Tsuzuki snuffled softly in his sleep.
Hisoka stared at the brunette. Tsuzuki looked peaceful, and happy, despite the tear stained cheeks. And he was smiling.
And then he opened his eyes. Those stunning, unique, and reflective purple eyes. And he looked at Hisoka, kneeling beside him, hand raised.
"Are you going to kiss me Hisoka?" he asked, smirking. Hisoka turned a bright red, and jumped, pulling his hand away quickly. He turned his head away, too embarrassed to meet Tsuzuki's friendly gaze.
"Baka. Where have you been all day, anyway? Tatsumi-san sent me to look for you, and I couldn't find you anywhere, and then I was-" he stopped his rant abruptly.
Tsuzuki blinked.
"Hisoka? You were what?" he asked, cocking his head innocently. Hisoka glared at his own feet.
"I was- I was worried about you. Baka." He added, for good measure.
Tsuzuki blinked again.
"You were worried about me? Because you couldn't find me?" he asked, smiling gently. Hisoka turned his glare on his partner.
"Yes! You just didn't show up! And you weren't in your apartment, or at any of your favorite stores. And, and-" he choked. The tears he'd been fighting all afternoon were finally surfacing. As Hisoka struggled to finish his sentence, Tsuzuki reached out with both arms and grabbed Hisoka's shoulders, pulling the boy the few extra inches until he was resting on the brunette's chest.
"I was worried about you." Hisoka said quietly, the tears now falling. He pressed his face against Tsuzuki. His partner gently stroked his back as Hisoka cried.
"I'm sorry 'Soka." He said softly, using his other hand to play with the boy's hair. After all, how many chances like this would Tsuzuki get?!
Hisoka didn't answer. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Tsuzuki's waist, and rested his head on the man's shoulder.
"Baka." He murmured.
Tsuzuki smiled.
"Hisoka?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you say you went into my apartment? 'Cause I was hoping to take you there under specific circumstances…"
"Tsuzuki, shut up and hold me."
"Okay."
Once he arrived at EnMaCho, he was greeted with an enthusiastic Tatsumi (which meant more work) and a spacey Watari (which meant more explosions). It was raining, so Terazuma was hiding somewhere with Wakaba. And Tsuzuki had failed to show up at all. And of course being that he was Tsuzuki's partner, Hisoka was told to go find the errant Shinigami.
Hisoka was nothing if not logical, so he started at Tsuzuki's apartment. And judging by the way his day was going, he was not at all surprised to find it vacant. Next, he went to the living world. He stopped at the Cinnapon, at the café where Tsuzuki got apple pie, and at all the best bakeries. He went to the candy store. He even went to the tamest looking bars and peered in the windows, on the off chance his partner had decided to get bombed.
But Tsuzuki was nowhere to be found.
Now Hisoka was feeling slightly panicked. Tsuzuki was a creature of habit. He knew what he liked. The only times Hisoka had failed in finding the man were times that Muraki had kidnapped him. This was an option Hisoka did NOT want to consider.
He decided to do as they did in cliché movies. Think like Tsuzuki. So Hisoka did. He thought like a hyper, emotional, semi-suicidal dead man who was most likely flamingly gay. But as he thought, Hisoka found himself drifting to the rare smart side of Tsuzuki.
And that's when it hit him.
Where would you hide when everyone KNOWS where you hide? The last place you would ever go, of course.
Hisoka took off for the Meifu library.
***************************
Tsuzuki was very comfy. He'd arrived at Meifu, and decided he did NOT want to work on such a gloomy day, it would only make his day worse. Plus, he'd had a very… ehem, awkward dream about Hisoka, and seeing him face-to-face had not been a comforting thought.
So instead, he wandered off to the library. After all, who would think to look for him there?
Too bad the GuShoShin banned him for afterlife.
Tsuzuki instead found himself wandering sedately around the many gardens surrounding Meifu. The rain had stopped, and everything was shining in the droplets.
Tsuzuki, having always been able to appreciate beauty, began singing softly to himself.
"You are there, I am here, and the wind blows between us."
It was an old song, one that he had heard often as a child. As a small boy, he had been struck by the fact that despite the melancholic lyrics, it was a lovely song.
Arriving at the base of one of the many sakura trees, Tsuzuki flopped down, leaning against the trunk. It was calming, sitting under the tree, its ever-blooming branches swaying above him. Every so often, a rain of petals would float down to swirl around him.
"The sigh of autumn
If I were a leaf floating on the river
I would drift to your dwelling.
The autumn night becomes darker.
If I were a cricket in the grass
I would sing by your window
Throughout the night."
His soft voice carried the melody a bit farther than Tsuzuki meant it to, but he didn't particularly mind. As he finished the song, he began another. This one Ruka had loved.
"I tied up my black hair with strong feelings in my heart.
My hair was loose on the pillow at night.
I was alone.
He never truly loved me.
Only the temple bell was heard in the still night.
This morning I left my love still dreaming.
The snow is getting deeper, deeper
and does not feel my sadness."
Tsuzuki felt the familiar tingle in the corners of his eyes. But even as a few tears escaped, even as they trickled down his cheek, he didn't feel sad. Nostalgic, sentimental, maybe a small bit lonesome, but not sad. His mind's eye was flooded with images of his sister. She was singing as she taught him to dance. She was singing as she taught him to cook. She was singing as she tended to his scrapes and bruises that he got from other children. And as Tsuzuki remembered these times of comfort and safety, he slowly relaxed, until he drifted off to sleep.
***********************
Hisoka had to make an effort not to run. He didn't need to run. Tsuzuki was fine. Tsuzuki can take care of himself; he's just goofing off.
But despite constantly reassuring himself, Hisoka was terrified that once again, he'd failed in keeping Tsuzuki safe. Sure, Tsuzuki protected Hisoka, but Hisoka kept Tsuzuki safe. A subtle, but important difference.
Hisoka felt his heart leap when he spotted the library.
And he felt it catch when he felt Tsuzuki's familiar brush on the edges of his empathic senses, from the other direction. Turning around, he squinted, hoping to catch sight of the shinigami. Not seeing his partner, Hisoka jogged towards the sense. He followed it like a hound on a scent.
And there was Tsuzuki.
Hisoka stopped. He stood about ten feet away from Tsuzuki. The boy just watched the sleeping man for a few moments. He could see (by the blanket of fallen blossoms covering Tsuzuki) that the shinigami had been in that spot for a while.
Walking forward, Hisoka kneeled beside his partner. Preparing to wake him, he lifted a hand to shake Tsuzuki's shoulder, but paused. Tsuzuki snuffled softly in his sleep.
Hisoka stared at the brunette. Tsuzuki looked peaceful, and happy, despite the tear stained cheeks. And he was smiling.
And then he opened his eyes. Those stunning, unique, and reflective purple eyes. And he looked at Hisoka, kneeling beside him, hand raised.
"Are you going to kiss me Hisoka?" he asked, smirking. Hisoka turned a bright red, and jumped, pulling his hand away quickly. He turned his head away, too embarrassed to meet Tsuzuki's friendly gaze.
"Baka. Where have you been all day, anyway? Tatsumi-san sent me to look for you, and I couldn't find you anywhere, and then I was-" he stopped his rant abruptly.
Tsuzuki blinked.
"Hisoka? You were what?" he asked, cocking his head innocently. Hisoka glared at his own feet.
"I was- I was worried about you. Baka." He added, for good measure.
Tsuzuki blinked again.
"You were worried about me? Because you couldn't find me?" he asked, smiling gently. Hisoka turned his glare on his partner.
"Yes! You just didn't show up! And you weren't in your apartment, or at any of your favorite stores. And, and-" he choked. The tears he'd been fighting all afternoon were finally surfacing. As Hisoka struggled to finish his sentence, Tsuzuki reached out with both arms and grabbed Hisoka's shoulders, pulling the boy the few extra inches until he was resting on the brunette's chest.
"I was worried about you." Hisoka said quietly, the tears now falling. He pressed his face against Tsuzuki. His partner gently stroked his back as Hisoka cried.
"I'm sorry 'Soka." He said softly, using his other hand to play with the boy's hair. After all, how many chances like this would Tsuzuki get?!
Hisoka didn't answer. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Tsuzuki's waist, and rested his head on the man's shoulder.
"Baka." He murmured.
Tsuzuki smiled.
"Hisoka?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you say you went into my apartment? 'Cause I was hoping to take you there under specific circumstances…"
"Tsuzuki, shut up and hold me."
"Okay."